The Origin Story

The Heart of It began in 2017 with eight writers in the mountains of New Mexico. With workshops facilitated by young poets and teaching artists from various spoken word and poetry slam communities around the country, we created a literary space born from diverse and dynamic non-traditional educations. Over the course of four days, we wrote, shared, and communed in the home of poet and mentor Ava Haymon – who generously provided a home for THOI in its formative years.

At 26 years old, Desireé was a college dropout, working for a youth spoken word nonprofit, and performing and teaching at universities across the country. As a working-class, feminist, “slam poet”, she felt like there was no seat at the table in academic literary spaces for her, so she began to construct her own kind of table.  With the help of her mentors and comrades, The Heart of It was born as an accessible alternative to literary, high-barrier-of-entry writing retreats and residencies.

Today, The Heart of It has over 150 alumni from across the world. As a collaboratively run writing retreat for poets and nonfiction writers, we gather each summer to cultivate meaningful literary citizenship and relations through workshops, craft dialogues, community cultural wealth sharing, and literary scholarship. THOI aims to increase access to rigorous literary spaces and scholarship for writers who have faced system barriers to literary and educational opportunities, with a particular interest in working-class writers and writers of marginalized genders.

The First Years

In the home of Louisiana Poet Laureate Ava Haymon, we gathered in intimate cohorts of ten poets or less, with only one or two cohorts per year. Desireé led each cohort and its programming and learned alongside writers, encouraging a less hierarchical structure often present in teacher/learner dynamics. Writers led workshops in which they were subject matter experts, and each year's agenda varied greatly based on who was present, utilizing an emergent agenda structure informed by the work of adrienne maree brown. 

Oftentimes, Desireé led workshops, dialogues, and sessions based on what she learned in spoken word, poetry slam, and youth spoken word communities in Southeast Louisiana and on the national poetry slam circuit, and much of those philosophies and practices continue to shape The Heart of It today. Some mentors who informed the early pedagogies of THOI are Donney Rose, Dr. Anna West, Xero Skidmore, and many other writers, teachers, and scholars from the Deep South and beyond.

In the early years, Desireé ran THOI as the solo organizer and teaching artist and then alongside alumni writers, with Devin Devine in 2019 and 2020, Olivia Dudding Rodriguez joining the team in 2020, and KC Cullinan joining in 2023. Today, there is a year-round staff of three, with many alumni-writers facilitating and supporting on-site, teaching, building a culturally responsive curriculum, organizing, and planning.

The Pandemic Shift

We didn’t know it, but our final cohort in Ava’s New Mexico home would be in February 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic began. This crisis forced us to rethink how to gather in safer ways. In March 2020, with schools closed and no sign of in-person poetry spaces in sight, Desiree began Undercurrent, a virtual generative writing workshop. Initially, this was meant to be a stop-gap, but nearly 5 years later, we still write together every single Friday. Though Undercurrent and The Heart of It are separate spaces, there is often high levels of overlap between the two.

When we finally gathered in person again, we implemented robust COVID safety practices. We have hosted over 80 writers since 2020 and have had no related COVID infections prior, during, or after The Heart of It.

The Growth and Move to Oz

In 2023, The Heart of It moved to Oz Farm, a nonprofit farm and retreat center in Point Arena, California (home to the Hopland Band of the Pomo Indians) to accommodate our growing, thriving community. Working with Oz stewards Dean and Roza, we dreamt up a space to meet the needs of our writers, some of whom needed something other than a facilitated retreat. In 2023, in addition to our facilitated retreats for first-year and alumni writers, we piloted collaborative, self-guided retreats and residencies for alumni writers, the Duo Residencies and The Project Portals. Spread across nine cabins on 240 acres, we facilitated 42 writers in 2023 and 49 writers in 2024 across various emergent programs.

As the programming grew, the pedagogy and structure grew. In 2024, we brought on nine Fellows to help facilitate and shape The Heart of It. Teaching workshops on everything from socially engaged writing practices to sonic line edits, our Fellows shined as teachers and facilitators. Each and every year, our faculty is comprised exclusively of THOI alumni. 

As we head into 2025, our core staff is made up of Desireé Dallagiacomo, KC Cullinan (THOI 2022), and Olivia Dudding Rodriguez (THOI 2019). In addition, the staff will include five teaching fellows, two workshop facilitators, a newsletter coordinator, and a travel coordinator (we will announce our 2025 staff soon!).

The Heart of It at Oz Farm

When we first started in Ava’s 4-bedroom home, we never imagined we’d end up on hundreds of acres in cabins on an organic farm in Northern California. When it was time to move, we thought deeply about how to scale in a way that would keep THOI financially accessible to as many writers as possible, and moving to Oz Farm has been a crucial step in sustaining our work, our community, and our mutual-aid and skill-sharing philosophy of leadership and facilitation. Oz is a nonprofit teaching farm and retreat center, and through a mutually beneficial partnership, we spend three weeks a year with the farmers, land, and community of Point Arena, California.

Our workshops are facilitated in the redwood grove, the handcrafted barn, around the bonfire pit in the apple orchard, and the community house with floor-to-ceiling windows. Writers sleep in yurts, geodesic domes, and hand-built cabins spread among the land. In their downtime, writers soak in the wood-fired hot tub, lounge along the P'da Hau River, hike the many trails at Oz, take beach trips to tide pool and gather abalone shells as gifts, or grab a bite to eat at the local co-op or bakery just up the road. Oz Farm is “off-grid,” using solar and wind power for all its operations, which allows us to connect deeper with nature and one another while also having the comfort of running water, electricity in shared spaces, and cozy cabins. 

While Oz is not our permanent home, we are soaking up the opportunity to be guests, students, and stewards of such a beautiful, collaborative space.

Alumni and Community

Each year, alongside our first-year cohorts, we have an abundance of returning alumni. Some join us for a facilitated alumni retreat, facilitate their own self-guided residencies in a cabin onsite, or share space and commune together in a joint cabin with other returning writers. Alumni are also responsible for 50% of the retreat curriculum, and in 2025, alumni teaching fellows will facilitate craft talks, workshops, and community-building sessions. Teaching fellows will have support and guidance in developing their teaching and facilitating practice throughout the year, and they will work alongside faculty to build a rigorous, culturally responsive literary curriculum.

We also encourage online community and connection. Many writers stay in contact through Instagram, creating their own chats and building long-lasting friendships across space and time. As a community, we’ve hosted online panels and gatherings such as our Chapbook Panel in February with THOI Alumni and a Community Check-In Circle post-election. While the retreat only happens once a year, we love to see how writers continue to stay connected, cheer each other on virtually, and share their experiences of THOI.

Comprised of 150+ writers from all over the world, THOI alumni continue to make a lasting impact on the literary landscape. As we continue to build our capacity, we cannot wait to share with you what they’re working on!

Looking Ahead

As The Heart of It continues to grow, we are considering our place in upholding a culture in which working-class writers are prioritized, supported, and invested in. Literary education and space-making is big business, and we are committed to financial accessibility, low barrier of entry educational opportunities, and coalition building among each other.

In the not-so-distant future, we hope to build a coalition of writers, thinkers, scholars, and organizers to share space and resources. 30% of our annual budget is allocated to space rental alone, and acquiring a communally useful and sustained permanent facility is among our top priorities. Until then, we will continue to find the best temporary home to fit the needs of our community, and we are honored to have you along for the ride.