Sponsored by the English Department & Dean of Arts with PEI Writers’ Guild support Saturday, March 14 – 10:00­-12:00 & 1:00­-3:00 UPEI campus – Main Building, Room 420 10:00­-12:00 – The Attractions of Nature Writing In this workshop we’ll discuss many aspects of nature writing, including location, time of year, and subjects of focus (from birds and mammals to flowers and mushrooms to clouds and stars). We’ll pose several key questions. How are observation and sensual detail mixed with reflection, memory, and the writer’s presence? How can you structure your explorations of the natural world? What are the advantages of both single­mindedness and variety? Special attention will be paid to the tradition of chronological “books of days,” and to the special rewards of plein­air (outdoor) writing. You are asked to bring one object from forests, fields, beaches, and other sorts of environments – an object you feel might inspire others into writing. 1:00-­3:00 – Writing Praise Poems This workshop will centre on poems of celebration and praise. We will look at such poems, including odes and elegies, by poets as diverse as Pablo Neruda, Alden Nowlan, and Mary Oliver. How do we mix celebration with humour, irony, and fantasy? How can we escape clichés, making our praise original and worthy of its subject? Feel free to bring drafts of your own poems of celebration, whether they're about people, places, works of art, natural phenomena, or other subjects. Coffee, tea, juice, fruit, and muffins will be provided. An elevator is located in the Main lobby. Workshop fees for students, seniors, and PEI Writers’ Guild members are $25 for one workshop and $40 for both workshops, and $35 or $60 for other participants. To register, contact the UPEI English Department: 566­0389 or tjohnston@upei.ca. Limit: 15 participants per workshop A professor of Creative Writing and Literature at Saint Mary’s University, Brian Bartlett was born in St. Stephen, N.B., grew up in Fredericton, lived for fifteen years in Montreal, and moved to Halifax in 1990. His poetry collections include Planet Harbour, Underwater Carpentry, The Afterlife of Trees, and Wanting the Day: Selected Poems, which won the 2004 Atlantic Poetry Prize. His most recent book is Ringing Here and There: A Nature Calendar. He also edited Don McKay: Essays on His Works and a selection of Don Domanski’s poetry, Earthly Pages.