Poetry as Companion: Parenting in Uncertain Times

What might poetry offer caregivers and parents amidst a time of overwhelm, uncertainty and loss? Can poetry be a companion that steadies us and brings us closer to the unsayable? In this workshop, we’ll do a close reading of a poem, learning a simple framework anyone can enter. Then we’ll turn to our own writing to see what’s present and how poems might help us make meaning in our lives. No poetry experience needed - sharing is completely optional!

This workshop is free but space is limited to 25 people, please honor your reservation.
This workshop is part of Parents Against the Future, an event and workshop series for parents/caregivers working towards new futures while navigating grief stemming from climate collapse, war and capitalism.
Evan Bissell is a parent of two kids aged 9 and 5. He is an artist intentionally working across disciplines, sectors and issues. He is the founding artist at Another World Exists, an art, research and cultural strategy practice that connects radical imagination with implementation through projects like Parents Against the Future, a creative workshop series around parenting and grief. Evan managed the City of Oakland’s Cultural Strategist-in-Government program and was the lead program designer for Youth Speaks’ youth narrative change program. Previously, Evan created and led the Arts & Cultural Strategy program at the Othering & Belonging Institute.

Ben Gucciardiis the author ofArguments (Persea Books, 2026) winner of the 2025 Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award and West Portal(University of Utah Press, 2021), selected for the Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry. His poems appear in American Poetry Review,Kenyon Review,Poetry MagazineandOn Being’s Poetry Unbound. Ben organizes the Sundial Reading Series at Local Economy and works with newcomer youth through Soccer Without Borders, an organization he founded in 2006. He is a parent of an almost 4 year old.