FIELD NOTES
Dates: 09.10.17 – 09.15.17
Location: A working farm near McClure, PA
Number of students: 10
“THINGS GROW CLAUSTROPHOBIC WHEN MEMOIRISTS FAIL TO SAY TO THE READER – ONE WAY OR ANOTHER – I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE LIVED YOUR JOYS AND SORROWS, TOO. THESE ARE MY LESSONS FOR YOU.” – BETH KEPHART
WHAT WILL WE DO?
In fresh air, among wildlife and domesticated creatures, fossils and fruits, trails and clear water, we’ll learn from some of the greatest memoirs ever written—and write our own. Through a combination of readings, guided exercises, and critiques, we will consider matters of landscape, truth, and beauty while working toward the development of meaningful themes and sustaining scenes. We will generate and refine new pages, craft a prologue, and share our work in evening readings. We will walk the farm and the hills, take photographs, meet informally on one another’s front stoops, and meet the farmers and their animals. Each writer will have 30 minutes of individual time with Beth. A beautifully designed book featuring the images and words of the week will commemorate our time together.
IS IT RIGHT FOR YOU?
Whether crafting true stories is a life-long passion or a newly emerging one, this workshop will provide opportunities for you to grow as both a writer and a person—and to gain specific feedback on your approach to memoir and language. It will also provide a respite—a chance to step away from the ordinary world and settle into the rhythms of a farm that has been worked since the Civil War era. We’ll be building a community here and laying the foundation for a lifetime of work.
WHAT TO SEND IN ADVANCE
We’re interested in your story. Please write (memoiristically) about a landscape that shaped your idea about beauty. Write no more than 300 words and send them our way with your application. These words will be essential as we prepare the workshop and plan for our first evening together.
