Lovin’ on Mother Earth through Imagination
A Creative Writing Workshop in Fiction
“The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.” So writes Richard Powers in The Overstory, and in this class we’ll be focusing on contemporary fiction that prioritizes stories of the natural world—and how to add your voice to that conversation. We’ll read passages from novels by Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Octavia Butler, TC Boyles, and others, and we’ll be talking about fiction fundamentals—character, place, point-of-view, arc, and plot. Each day, we’ll read, talk about craft, write, and share bits of our work, focusing on how fiction can hold our environmental concerns and care. Imagination, after all, is where great truths can be rendered—and solutions imagined!
Note for booklovers: An optional reading list will be provided early in summer for those who want the challenge of reading relevant novels before class.
Laura Pritchett is the author of seven novels. Known for championing the complex and contemporary West and giving voice to the working class, her books have garnered the PEN USA Award, the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, the WILLA, the High Plains Book Award, and others. She’s also the author of two nonfiction books, one play, and was editor of three environmental-based anthologies. She directs the MFA in Nature Writing at Western Colorado University and when not writing or teaching, she’s generally found exploring the mountains of her home state of Colorado.
Learn more: laurapritchett.com