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A Voice of Initiation, Reconciliation, & Gender Intelligence

Teaching

Teaching of Robert McDowell

Robert McDowell has taught in Bennington College’s MFA program; at the University of Southern Indiana and UC Santa Cruz; and at writers’ conferences such as the Taos Writers’ Conference, Sewanee Writers Conference, Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, and Donegal Festival.

He has led retreats and workshops at Esalen, Kripalu, Pine Manor Retreat Center, West Chester Conference on Form and Narrative, California Poets-in-the-Schools, and Killybegs Festival in Ireland.

Topics for Seminars, Workshops, & Retreats

Initiation Rites for Boys and Men

This workshop, seminar, or retreat invites boys and men to discover rituals that lead to adulthood and independence. Along the way, participants also experience the healing of old wounds and learn how to build better relationships with mothers, sisters, coworkers, friends, and partners.

Poetry As Spiritual Practice

Based on Robert McDowell’s bestselling book, Robert guides participants in search of their soul poems, helping them discover the core language of their spiritual foundations. This workshop accommodates practitioners of any religion, including none at all.

The Art of Revision

As editor of more than 300 books by winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and NBCC Award as well as books by newcomers and mid-career authors, McDowell shares revision strategies for your work in poetry and prose.

The Voice Celestial

This workshop focuses on the epic poem, The Voice Celestial, by Ernest Holmes, who cofounded the Science of Mind movement with his brother Fenwicke Holmes. We explore the stories, themes, verse structures, and antecedents of this thought-provoking poem and its bedrock role in the science of mind community. You will leave with a deeper understanding of both faith and poetry.

Saint Francis and the Leper: Overcoming Obstacles That Paralyze You

Everyone has a problem, and most of us have many. No matter how positively others may perceive our lives, there is always something. It may be relatively mild like the inability to grasp a particular computer program. It could simply be that you just don’t like golf or tennis or spelunking as much as your partner. Or it might be a darker, corrosive secret you’ve harbored since childhood.

Even the saintly are not immune. As a young monk, Francis of Assisi cloaked a shameful secret that called into question his faith and nearly destroyed him. Only a revelatory moment of extraordinary courage saved Francis from a life of resigned bitterness and oblivion. Like Francis, you, too, can confront your greatest fears—and poetry can help.

The Five Surprises: What Calls You to Transformation

Imagine, in the span of a week, a series of punishing events—a tire blows out at 80 mph, a closet unit collapses, you’re laid off, and your debit card is compromised. How would you react? Is it time to drink the hemlock mixture? Lie down on a busy highway? Curl into the fetal position and sob into your pillow? Or is it a grand occasion for rebirth, a gilded opportunity to change the things in your life that need changing? Are you being punished for your transgressions—or is the world calling you with the good news to wake up. It’s Now, and it’s time to change! When we’re facing occasions that feel like death knells or joyful invitations, the most important thing is what we do with them. Poems have a lot of answers.

Are You Afraid of Poetry?

McDowell shares secrets, prying open our desire to write poetry and overcoming our self-consciousness that gets in the way. This talk/workshop clears obstacles and transforms fear into courageous, joyful action.

2 New Books: Signed Copies!

Sweet Wolf Book Order Sweet Wolf Emily and Virginia Book Order Emily & Virginia

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Online Courses & Workshops

Robert McDowell Coursees and Workshops

The Poetry Portal: Healing & Adventuring Within, A Six-Week Online Course

  • • Six 2-hour sessions via Zoom
  • • Fridays from 4/9–5/14
  • • 12:30– 2:30 pm PST
  • • Tuition: $250
  • • Enrollment is limited to 8 seats only—sign up now to reserve your spot!

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“Bless you, Robert. I have enjoyed your verse, the Reaper Essays, and find your spiritual practice model so acute and helpful. Despite Auden’s injunction, art can make things happen. Getting into the poesis mindset is one of the healthiest practices a human can do.”

—Michael Graber

“Robert McDowell prepared an exceptionally interesting class on Emily Dickinson: The Divine Feminine Prophet.… Robert is a fine teacher, poet, and philosopher who has put together a program that offered, to borrow a line from Emily Dickinson: ‘that sublimer lesson, a faith in things unseen, and in a life again, nobler, and much more blessed.’”

—Betty Deitz

“My heart is so very full after having the blessed opportunity of attending your teleseminar this evening. How comforting to know that men of your amplitude and sensitivity are cognizant and brimming with the magical means to help pave the way for a more intimate and authentic sacred connection.”

—Sylvia Cohen

“I just finished listening to your teleclass, and I was deeply moved by your talk. Thank you so much for partnering with us. Your work is a blessing to the world.”

—Joan Schaefer, RN, BSN

“Poetry exposes me to a different way of experiencing the world. When I read Poetry as Spiritual Practice, I instantly translated the poems into pictures. I can see fields of grain or rain in Autumn. It is fascinating to see all the patterns and rhymes that can be woven into language.”

—Dr. Temple Grandin

“I always remember how special it was to be in your class. I still feel the influence your class had on me—my worldview, my appreciation of others and their feelings and opinions.… Thank you for what you did for me then and for what you do now for the people you work with—your talent and teaching were a gift to me.”

—Laura Ballard

“I love the way you put words together, and will indeed, look forward to more of your inspiration, through readings and future workshops. You are so talented, and as I see it, reaching out, is one of your greatest qualities.”

—Valerie Schmidt

“An email just landed in my inbox that intrigued me, and I clicked through to the person’s web page. And fell in love with the man’s description of himself, who he is, and what he’s here to do. I felt so invited, inspired, served. May we ALL represent ourselves so beautifully!”

—Claudia Previn Stazny

“Robert McDowell is the very spirit of poetry and sumptuous prose. He is a wordsmith and a soul crafter of the highest order and his talks and seminars are veritable temples of magic. If ever he is in your community for a talk or workshop, go!”

—Dr. Jean Houston

“A well-guided trip opens new vistas, which you did for me. The session with you gave me perspectives and approaches and provided a rhythm to unknown potentials and made them accessible.”

—Peter Hjersman

“Robert McDowell’s online workshop on Emily Dickinson was a thrilling and profound experience. He avoided all superficialities and cut straight and deep to the chase with Dickinson’s poems, letters, his own concise and brilliant erudition, and input from many relevant figures.… A beautifully planned, shaped, and conducted learning experience.”

—Alane Rollings