Summer Writing Program 2025

AcademicsSummer Writing ProgramSummer Writing Program 2025

The Living Thread // June 8–28, 2025

This program, founded by Anne Waldman and Allen Ginsberg celebrates its 51st year! This year’s theme, The Living Thread, is inspired by this duet between Meredith Monk and Anne Waldman recorded at the Jack kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics: The Living

The Living Thread is an invocation and invitation to students, scholars and friends out there in league with magnanimous angels, dakinis, protectors of mind and lokapalas (guardians) of our Naropa commons. We summon wisdom holders, ancestors, founders, lineages traditional and wild, of art, music and poetry under the great Naropa Sycamores.

We are ready once again to WRITE, to read, to make books, to meditate, to think on our own, converse and study with investigative intention to move mountains, and listen to one another in the myriad ways we know how to.  We also compose on the tongue, mouth syllables, collaborate together with performative glee. Among the skyscrapers of NYC Frank O’Hara told us to lookup more often. Here we touch the stars and Perseid showers and bathe in negative ions for mental acuity. We practice tonglen ritual, a vow of empathy for everyone.  We notice and make note of all the particulars of this entangled Indra’s Net with tenderness, opposition, and the mantra  Do No Harm

Writing is our psychic shield. Come make your own version and thread of “survival dancing”.

As part of a contemplative education project, and an experiment in community, the Summer Writing Program does not engage in gatekeeping, and all writers, artists, and interested or curious students are welcome to register—there is no application fee. Scholarships available.

Poetry / Fiction /  Meditation / Somatics / Dharma Arts / Contemplative Experiments / Divinatory Poetics / Letterpress Printing / Recording  Studio / SWP Audio Archive / No Application Fee / No Gate-Keeping / An Experiment  in Writing & Community / Scholarships Available /

Cody-Rose Clevedence, CAConrad, poupeh missaghi, Elizabeth Willis, HR Hegnauer, Edwin Torres, Safaa Fathy, Anselm Berrigan, Dai Kato, and others!

Cedar Sigo, Farid Matuk, Jennifer Firestone, Prageeta Sharma, Anne Waldman, Margaret Randall, Joshua Beckman, Anna Dinallo, and others!

Tongo Eisen-Martin, Lydia Lunch, Valerie Hsiung, Steven Dunn, Katie Jean Shinkle, Angel Dominguez, Will Alexander, Jude Blitz, and others!

YOU ARE READY.

This is where experiential learning meets academic rigor. Where you challenge your intellect and uncover your potential. Where you discover the work you’re moved to do—then use it to transform our world.

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Contemplative education brings together the best of Western scholarship and Eastern world wisdom traditions. Therefore, your pursuit of wisdom at Naropa means learning both about academic subjects and about your own place in the world. This innovative approach places Naropa on the cutting edge of the newest and most effective methods of teaching and learning.  

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If you’re seeking an education that resonates with both personal fulfillment and global impact, Naropa could be your top choice. At Naropa, you will experience a comprehensive curriculum that integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational approaches. Explore how Naropa can fuel your journey of intellectual and spiritual development.

Life at Naropa

Through its incredibly vibrant and welcoming community,  “Naropa offers a home for those who aren’t willing to conform to convention—the mystic, the healer, the prophet, the rebel, the artist, the revolutionary, the oddball—those who are incredible contributors to the evolution of society and of our planet.”—Core Associate Professor Zvi Ish-Shalom

The Naropa Difference

How is Naropa different from other universities? At Naropa, a liberal arts education balances rigorous academics with powerful interpersonal skills and self-awareness to educate the whole person. Naropa’s contemplative approach is inspired by Buddhist philosophy and the conviction that we can build a diverse, contemplative, enlightened society when we have transformed education to affirm the basic goodness of every person. 

About Naropa

Located in Boulder, Colorado, Naropa University is a Buddhist-inspired, nonsectarian liberal arts university that is recognized as the birthplace of the mindfulness movement. Naropa offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs that emphasize professional and personal growth, intellectual development, and cultivating compassion. 

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Naropa Campuses Closed on Friday, March 15, 2024

Due to adverse weather conditions, all Naropa campuses will be closed Friday, March 15, 2024.  All classes that require a physical presence on campus will be canceled. All online and low-residency programs are to meet as scheduled.

Based on the current weather forecast, the Healing with the Ancestors Talk & Breeze of Simplicity program scheduled for Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday will be held as planned.

Staff that do not work remotely or are scheduled to work on campus, can work remotely. Staff that routinely work remotely are expected to continue to do so.

As a reminder, notifications will be sent by e-mail and the LiveSafe app.  

Regardless of Naropa University’s decision, if you ever believe the weather conditions are unsafe, please contact your supervisor and professors.  Naropa University trusts you to make thoughtful and wise decisions based on the conditions and situation in which you find yourself in.