Literary Naturalist Workshop

Literary Naturalist Workshop

Saturday October 8, 9 am to 11 am

The science of natural history and the art of writing both rely on the same creative skills: constant observation, ongoing reflection, and creative interpretation. “Literary-naturalists” are people who combine these two practices—they are writers who use natural history interpretation as they create stories. In this class, we will practice this ourselves. We will take a leisurely walk to explore the natural history of Front Range ecosystems—its geology, botany, and wildlife history—and will pause and reflect using literature to consider our connections to it all. The class will involve natural history observation and a fun, supportive, brief writing exercise. Using short excerpts from environmental writers—such as Barry Lopez, Helen MacDonald, Gretel Ehrlich, or Robin Wall Kimmerer—we will focus our attention on local ecology and how it is a window onto larger poetic and philosophical questions about our place in the ecosystem. If there’s time, we’ll share what we’ve each observed and written down so we can learn from all our perspectives. Copies of literature excerpts will be provided; please bring a notebook and pencil, as well as your favorite field guides.  

Instructor: Eric Siegel is an environmental journalist whose reporting appears most recently in High Country News. He is also a poet, teaches at the Colorado School of Mines, and is currently in Denver Audubon’s Community Naturalist year-long training program.

**You must register for this program (maximum attendees: 20 people) and complete the liability form when you register. Walk-up or impromptu participants will not be allowed.

**Your program registration confirmation will be sent via e-mail – please add info@denveraudubon.org to your trusted list of contacts.

COVID Guidelines: We will follow the current guidelines for the county where the program takes place.