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The Well's programs combine best practices in arts and wellness and are designed in partnership with those they serve. How do we create our programs? In partnership with others and especially those we serve.
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As we continue to reel from this past year's 5th anniversary of Mindful Poetry Moments — an incredible milestone for The Well and all the love and thoughtfulness put into by all the collaborators of previous years, culminating in another wonderful poetry compilation and book launch this past summer 2024 — we're also so excited as we look into the future of Mindful Poetry this year and next.
New curator, new Fall and Winter Virtual gatherings, new horizons ahead for Mindful Poetry Moments! Read below.
For National Poetry Month 2025, Manuel Iris will select our four poems to study, celebrate, and respond to with new poems. Manuel served as the Poet Laureate of the City of Cincinnati from 2018 to 2020. In 2021, he was inducted as a poet into the National System of Art Creators (SNCA) of Mexico. He has published ten collections of poems in Spanish and English, including his most recent bilingual work The Parting Present / Lo Que Se irá (2022) from which he won the Ohioana Reader’s Choice Book Award.
Manuel has worked with us in the past, but we're particularly so excited by this new opportunity of him being April 2025's Mindful Poetry Moments curator, with him helping to nurture the next MPM compilation with his wisdom and personal appreciation for poetry! Looking forward to what those poems might inspire in our MMM schools and during our April Gatherings.
Poetry Facilitator: Holly Brians Ragusa
Mindfulness Facilitator: Troy Bronsink
Holly Brians Ragusa (she/her/hers) is an interdisciplinary writer, poet, speaker, activist and author of Met the End, Dying to Know Myself In Time and poetry collections Inverse; Informed Thoughts By An Unfit Poet and Tilt a World. President for the Ohio Poetry Association, HBR also serves a range of nonprofits and literary endeavors, and is entrenched in community. Contributor to Psychology Today and Opinion contributor to The Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today, her presentations speak to students and organizations across the country. She lives with her love in historic Over-the-Rhine. Hollybriansragusa.com
Troy Bronsink is a author and retreat leader working at the intersection of creative and spiritual thriveness. His most recent work focusses on the relationship between sustaining productive work (be it in social activism or design), and the inner work of contemplation (from centering prayer to other forms of mindful meditation). Troy's experiences as a singer songwriter, spiritual entrepreneur in both the parachurch and mainline, and community developer bring a distinctive perspective. He was celebrated in Atlanta's Creative Loafing as one of the cities (tongue in cheek) "2007's Least Influential Leaders," for his local community work, and feature in Halogen network's Tainted Love series for his work in Human Trafficking prevention. Troy is a PC(USA) minister, a 99U local ambassador, a participant in the Center for Action and Contemplation's Living School, and a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary. In addition to his published books, Troy's "Live at Eddies Attic" album and "Songs to Pray By" can be found on iTunes and elsewhere. You can read more about his speaking, retreats, music, consulting, and spiritual direction at www.troybronsink.com
Poetry Facilitator: Shivani Gupta
Mindfulness Facilitator: Krittika Sharma
Shivani Gupta is a writer, curator, dancer and overall stage-loving human. Recently Chicago-based, having lived and performed in multiple cities between India & Scotland before this. Her Partition Poetry was featured on BBC & Forbes. Her pieces on Cultural & Gender identity won the Mumbai Poetry Slam in 2018, and were featured at the Loud Poets Anniversary Show, Fringe Festival (Edinburgh), Jungle in the City Festival (Aarey Forest), SXonomics, Unerase Poetry (Mumbai), Femme Fest, Grandma's House, Test Literary Series, Chicago Mehfil & The South Asia Institute (Chicago). As the Development Committee Chair for the Chicago Poetry Center she champions equitable access to creative literacy. She works as a Behavioral Scientist for AI and writing poems with unexpected syntax is her gentle fight against the robots.
Krittika Sharma has 15 years of experience in research, behavior design, and creative strategy, with a focus on wellbeing across sectors. Her passion for end-of-life care was sparked by a personal experience, driving her commitment to bring dignity and wellbeing into this vital area and healthcare overall. This year is Maajhi’s 10th year in bringing end of life care empowerment to the world. As the former director of Death Over Dinner (India), she introduced the concept to the country, contributing to a global campaign that hosted over 200,000 dinners. She also played a key role in launching the first global End of Life Collective, a digital platform for caregivers and service providers. Krittika has presented her work on international stages, authored a chapter on death and dying in The Science of Happiness, and mentors students in the end-of-life care field. She is committed to ensuring people have agency, dignity, and the right to a graceful death on their own terms.
Poetry Facilitator: Elena Estella Green
Mindfulness Facilitator: Kim Jennings
Elena Estella Green is a Poet living in Cincinnati, OH. Originally from New York City, Elena has published her work in various anthologies like Mindful Poetry Moments, Anthropocene, the Art Academy Magazine, Inter-religious Dialogue Journal, For a Better World 2021 etc. A recent graduate of the Conscious Feminine Leadership Academy at Women Writing for a Change. She presented her practicum workshop on Diving into Deep Writing & Reading at The Well, Autumn 2022. Elena is currently working on her first chapbook.
Kim Jennings is a writer, a teacher and a healer, passionate about the connection between individual and collective wellbeing. A Certified Professional Coach with a Master’s in Education, Kim has over 15 years of experience designing and leading social change initiatives in education, nonprofit and social impact settings. In her current role, Kim coaches organizational transformation projects focused on cultivating compassionate, inclusive and healing-centered culture. As one piece of this work, she partners with organizations to build foundational knowledge about chronic stress and trauma, and guides them through experiential practices for cultivating mind-body-spirit healing and wellbeing—both personally and collectively. In her one-one-one coaching, she supports sensitive individuals and caring professionals as they identify healthy and sustainable ways to do meaningful work. In her sessions, she weaves together an array of embodiment and communication practices to prevent burnout and to foster greater balance, ease and well-being. She loves spending time with the rhythms of nature, with dear friends and family, engaged in sporty activities, and sometimes writing poetry. Kim is grateful for the opportunity to connect with you in this space!
Poetry Facilitator: Ellen Austin-Li
Mindfulness Facilitator: Stacy Sims
Ellen Austin-Li's first full-length collection, Incidental Pollen—a 2023 Trio Award finalist, 2024 Wisconsin Poetry Series semi-finalist, and runner-up to the 2023 Arthur Smith Poetry Prize—is forthcoming from Madville Publishing. Finishing Line Press published her two chapbooks, Firefly (2019) and Lockdown: Scenes From Early in the Pandemic (2021). Her poetry appears in many journals and anthologies. She’s a Best of the Net nominee and holds an MFA in poetry from the Solstice Program. Ellen co-founded Poetry Night at Sitwell's in Cincinnati, where she lives with her husband in a newly empty nest. Find her at www.ellenaustinli.me | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Stacy Sims (she/her) is a mind-body educator and author. In addition to founding the programs of The Well, Sims is a novelist, playwright, and children's books author. She has produced multiple theatrical works as part of her social practice of gathering stories out of community engagement. She talks about why she started the programs of The Well here.
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Our programs have been nourishing the community since 2005. In 2019, we became the non-profit, A Mindful Moment.
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