Writing can help us bear witness to places transformed by extreme weather, disaster, or development. It can reconcile us to change while strengthening our bond with the land and its inhabitants.  This workshop is for writers who feel tethered to a place in complicated ways—through love, grief, nostalgia, concern, or responsibility. We’ll treat place not as scenery, but as something living and responsive, shaped by human choices and natural forces alike. You don’t need a clear argument or polished idea to begin; curiosity is enough. What matters is your willingness to slow down, look closely, and let the writing follow what the place reveals.  During the session, I’ll guide you through crafting vivid, compelling depictions rooted in a place that matters to you. We’ll explore techniques for immersing readers in place-based experience and capturing the personal and ecological shifts unfolding within it. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have a draft ready to evolve into a story, essay, poem, or longer work—one that speaks to the place that speaks to your heart.

 

Class meets in person, Saturday, January 9, 10 am - noon.

 

Write On members receive a 10% discount. To become a member, please click here. To receive the discount, members must log in to the website using their unique password and enter member10 in the promotion code box. The code is case sensitive.

 

Teaching Artist: Tamara Dean is an author of fiction and nonfiction. Her latest book, Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless (University of Minnesota Press, 2025), invites readers to consider how we tend the earth in times of uncertainty and ways we thrive in community. Her writing has appeared in The American Scholar , The Georgia Review, the Guardian, One Story , Orion , The Southern Review , STORY Magazine , and other publications. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin and teaches writing with organizations across the U.S.