Wednesdays, May 6, 13, 20, 2026, 7:00 – 8:15 pm CST
Ahead of the summer travel season, let’s embark on a poetic journey through interior and exterior landscapes, places real and imagined.
In this three-part interactive virtual workshop we will engage with mentor poems that map both physical terrain and interior states. Through close reading, discussion, and in-class exercises, we will explore the fullness of journey, from its various modes (on foot, by ship, train, air, or imagination), to the delta between anticipation and reality, and ultimately what unexplored and familiar places may reveal about ourselves.
This class will include
· Writing of poems
· In-class exercises & homework
· Feedback from professor
· Discussion
· Q&A
Professor’s Bio: Tamara Nicholl-Smith holds an MFA from the University of St. Thomas (Houston) and was a finalist for Houston Poet Laureate (2025–2027). Her forthcoming collection, Saints of Sleeping and Waking, will be published by Wiseblood Books in 2027. Her poetry has appeared on two Albuquerque city bus panels, one parking meter, numerous radio shows, a spoken-word classical piano fusion album, and in journals including America, Chronicles Magazine, Ekstasis, The Examined Life Journal, and Kyoto Journal. She is a contributing editor for The Better Part, a new print journal launching in 2026. Her poem on Saint Jerome is part of the Gutenberg Bible display at the University of St. Thomas, Houston. A longtime member and popular instructor for Catholic Literary Arts, Tamara inaugurated the CLA School Visits by a Catholic Poet program in 2025 and coordinates the annual Sacred Poetry Contest, which brings together poets globally to respond to curated sacred art.
Tamara Nicholl-Smith 