LLWRC 761 - Get Serious: Nature Writing

Writing about nature requires us to understand what we mean by nature. For instance, do we see ourselves as part of nature or as separate from it? Perhaps more important are the questions of how we came to possess our perspectives of nature and how those perspectives or stories improve or diminish our ability to live in a physical world. We will use our first class to read and discuss the work of established nature writers (Dillard, Hogan, Williams). Saturday, we will write in the field. In our final class, we will workshop the writings inspired by our field trip. Maximilian has an MFA in creative writing and is the author of Chronicles of the Pleistocene Mind and Black River Dreams, both works of literary nonfiction. His nature essays have appeared in magazines and environmental journals, including Yale Anglers' Journal, Weber Studies, and ISLE.