Writing Workshops 2008

Thunder Arm Writing Retreat
July 30-August 3, 2008 (Wed eve-Sun)
North Cascades Institute Learning Center
Diablo Lake, Washington
http://www.ncascades.org/programs/seminars/course.html?workshop_id=877

Join me and two other Pacific Northwest writers, Clyde Ford and Ana Maria Spagna, for three days of writing in the stunning landscape of the North Cascades. All students rotate among the teachers in informal writing sessions and lectures; there will be plenty of time for hiking, canoeing on the lake, generating ideas, and putting words on the page.

The Learning Center and its lodges are right on Diablo Lake (off Highway 20 through the mountains). There will be delicious meals prepared by the lodge's chef. The Learning Center also includes the Wild Ginger Library, filled with over a thousand titles.

For more information, to ask for a catalog for other amazing classes on natural history and art, or to register for the retreat, see www.ncascades.org or call 360 856-5700.
Some scholarships are available along with a 20% discount if you haven't taken a NCI class before. You can even get academic credit and clock hours!

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Field's End
"True Stories"
October 1- 29, 2008, Wednesdays, 7- 9 pm
Bainbridge Public Library
Bainbridge Island, Washington
http://www.fieldsend.org/


True Stories: Personal Narratives and Creative NonfictionTrue stories demand just as much attention to choosing detail and shaping a narrative as works of fiction. In this five-week class we'll look at various forms of essays that can be used to record and examine events of a life. We'll try our hands at different forms of nonfiction as we learn to write with a strong voice and describe conversations, people, and places that that engage the reader. We'll work on pruning our writing to the essential point or storyline as we retain the details that are nonfiction's individuality and strength.

Book Reviews of Cold Subjects

Here is a selection of my reviews for the Seattle Times about ice and snow, reindeer, and Northern places:



"The Future of Ice"
by Gretel Ehrlich
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20041114&slug=erlich14



"Ice: The Nature, the History and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance"by Mariana GosnellKnopf, 560 pp., $30
"Ice": Brrrr! A tale with thrills, chillshttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2002685802_ice18.html



"The Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia"by Piers VitebskyHoughton Mifflin, 464 pp., $28

"The Sami People: Traditions in Transition"by Veli-Pekka Lehtola, translated by Linna Weber Muller-WilleUniversity of Alaska Press, 144 pp., $27.95
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2002694579_reindeerpeople21.html


"In a Far Country: The True Story of a Mission, a Marriage, a Murder and the Remarkable Reindeer Rescue of 1898"by John TaliaferroPublicAffairs, 400 pp., $26.95
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2003466487_bookbriefs10.html