This course seeks to expand the narratives we have about nature, in ways that also consider issues like colonization, racial justice, gender and sexuality, and more.

 

In our time together, we read the work of Black, Indigenous, Immigrant, Queer and other writers of color — Audre Lorde, Ross Gay, Natalie Diaz, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Robin Kimmerer, and many others — to uplift stories that have historically had less power within the nature writing genre.

 

We use this work as inspiration and an entry way for creating our own writing with the group, while also articulating new visions for the narratives we want to see in the nature writing industry as a whole.

 

By the end of the course, participants will also have learned the tools needed to submit their stories for publication, and navigate both the literary and environmentalist spaces that can amplify their work.

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About the Instructor:

 

Amanda E. Machado (she/they) is a queer Latinx writer and facilitator whose work has been published in The Atlantic, Guernica, The Washington Post, Adroit Journal, Slate, The Guardian, Sierra Magazine, and many others. In addition to their essay writing, Amanda also is a public speaker and workshop facilitator on issues of justice and anti-oppression for several organizations within the environmentalist movement. After many years writing and facilitating about the experiences of people of color in the outdoors, she is dedicated to transforming the way we tell stories about nature, and changing the limited narratives we too often hear when confronting our climate crisis.

 

 

Click here to learn more about Amanda.

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LEFT MARGIN LIT'S CANCELLATION/REFUND POLICY:

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If you find that you can't take a class for which you registered, you may request a refund, less a $25 administrative fee, at least 48 hours prior to the start of the first class session. If a class doesn't reach its minimum enrollment, it will be cancelled, and all students will receive full refunds.