Writing the Wonders of Nature

Adult writers in this class, led by Cassandra Lewis, will meet in the gallery and find inspiration by visiting the exhibition, Transcendent: Landscapes of the Hudson River School. After the gallery visit, writers will have the opportunity to put some of their creative writing ideas into practice in the Thronson Boardroom. The class will experience passages from Transcendentalist writers such as Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. They will also explore samples of more contemporary nature writing and ecowriting, including works by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Barry Lopez, Camille T. Dungy, and others. Ecowriting is a form of creative and critical writing that channels storytelling toward environmental and ecological themes with the goal of fostering connection, empathy and action toward nature and conservation. Writers in this class will come away with an understanding of how Transcendentalist writing continues to influence today’s ecowriting and a draft of a personal essay that connects their experience with the wonders of the natural world.