The Art of Nature and Travel Writing

3 units

In this creative nonfiction course, students will discover the art of the essay in the realm of nature and travel writing and will write their own personally voiced narratives in which place plays a central role. Whether their journeys take them up the road, around the world, or more deeply into a location, attending to the sensory details, landscape, culture, and history of a place provides rich material for exploration. Students will read and discuss essays by some of the many great writers who have worked in this genre, including traditionally underrepresented voices. Through an active learning approach, writers will generate and share new work and provide each other feedback in a supportive, collaborative workshop setting. The class will focus on selections from Rebecca Solnit, James Baldwin, Rahawa Haile, Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, Terry Tempest Williams, and Pico Iyer, to Colson Whitehead, Leslie Jamison, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Patricia Hampl, and Ryan Knighton.