Seeing the world through the eyes of a poet.
Rainforest, Oregon Coast, USA
Since 2007, I've been teaching writers of all ages across a variety of settings and platforms. I worked as a California Poet in the Schools, created summer writing camps for youth in California and Colorado, taught English Literature to middle and high school students, supported K-12 educators working on their Master's in the Arts, and designed a nurturing space for writers and non-writers to reclaim their creativity.
Looking back, I can see that much of the writing, teaching, and creating I've done has been about reacquainting myself with the shape and behavior of the land, remembering the rhythm of nature, and deepening my connection with the flora, fauna, and fungi of Mother Earth.
Mt. Imbabura, Ecuador
Testimonials
Nature Writing: The True Muse
Fall 2022
Christina does an excellent job providing topics, resources, and assignments that somehow all meld together into perfect lessons. I quickly learned that if I trusted her guidance, it would bring me to a wonderful writing place. She encourages us to find our voice and our stories and our own truth. I love her classes.
Bio
Christina Misen Burress is a published poet and writer, educator, and facilitator on a mission to inspire writers to explore and reclaim their relationship with the natural world as a source for boundless creativity. She is guided by the principle of Nature-Inspired Writing in all her work.
Her experience designing, implementing, and delivering both in-person and online courses and workshops spans 18 years. As a creative content developer with in-depth experience in Earth-based curriculum appealing to all ages, Christina covers a range of topics and modalities from literature, poetry, social justice, Nature rights, indigenous rights, meditation, mindfulness, expressive arts, and creative writing. She supports writers of all levels and ages who are working to find their unique voice. Christina believes that as writers, we are the witnesses and collective voice of our time, and as such, are invited, and called to translate our experiences for generations to come.
She currently teaches at the University of California at San Diego Extended Studies' Creative Writing Certificate Program and previously for the School of Education's Arts in the Curriculum Master’s degree at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Christina is also a Shamanic Reiki Master Teacher. She holds a BA in Rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University. She earned an Expressive Arts Certificate from Sky Mountain Institute and a Certificate in Indigenous Cultural Awareness from First Nations Technical Institute.
Recognized for her skills in deep listening, encouraging connection, and curating materials that speak to a variety of audiences, her aim is to increase confidence, inspire creativity, and encourage artistic collaboration with the natural world. Drawing on her passions for ocean health, protection of open spaces, native plants and old growth forests, food sovereignty, education, safety, and employment, and access to the arts for community and healing, her work encourages a new paradigm of success that includes kindness, compassion, and respect for all, including the magnificent flora, fauna, and fungi that surround us all.
![I’m excited to announce a new in-person course in Feb. through @hoffmancenterforthearts in Manzanita, OR [link in bio]
This nature-inspired writing series will explore how our ecological self, the part of us who is in a compassionate relationship with other beings in Nature, including mountains, rivers, animals, trees, plants, and fungi, is calling us to return to the Earth as a source of creativity. The invitation is to deepen skills of observation and connection by opening up the senses to all that the natural world is broadcasting. We will hold space for the messages and support each other with deep listening and kind observations, connecting with each other over imagery and the gifts of poetry, prose, and fragmentary writing. All levels of writers and types of genres are welcome. Each workshop can be taken as a standalone or altogether, to build on the interrelated themes.
This workshop is open to 12 participants, and will take place in person in the HCA Main Room.
Registrants for the Series of 3 Workshops will also receive a 1:1 Zoom call with me as a follow up or support for a burgeoning or ongoing project.
Scholarships are available for this workshop series.
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February 8: Workshop #1 – Remembering our Place in the Biosphere & the Ethnosphere
February 15: Workshop #2 – The Elements & the Imagination
February 22, 2025: Workshop #3 – Rewilding our Language](https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/470856493_1633464577605285_7007643228961066172_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=100&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiRkVFRC5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=oIs9iCC8rFsQ7kNvwHcBemI&_nc_oc=AdluHX_KrDr2vCQxx5hvsCnUb5bIjFbqrlUlPBxxm6xdbExxANaCldSqFX9bbTCt-zU&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=3WtoKzM8-hPphT2cypzSKA&oh=00_AfjHyyORedalXZM51kNX0xAW2r117gnXHiyx02ZqUbeHBQ&oe=6932E7C7)
