Kelsey Bigelow
Poet
Workshops: 1.Uncovering Your Poem. 2. Poetry as a Coping Tool.
Kelsey Bigelow is a poet and speaker based in Des Moines. She spends her time working as a mental health poet sharing this therapeutic tool with audiences of all ages across the world. Through her work, Kelsey is on a mission to show others two things: 1. It does get better, and 2. You can live the life you dream. She holds a masters in strategic communications from the University of Iowa and a bachelors in professional writing and creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
Her book “Far From Broken” was released in 2024 as an Amazon Best Seller in Family Poetry. In addition, she is the author of “Altered Vows: An Erasure Poem in Four Parts” (2025), “The Coffee Cherry” (2023), “Depression Holders and Secret Keepers” (2021), and “Sprig of Lilac” (2018). Her work is published with Central Avenue Publishing, Pile Press, Lyrical Iowa, Backchannels Journal, Spirit Lake Review, and elsewhere. Kelsey is a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2023 Button Poetry Video Contest Finalist, and a 2023 Central Avenue Poetry Prize shortlist finalist.
As a performer and speaker, Kelsey has taken stages across the country and virtually across the world. She has performed with organizations such as The Mayo Clinic, NAMI, Planned Parenthood, MercyOne, CancerCon, and more. Videos of her work can be found on her YouTube channel, Button Poetry, Write About Now, Ghost Poetry Show, and elsewhere.
She’s the founder and leader of the Des Moines Poetry Workshop, the chair for the Iowa Poetry Association Poetry Slam, the coordinator for Poetry Palooza, the director for the BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam, and a founding member of the io-what poetry slam team.
Learn more about Kelsey: kelkaybpoetry.com.
Kelsey is a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Subscribe to her Substack column here: https://theresapoeminthat.substack.com
Workshops
“Uncovering Your Poem.” Everyone has a story worth sharing, whether you know it or not. It’s a matter of discovering what you have to say and pulling the poem out of it. This generative workshop is designed to help uncover the poem within you and let the ideas take up space on the page. You may be surprised by what you can craft!
“Poetry as a Coping Tool.” Life tends to throw heavy stuff our way, and it’s our job to manage our mental health through it all. This workshop walks you through methods for writing poetry as a coping tool. From free writing and responding to prompts to observing your situation and trying a poetic form, poetry can help you process and manage your emotions through the heaviness.