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 explores questions about belonging, beauty, loss, and hope. Her debut collection of poems is The Beautiful Keeps Breathing (Kelsay 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 Kripalu-trained yoga teacher and SoulCollage® facilitator, Claire also enjoys teaching these embodied, playful practices.

Claire earned her Master of Education & Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University and received her Master of Social Work from The University of Tennessee. Claire completed the Advanced Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Program, a two-year training with The Nashville Center for Psychoanalysis & Psychodynamic Therapy, in 2022. A lifelong student, Claire loves to read about depth psychology, feminist theology, and contemplative practices. (Check out some of her favorite books here.)

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