Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D.     Columbia, SC Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D., is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, writer and creativity coach with over a decade of experience teaching within community and university settings. Cassie Premo Steele's Co-Creating workshops & individual sessions offer a fun and nurturing alternative for those wanting to learn how to use their creativity to help bring about greater balance and beauty in their lives. Cassie Premo Steele is a unique person who combines her many achievements with a core filled with kindness, optimism, and genuine authenticity. She is someone who has true wisdom. Her own life experiences inform what she does as a writer, wife, mother, teacher, and healer. In her presence, you feel truly seen and heard, and this gift allows people to face their fears and start living creatively. A Co-Creating session with Cassie Premo Steele is nurturing, insightful, and surprisingly fun. Her laughter is memorable and contagious. She has the ability to help people reconnect with the deep joy in life. Co-Creating sessions, which are available either in person or long distance, guide people through the process of learning to write and co-create in ways that are balanced and empowering. In sessions tailored to the specific needs of the individual or group, Cassie Premo Steele inspires, guides, and teaches people how to co-create with unexplored parts of themselves, others and the natural world. See Contact page for more information about scheduling individual or group sessions. As Charles R. Goldman, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of South Carolina's School of Medicine, attests, "Her teaching and group facilitation skills are outstanding. Her warm, supportive style encourages people to reach deep within themselves to express thoughts and feelings they were not even aware they had. Her knowledge of writing and of the psychology of creativity and healing is amazing." After receiving her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Women's Studies from Emory University in Atlanta, she has published seven books: Moon Days, Ash Tree Publishing, 1999; We Heal From Memory, Palgrave, 2000; Ruin, Finishing Line Press, 2004; My Peace, WordClay, 2008; Easyhard, 2009; and two forthcoming books: the novel, Shamrock & Lotus, forthcoming from All Things That Matter Press; and a new book of poetry based on her Co-Creating work, This is how honey runs, forthcoming from Unbound Content. All of these books, as well as the hundreds of poems, essays and stories she has published, focus on the themes of creativity, healing, balance, and the natural world. To learn more about Co-Creating, Cassie Premo Steele's award-winning work in the fields of creativity, balance, healing, nature, and empowerment, call 803/ 386-8860 or click the secure Contact link on this website. Cassie Premo Steele's poem, "The Poemgranate," was nominated for The Pushcart Prize by the editors of Vox Poetica. Women’s Studies Program Excellence in Teaching Award University of South Carolina, 2007. "For her ability to mentor students and apply feminist theory and research methods to real-world experiences." First Place Award for Best Essay in Cup of Comfort for Writers for “Hummingbird's Journey,” 2007. Sponsored by Adams Media Corporation. First Place Award in the Recycled Words Nature Poetry Competition for “Walking with My Daughter,” Fall 2007. Sponsored by the Sumter County Cultural Commission. Best of Literary Mama 2007 Creative Nonfiction Category for “My Wild Child.” Honorable Mention in The State newspaper and USC Poetry Initiative’s annual poetry contest for “Her Colors.” April, 2006. Top Ten Finalist in the The State newspaper and USC Poetry Initiative’s annual poetry contest for “This Bird.” April, 2006. Finalist for the Rita Dove Poetry Award judged by Joy Harjo for “Findabair.” April, 2003. Third Place Sumter County Cultural Commission Literary Award for “Three Years Down.” February 28, 2002. Semi-finalist in the 1999 Finishing Line Press New Women's Voices Competition. Poetry chapbook, Caves of My Memory. First Place for "The Reunion of Women" in the Carrie McCray Literary Award for Poetry sponsored by the South Carolina Writers Workshop. October 13, 1996.