Description
Welcome to Button University!
Good Grief: Writing Poems About Loss (w/ Ollie Schminkey)
Pick your class day and time:
Sundays in September
2:00pm CT | Sept 07 – Oct 12, 2025
In this six-week workshop series, you’ll join Dead Dad Jokes and Where I Dry the Flowers author Ollie Schminkey in an exploration of ways that we can write about grief. You’ll gain skills for using poetry as a processing tool, as well as tips for how to edit poems about grief and loss that you might want to share with audiences or readers.
This series will approach grief and loss from a wide variety of angles, including structure, form, and even, at times, humor. You’ll get plenty of practice writing with exercises, including specifically tailored writing prompts that we will complete each week in-class. You’ll learn from the best, studying contemporary poets like Siaara Freeman, Sam Sax, and Natasha T. Miller. At the end of this course, you’ll have at least 6 new poems and perhaps an expanded idea about what writing about grief can look like.
Ollie aims for all of their classes to be actively non-competitive, non-judgemental, pro-diversity, anti-racist, pro-LGBTQ, and fun! (Yes, even while we are writing about grief). You can expect a collaborative environment, a flexible approach to poetry, and (hopefully) a good laugh per class.
Beginners are welcomed and encouraged! Experienced folks are welcomed and encouraged! Everyone is welcomed and encouraged!
Note: Poems in this workshop will cover a wide variety of themes, some of which contain mature content and may be activating for some participants.
Learning Goals:
Gain new poetic tools to use to write about grief
Explore different types of form that can be used to write about grief
Learn to effectively edit poems about grief, and learn the difference between a poem that is meant to be edited for an audience/reader and a poem that is just for yourself
Writing Goals:
Use a variety of structures and forms commonly found in grief poetry
Explore the role of effective metaphors in poems about loss
Write at least 6 poems dealing with grief and loss
Note: If you are gifting a Button U workshop, you MUST enter the recipient’s email address into the “Gift Message” field while checking out.
Have questions? Visit the Button Workshop FAQ page or contact support@buttonpoetry.com
About Ollie Schminkey
Ollie Schminkey is a non-binary transgender poet and artist living in St. Paul, MN. They have spent the past decade coaching, mentoring, teaching classes, and running workshops for poets. They are the author of three chapbooks, as well… MORE
