As writers, we often think of Nature in terms of setting: perhaps compelling, perhaps familiar, perhaps exotic, but ultimately a static background for the stories we seek to tell. Allowing place to take center stage in your writing opens up interesting and provocative possibilities. What happens when we allow the natural world to tell its own story, the place itself to speak? Led by Samaa Abdurraqib and Katherine Hagopian Berry, this workshop encourages participants to explore writing with (not just about) nature. Participants will be led through a series of interactive prompts that allow them to explore different natural guises. The workshop will include writer-centered revision circles, (hopefully!) some time for revision, and a sharing opportunity. Writers in all genres are invited to participate. Limited enrollment
Samaa Aabdurraqib is a writer, poet, and a lover of the outdoors. She’s spent the last 10 years working with many organizations as a facilitator and a leadership coach for leaders of color. Samaa’s recent writing can be found in Cider Press Review, Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic, Writing the Land: Maine, and in her recent chapbook, Each Day is Like An Anchor. She is the editor of From Root to Seed: Black, Brown, and Indigenous Poets Write the Northeast (2023). She is executive director of the Maine Humanities Council and spends her spare time exploring the woods, waterways, and mountains of Maine.
Katherine Hagopian Berry (she/her) is the author of Mast Year, (Littoral Books 2020), Land Trust, (NatureCulture, 2022) and Orbit, just released from Toad Hall Editions. Katherine’s work has been published in literary magazines including Café Review, SWWIM, and Feral. Her poems have appeared in the Portland Press Herald and on Maine NPR, as well as in anthologies including Balancing Act II and Writing the Land.