Fall 2012

Wednesday 12 September - Sunday 16 September

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Raw Matters

Taught by: Maya Stein

Thursday Sep 13 - all day

Experience Level: All Levels
Kit Fee: $10

Writing is an act of intimacy. It asks us to get up close and personal, to unmask the hidden, and to be courageous with truth. When we enter into the creative act of telling our stories, we are making an implicit agreement to come in contact with the raw material of our lives, the agonies and the ecstasies both. Whether we are writing about the minutiae of family dynamics or the larger landscapes of the human condition, we must always begin our investigation from the ground up, locating the entry points and passageways that make our stories come alive. The richness of this process often lies in physical, tactile, and tangible details, the ordinary moments and unselfconscious experience we move through daily. When we take time to pay attention to the smaller acts of living, when we align ourselves with the visual, visceral sources of our stories, we tap into a freedom of expression that extends well beyond the page.

In this class, we will explore these elementals by playing with our senses, sharing personal narratives, and interacting with a variety of materials to tease out new writing. We will first spend time gathering inspiration from physical items I will provide (see below), or you are free to bring your own personal keepsakes or take a walk outside to look for additional ideas. We will then return to the group and share a bit about why we chose what we did, as well as some of the stories these inspirations are sparking. I’ll provide a series of short writing prompts that will build on these sparks, and we will continue gathering to read and reflect throughout the day. Material list: I will offer a keepsake box for each participant, as well as miscellaneous materials including art papers, fabric swatches, letters, signage, quotations, shopping lists and other ephemera, newspapers, and books that can be torn apart and used in your work.

Material list:

Something to write in, and something to write with - A journal, sketchbook, notepad, and laptop are all acceptable. Pens, pencils, charcoal sticks, whatever you need to set words down.

*photo by jen gray