Nature Writing Now: Edgy, Experimental, Spunky Form and Technique

Experimentation is where it’s at these days—especially in the world of nature writing. If you take a look at today’s best place-based literary journals and books, you’re going to see a lot of edge. The good kind of edge! Not only has the world of nature writing evolved in terms of content, but it’s also evolved in terms of form. Check out all the flash, episodic, epistolary, listical and hermit-crab works. Don’t know what those terms mean? Never fear! That’s what this course is about. In this workshop, we’ll have a craft talk, read some contemporary edgy nature writing, have generative writing exercises, and do some sharing—all while playing with the wild power of experimental form.

Laura Pritchett is the author of five novels, two nonfiction books, and editor of three environmental anthologies, and her work has been the recipient of the PEN USA Award, the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, the WILLA, the High Plains Book Award, several Colorado Book Awards, and others. She directs the MFA in Nature Writing at Western Colorado University and teaches around the country, including Fishtrap, Elk River, Orion, etc.

Preferred writing utensils – notebook, pen, pencil, laptop etc