We all take journeys every day, whether traveling around the world or around the block. And as we sojourn, we observe and interact with the places and people around us, and in turn are informed, changed. To translate such encounters onto the page into engaging personal essays not only requires an engaging voice and vibrant descriptions, but also a conscious crafting of atmosphere, tone, and one’s spirit of inquiry. Of story, trajectory. Perspective, horizons. 

This workshop will help illuminate some of travel writing’s formal and stylistic options. We’ll explore an active itinerary of model readings and in-class exercises designed to help tap and generate salient material, as well as further refine our drafts-in-progress. Expect to also take away techniques for performing research, interviews, and strategies for targeting potential venues for publication. The class invites writers at all levels, working on individual travel tales, personal essays, or book-length collections.  All aboard! 

In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer first impressions on writing you produce in our week; workshop work you bring from home.