Carolyn Brigit Flynn
Carolyn Brigit Flynn
RECENT NEWS
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JUST RELEASED IN OCTOBER 2023! Video of my reading for the Monterey Poetry Consortium on July 10, 2022. I read with wonderful poet Diane Frank, and it was a terrific afternoon.
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My latest essay on Substack, "Birth and Death in the Time of Samhain," Nov 7, 2023.
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"Mountain of the Old Woman: Slieve na Cailleach," Substack, Oct 1, 2023.
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"Forever Begin: Writing to Feed the Soul," Substack, September 7, 2023.
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"Sinead O'Connor: Universal Mother," Substack, August 2, 2023.
"Walking In Space," essay in Catamaran Literary Reader, Spring 2021 issue.
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"Safe Houses: Giving Refuge," essay in Kosmos: Journal for Global Transformation, Spring 2020.
BOOKS
SACRED STONE, SACRED WATER reveals the soul of Ireland through the eyes of fourteen gifted women writers and artists who accompanied me on a writing retreat and tour of Ireland in September 2016. In poems, essays, photographs and artwork, they captured their experience of the exquisite Irish landscape, transformative sacred sites, and the welcoming spirit of the Irish people.
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"Beautifully woven in image and word, this cornucopia is surely a jewel in the crown of Tír Ghrá (ancient Irish phrase which means “love of land”) literature.” - NOÍRÍN NÍ RIAIN, Listen with the Ear of the Heart
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COMMUNION
In Praise of the Sacred Earth
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Poems by Carolyn Brigit Flynn
"The earth and its lives are grateful, I am sure, for a voice that so passionately takes their side."
— JANE HIRSCHFIELD, The Asking
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SISTERS SINGING
Blessings, Prayers, Art, Songs, Poetry & Sacred Stories by Women
Edited by Carolyn Brigit Flynn
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"I plan to keep Sisters Singing in arm’s reach for at least the next year.." -- MAYA ANGELOU, I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing
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UPCOMING
The Light of Ordinary Days​
Video: Reading from my upcoming memoir, The Light of Ordinary Days.
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In 2013, exactly a century after my grandparents emigrated from Ireland to start a new life in America, I traveled to my ancestral homeland in the wake of a tragedy that had, for a time, broken me body and soul. The Light of Ordinary Days is the story of my journey across modern-day Ireland, but it is also an excavation of the silences and long-held family wounds haunting my family tree, set alongside my own spiritual and personal journey as a young lesbian finding my way in an Irish-Catholic world. At its root, this is a tale of healing--personal, familial, generational--and the incredible story of the gifted, lyrical island people from whom I come.
BIO
Carolyn Brigit Flynn is a poet, author and writing teacher dedicated to language as a path to renewed life, soul and spirit.
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She is the author of the poetry collection Communion, and the editor of three literary anthologies, most recently Sacred Stone, Sacred Water, with writing and art from her 2016 writing retreat in Ireland.
As a popular teacher in Santa Cruz, California, her creative writing groups provide a powerful container for writers to generate new work from the depth of the soul, and to edit and complete their writing for a broad audience.
Carolyn lives near the ocean in California with her wife, the poet Jean Mahoney.
TEACHING
I have been teaching creative writing groups, retreats and writing intensives called Writing to Feed the Soul for more than twenty-five years. The focus of my work is the innovative generation of new writing, as well as insightful editing and the development of new and ongoing writing projects.
Writers often find that a new voice emerges, and that their work goes deeper. In my writing classes, I bring people together in a unique atmosphere of witness: deep listening, insightful feedback, and an eye to the continued unfolding of the writer and the truest spirit of their work. I teach in Santa Cruz, CA and in Ireland, and also now offer ongoing online writing groups.
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Writing Retreats and Tours in Ireland
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NEXT IRELAND TOUR AND RETREAT upcoming in 2024
LANDSCAPE OF SOUL AND STORY
Many years ago I discovered a profound affiliation with the ancient places of Ireland.
I periodically bring groups of writers and artists to journey into the soul and spirit of Ireland through writing, art and storytelling.