How do we invite spirit into our writing process—and why does it matter? In this generative and exploratory session, poet and creative strategist Faylita Hicks introduces the concept of spirit-led writing—where intuitive practices and ritual frameworks are used to access voice, deepen narrative resonance, and sustain creative energy over time.
Participants will explore a blend of mystical tools (such as tarot, altar-building, and time-based rituals) and creative prompts that reframe the writing process as a sacred practice. Hicks will share examples from their own journey as a writer, activist, and spiritual practitioner—including how ritual has shaped their poetry collections, performance work, and upcoming memoir.
This session is ideal for poets, memoirists, and hybrid genre writers looking to reconnect with their inner voice, ritualize their process and gain a deeper understanding of how intuition can shape the writing life.
FAYLITA HICKS (she/they) is a queer Afro-Latinx poet, Grammy-nominated recording artist, and spirit-led creative strategist based in Chicago. They are the author of A Map of My Want (Haymarket, 2024), winner of the 2025 Midwest Book Award, and HoodWitch (Acre, 2019), a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Their debut memoir, A Body of Wild Light, is forthcoming in 2027.
Founder of The Craft Career Studio™, Hicks helps artists build intuitive, liberation-centered careers through ritual and strategy. A 2025 Haymarket Writing Freedom Fellow and 2024 Gwendolyn Brooks Living Legacy Honoree, their work has been supported by the Art for Justice Fund, Illinois Humanities, and the Ford Foundation. Their choreopoem Bar for Bar is a 2025 finalist for Definition Theatre’s Amplify Series.
Hicks' writing appears in Poetry Magazine, Kenyon Review, Longreads, Yale Review, and more.
