Instructor: Dr. Sylvia Torti, University of Utah

In this 5-day workshop we will explore the ways that notions of “nature” and “the self” intersect through writing, and we’ll do so embedded in the fabulous Appalachian Mountains.

Using the text Mountains Piled upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene edited by Jessica Cory, we’ll learn the basic elements of good storytelling through reading and discussion. And then we’ll embark on our own generative storytelling from our personal lives, history and experiences at Highlands Biological Station.

Each day will consist of an invigorating combination of: walks, plant and animal identification, discussion of texts, workshopping of your work (previously submitted) and time to write. We’ll finish the week with a reading open to the HBS community.

No later than August 1: Email instructor with 10 pages of double-spaced writing (sylvia.torti@utah.edu). I cannot guarantee that I can review and comment on your work if I don’t receive it by August 1st.

You will be assigned one reading from the Cory book to read per instructions prior to August 7.

Cost: $500 course fee + $300 housing fee (strongly encouraged)

For more information, visit https://highlandsbiological.org/summer-workshops/.