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Writing in the Age of Loneliness: Eco-Literature & the Writer’s Task with Nickole Brown


We are now in the throes of a sixth mass extinction of plants and animals. Some call it the Antropocene, but biologist E.O. Wilson said it may be called by scientists and poets alike the Eremozoic, meaning “The Age of Loneliness.” If we take the worries of climate change and habitat destruction seriously—and in this lonely age potentially bereft of our fellow creatures—how can we help but feel an incapacitating sense of hopelessness that threatens to render things like literature and poems utterly useless? In this intensive, we’ll strive together to find ways past this potentially debilitating hurdle. We’ll ask questions that instead of silencing ourselves will urge us on: What is our responsibility as writers to this epoch? Can the average working person with limited access to nature make any difference? How might we depict the suffering of non-human but sentient beings? How can one write about plants and animals without producing work that is sentimental, overly personified, flat-lined with facts, or, worse, rendered incapable of communicating from its own rage? What impact can we make with our words? Depending on the time we have together, we’ll study poems, lyric essays, and stories that have their own solutions to these pitfalls and will try our hands at writing through this darkness with awareness, control, and yes, even hope.

This course is taught by Nickole Brown. For ten years Nickole Brown served at publicist for Sarabande, worked as publicist for Arktoi Books, is now Editor of the Marie Alexander Poetry Series. Jessica Jacobs worked as a Senior Acquisitions Editor at Wiley and now serves as the Associate Editor of Beloit Poetry Journal, directing publicity for the journal’s new chapbook series. To support Nickole’s second collection and Jessica’s first, the two toured together for nearly six months, giving over 50 readings and garnering reviews in outlets including Publishers Weekly and O Magazine’s “Oprah’s Circle of Friends.” Drawing on these experiences, they will walk aspiring authors through the steps they can take to see that their first book makes it into the hands of readers.

Tickets for this 2-hour course are $100. Please register at:
https://www.writerscenter.org/calendar/ecopoeticsbrown/

NYC writers: the HVWC is located at the Philipse Manor RR station — a short, scenic ride up Metro North’s Hudson line. No car needed! Join us!

Event Location and Ticket Information

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Hudson Valley Writers’ Center
300 Riverside Drive
Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591
Handicap Accessible? Yes

Date: Sunday, September 29, 2019
Times: 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Ticket pricing:

Get tickets now
- $100

Presenter: Hudson Valley Writers Center
Presenter Phone: 9143325953