Destiny Hemphill is a chronically ill ritual worker and poet, living on the unceded territory of the Eno-Occaneechi band of the Saponi Nation (Durham, NC). She is a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow and has received other fellowships for her poetry from Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program, Callaloo, Tin House, Kenyon Review's Writers Workshop, and Torch Literary. She is a co-editor for Poetry as Spellcasting (North Atlantic Books 2023) and the author of the poetry collection motherworld: a devotional for the alter-life (Action Books, 2023), which was a finalist for the National Poetry Series Award, Lambda Literary Award, and Publishing Triangle's Audre Lorde Prize. Her work has also been featured in Poetry Magazine, Southern Cultures, and the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day series. She served as an inaugural Poetry Coalition Fellow, a Kenan Visiting Writer in Poetry at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and an inaugural Tin House Reading Fellow.

What if writing could be a way back to joy? A spark of courage? A practice of dreaming toward freedom? 
Join us for a half-day generative writing workshop inspired by the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray!
We’ll gather in community to write, reflect, and share—through two creative sessions shaped by:

• Courage and Joy as Resistance – Telling the story that lingers at the edge of your voice. Writing the joy that keeps you going.

• Imagination and Worldbuilding – Dreaming new worlds into being

The afternoon includes co-writing sessions, thoughtful prompts, reflection circles, and warm cups of tea and coffee facilitated by Destiny Hemphill. You’ll also be invited to contribute to a collaborative community zine if you wish! No writing experience needed! Just bring a notebook, a pen, and your full self!

Registration is required as space is limited. Sign up at tinyurl.com/pmctours