Bearing Witness: Writing Poetic Testimony

When you are touched by extremity, you witness—anywhere, anytime.

Atrocities are unfolding across the world at an unprecedented rate. You may wonder: Who gets to tell these stories? Do you need to be in the middle of a conflict to write about it, or is it enough to read a firsthand testimony, watch the news, or listen to a podcast?

Poetry of witness emerges when you respond to events that reach beyond your individual life—when shared trauma, collective grief, and moral urgency enter the poem. To bear witness is to open your human heart, allowing the personal and the political to meet on the page.

In the tradition of poets such as Anna Akhmatova, Yannis Ritsos, Paul Celan, Federico García Lorca, and Nazim Hikmet, you are invited to bring your own witness into language—to write from attention, empathy, and truth.

In this Ritualwell Immersion, you will join Rachel Neve-Midbar to reflect on and write from your personal responses to the stories unfolding in the world today. No previous writing experience is needed—only your willingness to listen, feel, and bear witness.

This session will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Rachel Neve-Midbar is a poet and essayist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Salaam of Birds, was chosen by Dorothy Barresi for the Patricia Bibby First Book Prize and was published by Tebot Bach in January 2020. She is also the author of the 2014 chapbook, What the Light Reveals. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies. A current Ph.D. candidate at the University of Southern California, Rachel is also editor of Stained: An Anthology of Writing about Menstruation for the AuntFlo2020 Project. More at rachelnevemidbar.com.