Our Next Workshop
Nature Writing
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INSTRUCTOR: Dana De Greff
TIME: Four Saturdays, October 30, November 6, 13, 20, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. CDT PRICE: Early bird until Monday, October 25: $150 for members, $180 for nonmembers. After Monday, October 25: $180 for members, $210 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here. LOCATION: Online via Zoom LEVEL: All Levels CAP: 15 Whether you live in an urban area or in the countryside, this workshop aims to get you out of your head and into nature. We will write about the natural world, yes, but also our place in it and how we can protect our home for generations to come. We will use examples of writing across various genres, from poetry and essayettes to novel excerpts and feature articles, from authors such as Robin Wall Kimmerer, Richard Powers, Rachel Carson, Natalie Diaz, and Helen Macdonald. In class we will discuss different ways of looking at and interacting with the outside world, techniques for writing about nature, and what constitutes nature writing. Each week there will be a new nature writing assignment that will require you to, in some way, leave your home (even if it is simply sticking your head out the window) and share your findings with the group. This class is both interactive and active and will include research, observation, and contemplation. It’s also a chance for you to have some time to come home to yourself in the great outdoors, or, if you prefer, to build community with your friends and family as you rediscover place. This course is open to all writers of any genre who are interested in writing about nature. Prior workshop experience is not necessary, but all members of the class must come to class prepared to discuss the readings, be willing to share their own writing and nature writing, and be generous in their responses to their peers’ work. |
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See all workshops here.
Workshop Testimonial
"I hadn’t written poetry in more than 6 months. Not because I didn’t have anything to say—but rather, the opposite: I have too much to say, and not enough time to say it. That’s the beauty of short-form poetry—and I can think of no one better than Dr. Kendra Leonard to be your guide into this world.
If you’re like me—an unpracticed, imperfect poet who doesn’t know anything about the mechanics of sonnets or limericks—it can feel super intimidating to step into a poetry workshop. But Dr. Leonard made me feel anything but intimidated. She is kind, encouraging, and takes a gentle, question-led (rather than feedback-led) approach to workshopping poetry.
What’s truly amazing is that she’s helped me turn short-form poetry into a habit. I’ve written a poem every day since taking her workshop. Often, I don’t have a big block of time to sit down and journal out all my thoughts and feelings. Dr. Leonard’s workshop showed me that I can be just as expressive through short-form poetry, and in a fraction of the time.
I’m really excited to take her workshop on ekphrastic writing."
—Daniela Freeman, on Kendra Preston Leonard's Writing Short: Poetry in the Palm of Your Hand
If you’re like me—an unpracticed, imperfect poet who doesn’t know anything about the mechanics of sonnets or limericks—it can feel super intimidating to step into a poetry workshop. But Dr. Leonard made me feel anything but intimidated. She is kind, encouraging, and takes a gentle, question-led (rather than feedback-led) approach to workshopping poetry.
What’s truly amazing is that she’s helped me turn short-form poetry into a habit. I’ve written a poem every day since taking her workshop. Often, I don’t have a big block of time to sit down and journal out all my thoughts and feelings. Dr. Leonard’s workshop showed me that I can be just as expressive through short-form poetry, and in a fraction of the time.
I’m really excited to take her workshop on ekphrastic writing."
—Daniela Freeman, on Kendra Preston Leonard's Writing Short: Poetry in the Palm of Your Hand
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Writespace is a Houston grassroots literary arts nonprofit whose mission is to embrace and celebrate our city’s diversity by providing the type of high-quality training available through Master of Fine Arts creative writing programs at a fraction of the cost to writers of all genres, with a focus on providing programming for underserved communities and scholarships for low-income writers. All donations made to Writespace are entirely tax-deductible. |
We acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional ancestral lands of the Atakapa-Ishak People, the Akokisa, the Karankawa, and the Sana. We encourage you to learn about these nations, and to honor them by working to dismantle the systems of racial and cultural injustice and colonization present in our society.
For more information, please visit the American Indian Center of Houston.
For more information, please visit the American Indian Center of Houston.