Where the Words Begin to Heal: Poetry & Cancer

When we process our cancer experiences, it helps us to heal. The job of processing is not an easy one. Everyone does it differently, and it often takes many tries and much time. Writing is one of the ways that many are able to process what they have been through, or are still going through. There is a long poetic history of writing about illness and trauma. The exciting thing is that you don’t need to have any writing experience to join us for the opportunity to hear some poems that are sure to resonate with you, and to begin writing yourself! Join Sharsheret as we partner with Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry, and welcome Maya Bernstein to lead us in this unique opportunity. No writing experience is needed to join us for this program.

Questions? Contact Melissa Rosen.

Register here.

Presented in partnership with:

Yetzirah is a nonprofit literary organization dedicated to fostering a community space for Jewish poets, nourishing writers and readers of Jewish poetry now and for generations to come. As the only national organization committed to supporting writers and readers of Jewish poetry, Yetzirah maintains a robust series of online and in-person readings, workshops, and resources. You can find more information at www.yetzirahpoets.org, including about the grassroots membership program that sustains Yetzirah.

Sponsored by Cooperative Agreement 14-0064 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and

Maya Bernstein is the founding co-director of the Institute for Transformational Leadership’s Certificate in Facilitation at Georgetown University, and is the Director of Leadership Education at Yeshivat Maharat. A founder of UpStart, which brings bold Jewish ideas to life, Maya has consulted globally on leadership and innovation processes. She has released two albums of original music with Noah Solomon, and her first collection of poetry, There Is No Place Without You, was published by Ben Yehuda Press in 2022. Her writing has been published in the Amethyst Review, On the Seawall, the Ekphrastic Review, Gashmius Magazine, The Lehrhaus, Niv Magazine, Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality and the Arts, SWIMM Every Day, Tablet Magazine,Vita Poetica, and elsewhere. A 2012 Covenant Pomegranate Prize recipient, Maya holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, an M.Ed from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and a B.A from Columbia College. She serves as a board member at Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry. Learn more about her at: mayabernstein.com