Poetry: Danielle Ofri and Thomas Dooley

Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets throughout the summer.

Danielle Ofri is a founder and editor-in-chief of the award-winning Bellevue Literary Review. She is one of the foremost voices in the medical world today, speaking passionately about the doctor-patient relationship. Her writing appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Atlantic. She’s given several TED talks and performed at The Moth. Ofri is the author of six books about life in medicine; the latest is When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error. In her day job, she is a primary care doctor at Bellevue Hospital and clinical professor of medicine at NYU. An ever-struggling student of the cello, she recently joined the United Nations Symphony Orchestra and is scrambling to stay afloat in the overwhelming orchestral waters.

Thomas Dooley is the author of Trespass, a National Poetry Series selection. For over a decade, he has worked as a poet in hospitals, currently directs the humanistic medicine program for Atlantic Health, and is the resident poet at UCSD’s Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion. Recently he was honored with the Social Impact Award from the New Jersey Hospital Association and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey named him a 2025 Changemaker for his arts and medicine leadership.