A 1-Day Poetry Workshop
Saturday, July 18, 10 AM - 1 PM
In this generative workshop, we will be singing, praising, and celebrating nature in its many forms through nature journaling and poetry. We’ll spend time inside and out, learning the basics of nature observation and journaling, while we practice paying active attention to nature through exploration, opening our senses, and sketching some aspect of nature we are drawn to. For inspiration and guidance, we’ll read and discuss nature litanies and praisesongs by poets like Ross Gay, Danusha Laméris, Tim Seibles, and Craig Santos Perez. Our journaling and observations will serve as catalysts as we write our own praisesongs and litanies in response to prompts, with opportunities for sharing for those so inclined.
Our time outside will be spent walking a 1/2-mile trail. Please wear comfortable and durable shoes to support your walking and clothing suitable to the weather. Please also bring a notebook or journal and simple writing and drawing instruments. Other suggested but NOT required items to bring beyond whatever best facilitates your writing and sketching: field guides (plants, flowers, trees, etc); hand lenses or binoculars; durable pants or a sit pad for kneeling/sitting on the ground; a hat, sunscreen and insect repellant; snacks/lunch and water.
$105 Members/$155 Nonmembers
Samaa Abdurraqib is the editor of From Root to Seed: Black, Brown, and Indigenous Poets Write the Northeast (2023). Recently, her poetry has appeared in Cider Press Review, december, Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora, and in the edited collection Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic (2022). Her newest chapbook, Towards a Retreat will be published by Diode Editions in 2025. Samaa is a certified Maine Master Naturalist and she is always listening for birdsong.
Andrea Lani writes about the intersection of family and the natural world from her home in Whitefield. She’s the author of Uphill Both Ways: Hiking toward Happiness on the Colorado Trail, and her essays have recently appeared in Spire: The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability and the anthologies Echos in the Fog and More than Hope. She’s also a regular contributor to Green & Healthy Maine Magazine. Andrea’s a graduate of College of the Atlantic and the Stonecoast MFA Program, and she’s a Maine Master Naturalist. She teaches nature writing and nature journaling workshops around Maine and can be found online a http://www.andrealani.com.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact programs@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-200-7180 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due two weeks prior to the workshop start date, at 9:00 a.m.
→ MORE INFORMATION
MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION