Illustration by Christine Mitchell Adams from: https://downeast.com/fish-story/“Writing Place: Landscape, People, and the Natural World”
Workshop: Saturday January, 26, 11:00 – 3:30 p.m.
A reading and writing workshop with Belfast Poet and Writer Linda Buckmaster.
Writing about place involves working with the elements that make a specific place unique. This may include the layers of history, the natural world, culture, and the built environment across time to bring us to the present moment. Writers might be advocates, critics, or lovers of a place but either way, a sense of place helps us ground our writing on any topic.
We will begin our writing process with a Reading Packet of other place-based contemporary and historical writers of prose and poetry. We will “read like a writer,” to paraphrase Francine Prose, unpacking the tools the authors have used in their work such as image, voice, language, and structure.
No previous writing experience is necessary, and the first hour of the workshop is open to those who are readers only. After lunch break, the balance of the workshop is open to writers of all levels and suitable for writers of poetry, prose, or other genre. By developing the craft of writing about place, participants will discover more about their subjects, allowing them to better understand and present their world and experiences.
Pick up reading materials at the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library starting January 14, then:
Saturday January, 26, 11:00 – 3:30 p.m. (with lunch break). The first hour of the workshop will be devoted to discussion of the Readings to include those readers who are not interested in the writing module. After lunch, the afternoon will be focused on using the readings and writing prompts to create new work.
This program was made possible by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council.
About Linda Buckmaster:
Linda Buckmaster has over 20 years of experience teaching adults at the university level and in community settings. Her community-based writing workshops have been held in public libraries, arts centers, and gardens; on islands and at Senior College. Her program, “Writing Place. Landscape, People and the Natural World” and its variations have been particularly popular. Many Maine writers, established and beginners, are inspired by our place in the state.
Linda always uses as models the work of other published authors. The writing workshop is appropriate for beginners and published writers, each of whom will write at their own level of competence.
To paraphrase the late poet and teacher Constance Hunting, editor of “Puckerbrush Review,” we will “pull back the curtain” on a piece of writing to see how the gears and pulleys are worked to effect. As Constance would say, “And you can do that, too.”
Participants will gain confidence that they can indeed do that too in their own voices. Linda maintains a safe, nonjudgmental atmosphere so that participants can feel comfortable trying new things and sharing their work. The goal is that each participant will leave with a “keeper” – a beginning or scrap that they can expand upon after the workshop. For the more experienced, they may gain insights for a piece they are already working on.