Claire Coenen

Author of The Beautiful Keeps Breathing

Expressive Writing Teacher SoulCollage Facilitator Yoga Instructor

Claire Coenen, LMSW, M.Ed. M.T.S., believes the act of creating can sustain, renew, and surprise us all in beautiful ways. Since childhood, Claire has loved to play with language. Now she channels that love toward writing poetry that explore questions about belonging, beauty, loss, and hope. Her debut collection of poems, The Beautiful Keeps Breathing is forthcoming this summer with Kelsey Books.

With a professional background as a clinical social worker, Claire skillfully helps people connect with self-compassion, resilience, and joy through imaginative self-expression. Claire is passionate about sharing writing practices that foster healing, and she leads expressive writing groups in Nashville, TN with Writing for Good, a program focused on bringing the healing power of writing to vulnerable populations. As a SoulCollage® facilitator and Kripalu-trained yoga teacher, Claire enjoys sharing these playful and embodied practices at workshops and retreats.

Claire earned her Master of Education and Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University.  She received her Master of Social Work from The University of Tennessee.

Reach out here to learn more about Claire’s writing and workshops.

Claire's writing “will keep you, attend to your wounds, and teach you to root," as she says in one of her luminous poems. To read her poetry is to experience the joy of a poet coming into the fullness of her own voice, "fierce and free" at last.

James Crews, editor of The Wonder of Small Things & author of Kindness Will Save the World