Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Each anthology represents countless conversations between Listener Poets and the people they met in healthcare communities — moments of story, memory, and meaning transformed into poems.

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Join us on Tuesday, October 21 at 7 pm EDT on Zoom. This 75-minute event will celebrate the five anthologies published by The Good Listening Project in 2025. Each anthology represents countless conversations between Listener Poets and the people they met in healthcare communities — moments of story, memory, and meaning transformed into poems.

October 2025

The Good Listening Project was honored to once again take part in the annual KNN conference in Minneapolis this year. We also shared copies of our newly published KNN Anthology: Stories of Residents & Fellows, which was available to all participants.

October 2025

We’re honored to welcome Dr. Max Nanes to The Good Listening Project’s Board of Directors. Max is a hospice and palliative medicine physician with a background in emergency medicine, where he practiced before transitioning into his current role. With training in both medicine and creative writing, he brings a perspective that blends clinical practice and storytelling.

October 2025

In this episode of Red Transmissions Podcast, Jenny Hegland shares her journey from mental health counseling and disaster response to co-creating spaces of healing through The Good Listening Project – a global community of listener poets dedicated to humanizing healthcare.

October 2025

This month, we’re excited to highlight Elizabeth Torres – also known as Madam Neverstop – who recently gave the keynote Listening Between the Lines: Poetry as Pathways for Healing, Empathy, and Social Change at the 2025 Creative Bridges Conference, hosted by Lapidus International.

October 2025

In September, our very own Listener Poet Yvette Perry took part in Tupelo Press’s 30/30 Project – a poetry marathon and fundraiser where poets write 30 poems in 30 days. Yvette joined seven other poets in this creative challenge, contributing daily poems that highlighted her artistry and commitment to the craft.

October 2025

“Reading this chapbook felt like stepping into a healing ritual—one that drew my body and spirit into full attention. With spare, piercing language, Mahaffey evokes the sensual, the sacred, and the sorrowful, reminding us how deeply we are shaped by what we dare to feel—and by the power of listening that is both attentive and attuned to what so often goes unsaid.” –Jenny Hegland, Executive Director, The Good Listening Project

September 2025

Introducing the The Good Listening Project poetry anthology, Amplifying Voices of Black Women Physicians in Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Programs. Each poem and origin story in this collection was created as the result of a partnership between The Good Listening Project and Health4Equity, an initiative of the WPP Racial Equity Programme.

September 2025

We’re delighted to introduce our recent graduates – the members of Certified Listener Poet Cohort 11! Each poet brings unique gifts, experiences, and perspectives to the practice of listening and poetry. Now, as they join our Community of Practice, they carry this work forward in diverse and meaningful ways, weaving it into their lives, professions, and communities.

September 2025

One of our information sessions took a special turn when we were joined virtually by a high school class from Pittsburgh, PA. Their teacher was teaching a course on Human Flourishing and asked if his seniors could sit in on the session, learn about the healing and medicinal possibilities of poetry, and pose questions to our Listener Poets.

September 2025

Salaam Green, Certified Listener Poet Cohort 1, will read from her recently released poetry collection and create a revival circle for Listener Poets.

September 2025

As Listener Poets, we're trained to attend to poemees' stories and imagery to create our poems for them. Sometimes the language poemees use is in the form of common phrases, and even clichés, which can sometimes can even hide poemees' deeper feelings and insights. In this Community of Practice, Listener Poets are invited to discuss this phenomenon and share strategies for turning "Hallmark card language" to rich metaphors.

September 2025

Join Dr. Julia McDonald, physician and Certified Listener Poet, for a meet and greet and book signing for their new poetry anthology, Hysteriography, that uplifts the lived experiences of people with uteruses (and those who love them) through poetry that is unapologetically honest, moving, and needed.

September 2025

This month, we’re delighted to welcome Kay Abesamis to The Good Listening Project’s Board of Directors. Kay brings nearly a decade of experience in oncology and blood cancer research at Pfizer, where she focuses on developing new therapies for leukemia, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer.

September 2025

We’re honored that The Good Listening Project was featured in Red Door Magazine’s latest issue, #39 – Impermanence, published by Elizabeth Torres, a recent graduate of Certified Listener Poet Cohort 11. You can find an article about our work on page 32, along with a moving poem by Listener Poet Gray Davidson Carroll.

September 2025

You’re Invited! Saturday, November 29 at 8 PM ET. Anne Marie Wells, Certified Listener Poet Cohort 9, is hosting a virtual book launch for her new book, Write Some Cool Sh!t: 366 Prompts to Rekindle Your Creativity. Come celebrate the launch of Anne Marie’s first self-published book via her publishing house, Star Belt Press, with special guests.

August 2025

Salaam Green, an alum of the first cohort of the The Good Listening Project’s Certified Listener Poet course, has released a poetry collection. The Other Revival is a story of homecoming. This collection of poems revolves around a house built in Harpersville, Alabama in 1841. Thirty-nine people enslaved by Samuel Wallace, the owner of the property, constructed the house and worked the land.

August 2025

Dylan Klempner, a member of Certified Listener Poet Cohort 11, has launched Creative for Health – a newsletter and growing community space dedicated to the intersection of creativity and well-being.

August 2025

By Jenny Hegland

Twice a month, our Listener Poet community (now 80+ and growing) gathers for our regular Community of Practice. This space allows us to stay connected, continue learning, and hold space for one another as we navigate both our poetic practices and our lives.

Last month, the focus of our sessions was on poetic voice – that one-of-a-kind artistic expression that allows us to communicate not only our own truths but also the truths and stories of others. The conversations and insights were so rich that we wanted to share some of the key takeaways with our broader community. We hope you find these reflections inspiring as we all continue to explore the transformative power of poetry.

August 2025

Nancy Scherlong, LCSW-R, CHHC, SEP, CP, PTR/CJT-CM, brings a deep well of experience – and heart – to The Good Listening Project’s Board of Directors. A psychotherapist, educator, and long-time expressive arts advocate, Nancy believes that “creative resonance” – the feeling of being seen or understood through art – is a “powerful complement to any healing process.”

July 2025

Current Certified Listener Poet Cohort 11 member Dr. Kevin Dieter is the creator of Walking Each Other Home, a thoughtful resource for those interested in compassionate end-of-life care.

July 2025

We’re proud to share that current Certified Listener Poet Cohort 11 member, Nicole (Nix) Demos, has a powerful piece featured in the latest issue of Unapologetically Us: Disabled, Proud, and Resilient – a zine by the disability community, for the disability community.

July 2025

A poem by Certified Listener Poet Cohort 9 Alum, Dr. Julia McDonald, is now part of the educational offerings available through The Blood Project (TBP). The mission of TBP is to cultivate a deeper understanding of blood disorders for clinicians through modules, tutorials, and the humanities.

July 2025

Jenny Hegland and Yvette Perry delivered a workshop to medical school faculty at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) in Rootstown, Ohio in May.

June 2025

Listener Poets Dr. Julia McDonald and Dr. Erin FitzGerald representing The Good Listening Project (TGLP) offered a powerful presence at a recent national healthcare conference by facilitating in-person listening sessions. Many shared that TGLP’s focus on provider wellness and resilience filled a much-needed gap in the conference experience.