Poems of Gratitude: Celebrating the Winter Solstice — A One-Day Zoom Seminar with Lauren Davis

Begins Monday, December 21, 2026

Live Seminar via Zoom from 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM PST

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PST): 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM / Denver (MST): 11:00 AM – 1:30 PM / Chicago (CST): 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM / New York (EST): 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM / London (GMT): 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM / Berlin (CET): 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM

A recording will be provided if you cannot attend live.

Now Enrolling! Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor Lauren Davis is the author of the short story collection The Nothing (YesYes Books, 2025) and the poetry collections Home Beneath the Church (Fernwood Press) and When I Drowned (Kelsay Books). Her fiction won the Landing Zone Magazine's Flash Fiction Contest, and her fiction and poetry have been finalists for the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize, the Press 53 Award for Short Fiction, and the Big Other Book Award for Fiction, among others. Her poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in numerous literary publications and anthologies, including Prairie Schooner, Spillway, Poet Lore, Ibbetson Street, Ninth Letter, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the Bennington College Writing Seminars. Davis lives with her husband on the Olympic Peninsula in a Victorian seaport community.

Who is this class for?

This online poetry workshop is perfect for the writer who wants to dedicate time toward cultivating gratitude in their poetry. All levels of experience are welcome, whether you are drafting your first poems or deepening an established practice.

What to expect:

On December 21, the Northern Hemisphere experiences its shortest day and longest night. Afterward, we are given longer days of light. This one-day seminar celebrates that turning with poems of gratitude to the natural world.

During this creative writing workshop, we will read contemporary poets and compose our own poems. Davis will provide a variety of poetry prompts inspired by contemporary poets such as Joy Harjo, Jericho Brown, and Ross Gay, giving you generative material to work from throughout the session. You will walk away from this Zoom writing class with a new stack of drafts for a new season.

Sharing your work is entirely voluntary. Writers who choose to read aloud will receive verbal, strengths-based feedback from the instructor, focused on the most compelling elements of the piece. This is a supportive online writing class built for generating new work, not for critique.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will produce at least four drafts of new poems. Writers who volunteer to share will receive verbal writing feedback from the instructor during the live session, focused on what is strongest in the work.

Readings

Davis will provide a reading handout on the day of the workshop.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Embrace gratitude in poetry.
• Explore incorporating the natural world into your writing.
• Compose first drafts of at least four poems.
• Receive verbal, strengths-based feedback on any work you choose to share.

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $99 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Lauren Davis
• Begins Monday, December 21, 2026
• Class will meet once via Zoom on Monday, December 21, from 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM PST
• Tuition is $99 USD.
• Course is fully ONLINE.
• A recording will be provided if you cannot attend live.