Where heartbreak becomes praise, and pain becomes poetry.
“That we exist at all is a rare miracle. Coming to terms with the immense beauty and difficulty of our existence in the face of promised impermanence is a sure pathway to awaken our hearts. After all, it could have been otherwise. We could have not existed at all. So that even with all the difficulties we each face daily, even with all the atrocities of our world, still alhamdulillah — the quieter sister to hallelujah — can be uttered as our final song of gratitude.”
— Moudi Sbeity
a la carte live
Awakening the Heart through Poetry
An Online Writing Experience with Moudi Sbeity
27 Powers invites you into an intimate conversation with Lebanese poet Moudi Sbeity, one of the most deeply reverent and thoughtful poets we’ve had the honor of knowing. Our time together will also celebrate the release of his debut poetry collection, Alhamdulillah Anyway.*
Moudi grew up in Lebanon surrounded by grandmothers, cousins, and orchards of olive and fruit trees — steeped from the start in the richness of family, tradition, and land. His poetry weaves through language, homeland, and war, and ultimately the awakening of the human heart in the face of whatever life brings.
live online
A 90-minute gathering with
Laurie Wagner and Moudi Sbeity
Awakening the Heart through Poetry
Friday, October 9, 2026
9:00 – 10:30 am Pacific Time
Can’t make it live? Replay Included.
You’ll get access to the entire session.
Wild Writing Family members, enter your discount code to save $10!
Not sure what your code is? Check your email invitation or the member site.
During this 90-minute class, we’ll talk with Moudi about the spirit of his work — how he’s used the heartbreak of war in Lebanon to crack open everything he knows about mercy, grace, and wonder. From that place, we’ll do two short guided writes together.
In this class you’ll:
- Go inside the mind of a poet — an intimate conversation with one of today’s most reverent literary voices
- Discover the roots of his work — family, land, tradition, and a childhood steeped in custom
- Learn how heartbreak becomes art — how Moudi turned the pain of war into poetry rooted in mercy, tenderness, and wonder
- Get a first look at his debut collection, Alhamdulillah Anyway, straight from the source
- Write alongside him — two guided short writing exercises to spark your own heart-opening work
- Leave with a new way in — a model for writing that doesn’t avoid pain, but transforms it into something luminous
about moudi sbeity
Moudi Sbeity is a Lebanese-American poet, author, and contemplative educator. He holds a masters degree in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling. His writing focuses on themes of justice and liberation through a spiritual framework of compassion, forgiveness, and awe. Central to his work is the question of what it means to be alive together in an impermanent world, and so gratitude, and the necessity of beauty. His poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Orison’s Best Spiritual Literature. As a lifelong stutterer, he is passionate about writing and poetry as practices in fluency and self-expression. Moudi has two forthcoming books, Habibi Means Beloved and Alhamdulillah Anyway, expected to be published in the fall of 2026.
live online
A 90-minute gathering with
Laurie Wagner and Moudi Sbeity
Awakening the Heart through Poetry
Friday, October 9, 2026
9:00 – 10:30 am Pacific Time
Can’t make it live? Replay Included.
You’ll get access to the entire session.
Wild Writing Family members, enter your discount code to save $10!
Not sure what your code is? Check your email invitation or the member site.
I’M EXCITED TO BE PARTNERING WITH CHAPTER 510, A NONPROFIT GROUP IN OAKLAND SERVING BLACK, BROWN, AND QUEER KIDS, AGES 7-18.
Chapter 510 is a writing, bookmaking & publishing center that wants every young person in Oakland to write with confidence and joy. Chapter 510 believes that writing is an act of liberation, and that young people transform themselves and their communities when they write and get published, succeeding in work, school, and life.
A portion of the proceeds from this event will go to supporting their free creative writing programs for black, brown, and queer youth.