Writing Craft with Ariel Gordon

Up in a Tree: a nature/eco writing workshop

Wild turkeys roaming the back alleys. Elms with Dutch elm disease losing their leaves. Coyotes running down the street. What does it mean to slow down and pay attention to the urban ecosystem? What lives in the urban forest with us? This workshop focuses on what it means to pay attention to the natural world, to stop and see what’s living with us under the trees. Participants will read and discuss works on this topic, then sit and observe for 30 minutes, taking notes. They will then spend time turning those observations into a poem or the beginnings of a story, which they might choose to share with the group.

Presented in partnership with the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture at the University of Manitoba.