Events

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, March 7, 2026. 10:35-11:50 am, ET: In-person: “Joy Hellbent & Necessary: Poets Rising Up with Humor, Jubilation, & Delight,” a panel at AWP featuring Nickole Brown, CMarie Furhman, Douglas Kearney, J. Drew Lanham, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Baltimore Convention Center, Room 327, Level 327. Session Code S147. Also come visit us at our table at the bookfair; we’ll be at Table #T750.

Sunday, March 29, 2026, 3:00-4:30 pm, ET: Ask Us Anything Session for those interested in applying to the inaugural Hellbender Gathering. Free & open to the public, but registration required. Link will be made available by early March.

Sunday, March 29, 2026, 7:00-8:30 pm, ET: Online generative writing session with special guest David George Haskell. More details TBA. Free & open to the public, but registration required. Link will be made available by mid-February.

Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 6:00-7:30 pm, ET: Ask Us Anything Session for those interested in applying to the inaugural Hellbender Gathering. Free & open to the public, but registration required. Link will be made available by early March.

October 5-11, 2026. Hellbender’s Inaugural Gathering, Blue Ridge Assembly YMCA, Black Mountain, NC. Applications open April 13 to participate in workshop. Save the date!

Past Events:

December 9, 2025, 7:00-8:30 pm, ET: Online generative writing session with special guest poet Kim Stafford. More details TBA. Free & open to the public, but registration required. REGISTER HERE.

October 21, 2025, 7:00-8:30 pm, ET: Online generative writing session with special guest Zoë Fay-Stint, our 2024-25 Hellbender Fellow. More details TBA. Free & open to the public, but registration required.

October 5, 2025, (welcome reception at 1:00 pm, ET, followed by reading and book signing at 2:30 pm): Reading & Discussion with poet Jane Hirshfield co-sponsored by the North Carolina Arboretum and Malaprop’s Bookstore, WNC Arboretum Educational Center, 20 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC. IN-PERSON ONLY. Free & open to the public, but registration required. THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.

October 4, 2025, Presentation: “The Poetry of Trees,” by Nickole Brown as part of American Chestnut Day, the North Carolina Arboretum. No registration required.

August 26, 2025, 7:00-8:30 pm, ET: Online generative writing session with special guest Shannon Knapp from Heart of Horse Sense, an equine therapy center. More details TBA. Free & open to the public, but registration required.

May 2-4, 2025: Panel presentation at the North Carolina Writers’ Network Conference: What the Mountains Need Now (Nickole Brown, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Tanya Davis, Jeremy Jones, Ronni Lundy), Asheville, NC.

April 27, 2025: Reading featuring poets Zoë Fay-Stindt, Lacy Snapp, & Catherine Jagoe as part of the Writers at Home Reading Series co-sponsored by the University of North Carolina Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and Malaprop’s Bookstore, Asheville, NC. Free & open to the public.

March 26-30, 2025: Two panels at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference: Hellbent Hope: Poets Holding Fast During This Time of Ecological Crisis (Nickole Brown joined David Baker, CMarie Fuhrman, and Matthew Olzmann) & Poetry & Climate: Building Eco-Resilience Through Poetry & Community Action (Nickole Brown joined David Hassler, Jane Hirshfield, Kimberly Blaeser, & Sean Hill).

February 12, 2025: Online generative writing session: The First Answer is Love: A Valentine to the Earth with special guest Tierra Curry from the Center for Biological Diversity. Free & open to the public.

January 25, 2025: Generative writing workshop—Hellbent Hope—to bear witness to Hurricane Helene, First Presbyterian, Burnsville, NC. Free & open to the public.

January 2, 2025: Online generative writing session: Ring The Bells: Intentions & Practices for The Coming Year with special guest poets Jane Hirshfield and Kai Coggin. Free & open to the public.

December 16, 2024: Generative writing workshop—Hellbent Hope—to bear witness to Hurricane Helene, Bagatelle Books, West Asheville, NC. Free & open to the public.

December 14, 2024: Generative writing workshop—Hellbent Hope—to bear witness to Hurricane Helene, Malaprop’s Bookstore, Asheville, NC. Free & open to the public.

December 12, 2024: Generative writing workshop—Hellbent Hope—to bear witness to Hurricane Helene, City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC. Free & open to the public.

December 1, 2024: Online generative writing session in collaboration with Poet Camp: Climate Catastrophe & The Writer’s Task, led by Nickole Brown.

November 23, 2024: Generative writing workshop—Hellbent Hope—to bear witness to Hurricane Helene, First Presbyterian, The Wild Violet, Mars Hill, NC. Free & open to the public.

November 21, 2024: Online generative writing session: Gratitude Difficult But Necessary: The Practice of Awe & Awareness Amidst Ecological Crisis with special guest poet Kai Coggin. Free & open to the public.

October 19, 2024: Community reading to bear witness to Hurricane Helene, House Gathering, Asheville, NC.