Translating the human experience
Translating the human experience Translating the human experience Translating the human experience Translating the human experience Translating the human experienceExploring Human Emotions Through a Queer Black Lens.
Poet, artist, activist, speaker, therapist.
See Ashley in Action
amplifying values
Empowerment Through Identity
I value the power of embracing and expressing my Black queer woman identity! My intersectional identities are a source of strength, inspiration, and honor in my work. I seek to uplift other marginalized voices and promote liberation through art and poetry. Representation matters!
Healing Through Art
My background as a therapist using poetry therapy interventions deeply impacts my understanding of art as a healing modality. I believe in the power of poetry and creative expression as a tool for healing, personal growth, and emotional exploration.
Connection and Community
I am not self-made, I am community-made! I prioritize creating connections through my work, whether by engaging with individuals, and organizations or fostering a sense of community. I value the importance of shared experiences and believe in the power of poetry and art to bring people together and create a bridge of understanding.
Meet Ashley
I exist to care for my soul by creating art unapologetically for public consumption, personal healing, and social justice. I translate human experiences into poetry to create bridges of understanding for diverse audiences to meet each other in empathy, compassion, and curiosity. I exist as a vehicle of healing so those seeking support can explore and utilize art as a tool to process and tell their stories. I fulfill my purpose by hosting workshops, performing, teaching, creating events, and speaking engagements from a therapeutic and artistic lens so that my communities and identities are remembered, represented and joyous. I aim to heal more and harm less and lead individuals, institutions, and systems to do the same. I can’t wait to work with you!
use the Power of Poetry
Join the revolution of poetry and joy with me! Step into a world where words heal, empower, and inspire. Your support fuels creativity, amplifies marginalized voices, and sparks change. Be part of this transformative movement—engage, listen, and let poetry guide us forward!
Previous Clients
“Ashley and the poetry community she collaborates with truly inspires all who come in contact to be free through self-expression. It is an inclusive community that is a light of Colorado springs & beyond”
Eloisa Lynch
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but the words of Ashley Cornelius have healed me”
Ashley Dodge
“The energy I see and the care [Ashley] show within [the] community to support others is astounding.”
Hillary Leftwich
Being a poet is not for the faint of heart, and Ashley Cornelius is the truest poet there ever was, but she is so much more – she is a revolutionary! With pen and voice she challenges systems of oppression, strengthens movements, teaches to the masses, gets people thinking and feeling, and reflects a light we all can see ourselves a part of and want to do right by, for ourselves and the world! She is a powerful stand for collective liberation. Ashley creates impact and changes lives with her artistry. We are so lucky to be here at this time as she shares these gifts so generously, inviting us in to pause, listen, learn, heal, and take action.
Amber Cotè
The Universe and beyond, inconceivable. The Earth within it, improbable. Life and humanity from space dust. Incogitable. But Ashley,… Ashley Cornelius; how she exists, what she creates, the ways she inspires us to feel and be, absolutely impossible.
Matt BlockÂ
Ashley’s poetry, her presence, and her impact on the community in Colorado Springs has been profound. She breathes life into art wherever she goes. She gathers artists, creates space and opportunities for them to flourish. Her poetry is always profound. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Michael “Skillzilla” FergusonÂ
Colorado Springs is blessed by Ashley’s vision as a poet and her leadership as poet laureate. May the words in this book not only soothe our weary hearts, but also serve as a compass to guide us into the future of our dreams, a future made possible by visionaries such as herself.
Nico Wilkinson
Ashley helps us dance in the rain with the profound exploration of her poetry. Impactful, inclusive and empowering.Her works are medicine for future exploration, taking us on a journey to deeper understanding. Her words are the destination.
K8e Orr
“Ashley is transcendent. She has this incredible ability to give voice to ancestral & communal rage, while in the same breath exhaling love and joy – honoring those who came before and those who’ve yet to come. What’s more is she uses her gifts to empower those privileged enough to hear her prophecy. In a time when words are flung like daggers, Ashley manifests healing, and in the bosom of her poetry we, the sacred observers, feel safe enough to rest.”
Ezra Wade
“I’ve had the pleasure to not only witness Ashley’s powerful voice as she organizes, advocates, and shares her many gifts in our community, but also to work together on events in both nonprofit social justice and arts spheres. Ashley is unparalleled in her ability to bring people into the most crucial conversations of our time with grace, compassion, and truth, leaving participants and attendees inspired, activated, impassioned, and empowered to co-create a more just world for all. I cannot emphasize enough the pleasure it is to work with Ashley Cornelius as a facilitator, performer, and collaborator — she is a transformational leader of her generation!”