Lucille and Sandy Stott
Two-Day Writing Workshop
Dates: TBA 
Time:
10 am – 4 pm
Location:
Thoreau Farm
Tuition: $175
Workshop Description
This workshop is designed to get you thinking about how to bring your outdoor excursions to the page.
Whether, like Henry Thoreau and Wendell Berry, you “travel widely at home” or prefer to venture farther afield, any time spent outdoors can lead to wonder, insight, discovery, and joy. It can also offer challenges, both mental and physical, that can help us deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
The workshop will be guided by the central question Emerson poses at the beginning of Nature: “Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe?” This seems like a good question for all of us ponder.
During the two days, you will spend some time outdoors, with and without a notebook and pen. You will be prompted to write short pieces about what you have seen, heard, and felt during your time outside. At times, you’ll be invited to read your drafts to the group. Works in progress are valuable to others as well as yourself, and it is rewarding to hear your words spoken in your own voice and receive constructive feedback.
We will distribute reading material when you arrive, which we will use to launch discussion on the following day.
Throughout the weekend, we will set aside time for one-on-one conferences. You may send up to five pages of writing to us, and we will divide these up and schedule individual meetings when we gather. Please submit your work no later than Wednesday, June 16, 2021, to ensure us enough time to review it carefully. You may email your drafts to lustott@concordacademy.org. Please send your work as a Word attachment, using Times New Roman, 12-point type.
Lucille Stott is a writer, editor, and former Concord Academy English teacher. She is the author of Saving Thoreau’s Birthplace: How Citizens Rallied to Bring Henry Out of the Woods. She was editor-in-chief of Appalachia journal from 2000-2006 and remains a contributing editor. Her essays and articles have appeared in a variety of publications. She is also writing the book that will mark Concord Academy’s centennial, to appear in January 2022.
Sandy Stott is a writer, editor, and former Concord Academy English teacher. He is the author of Critical Hours: Search and Rescue in the White Mountains. He is the founding editor of The Roost, the blog of the Thoreau Farm Trust. He edited Appalachia journal from 1989 to 1999; he currently serves as its Accidents Editor, writing a semiannual column on mountain rescues, risks and safety.
The Stotts make their home in Brunswick, Maine.
Cancellation Policy
To review our cancellation policy, click here.