Writing Workshops

Join me for AMC’s annual writing workshop below Mount Cardigan

Writing from the Mountains at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Cardigan Lodge

Friday, October 25-Sunday, October 27, 2024

Many writers already realize that their work is not merely an indoor, sedentary pursuit but that the best ideas come in a flash while we are doing other things that have nothing to do with writing. The mountains can deliver this flash. I will help you find it and write it. This workshop is for writers of all levels—anyone who wants to use the backcountry to tell human stories.

Workshop writers go out on the trails, which begin at the back door of Cardigan Lodge in Alexandria, New Hampshire. You will go out alone a few times, with plenty of help from me and an AMC guide. When you return from the trails, I will guide you in writing new material. You will find out there that many things come up for you: observations and thoughts the landscape inspires, solutions to a writing project you’re already working on, and more. We will also use the natural setting to inspire metaphors, learn about that ecosystem, and consider the effects of the changing climate.

I have edited Appalachia since 2006. My long journalism career is informed by thousands of miles in the mountains, with others and solo, mostly in the East, including my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. 

Cost*

Starting at:

Sign up here.

Agenda:

Friday evening: Gather and introductory exercises. Optional night walk.

Saturday: Breakfast, solo walks, writing in the lodge, lunch, observation techniques using index cards, discussion of a published essay provided ahead of time.

Sunday: Collecting walks, optional meetings to look at manuscripts or talk about writing practice strategies.