Naming the World with Julie Batten

Naming the World – a weekend of Personal Essay based on Bret Anthony Johnston’s book.

To write well we must be able to “name the world” around us in such a way as to throw a new light on the ordinary, to see the everyday through a different lens – one that measures the now on its own terms without preconception or expectation. On the first day of this two-day workshop, we will use the prompts from Johnson’s book to explore all of the basic elements of crafting compelling personal essays including character and setting, dialogue and narrative style, etc. We will write (and write some more) and spend the second day workshopping and discussing the bounty of our work and of course, revising! Come with your stories and personal observations and family yarns. Come with your muses and musings and courage enough to wrangle it all onto the page! You will leave on Sunday afternoon with at least one revised and completed essay.

July 13-14  9am to 3pm
Cost: $250
Minimum of 5 participants – Max 12

Julie Batten teaches in the English department at Salem State University and is the founder of the Glass House Shelter Project, a grassroots organization that brings college courses into homeless shelters. She recently did a TEDx talk at SSU about her work with marginalized folks and the power of the written word to give us a renewed sense of belonging in the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgWZjOB_5Yg