Autumn W4A Alumni News

Happy autumn!

We hope this autumn finds you well. We are delighted to have another change of season (especially a cooler one!), and one way we'll celebrate is with a special event, Being Brave, Becoming Balanced: An Earth Joy Writing Workshop to Celebrate the Fall Equinox with Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D. Read on to learn more and to register ... this event is free and open to all.

Some of you have taken Gretchen Primack's wonderful poetry class, Writing Like an Animal, but we've included the information below for anyone who hasn't yet explored their animal-themed work in a more poetic way.

We thought you might enjoy this article in the New York Times about a dog lawyer and his fierce loyalty to his clients. It’s not only about a lawyer who defends dogs but also offers a glimpse of animal law (and animal law enforcement) in the U.S. and how it’s evolving.

And for those of you who are working on full-length books, this article on traditional publishing may interest you. Please note that much of what happens to the very fortunate author in this article (How to Get Published: A Book’s Journey From “Very Messy” Draft to Best Seller) is not usual in publishing! But overall, much of the information here is pretty accurate, and this is a great read for anyone who doesn’t know a lot about publishing but hopes to get a book out in the world one day. Most of all, it’s incredibly inspiring, and all of us writers need a bit of inspiration. In the words of the featured author, Jessamine Chan: “I’d like people to know that it’s possible for a debut author in her 40s, a woman of color, a mom, who led a quiet life offline with no brand building whatsoever to have this experience.”

As always, we have alumni news to share — join us in celebrating the accomplishments of your fellow alumni, and do be in touch with your own news!

About the photo above: The sweet chicken pictured above is a rescue who is now living the good life at Tikkun Olam Farm Sanctuary in Talent, Oregon.

Celebrate the Fall Equinox

We are delighted to invite you to join us and Cassie Premo Steele on Wednesday, September 21, for an online workshop to celebrate the fall equinox.

Being Brave, Becoming Balanced:
An Earth Joy Writing Workshop to Celebrate the Fall Equinox
with Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D.

In this live, interactive online workshop, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on the wisdom inherent in this changing season. Collectively, we have all been through hard times in the past few years, and this workshop will bring bravery and balance into our lives through a combination of philosophical reflection, readings of eco-poetry and eco-fiction, guided journaling prompts, trauma-informed movement, and mindfulness-based meditation.

Cassie Premo Steele is the Ashland Creek Press author of Earth Joy Writing: Creating Harmony through Journaling and Nature, as well as several books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Visit her online at www.cassiepremosteele.com and www.earthjoywriting.com.

This workshop is free, and all are welcome. Register here to receive a Zoom link to this one-hour workshop on Wednesday, September 21. Since we'll have readers and writers joining us from all around, here are a few time zones:

2 p.m. Pacific Time
3 p.m. Mountain Time
4 p.m. Central Time
5 p.m. Eastern Time

Writing Like an Animal

A Persona Poem Class with Gretchen Primack

The world is chock full of poems that treat animals like objects, vehicles, stepping stones—anything but vibrant individuals. Can we put work in the world that counters that? One way is through persona poems, poems in the voice of another, which focus us on their agency and selfhood. And writing from another perspective, including animals’ perspectives, can bridge so many divides. This two-part class will share the ins and outs of writing someone else, focusing on writing other species. We’ll read, pre-write, write, revise, and craft.

The class is designed for a range of experience levels, from writers of other genres to poets to literature appreciators who don't have a poetry background at all. The first class will take 1 ½ hours (including a break). You’ll be introduced to persona poems and begin to write your own. The second class will be 2 ½ hours (including a longer break), and will involve deeper writing and crafting/revision.

To learn more about this class and to register, click here.

And click here to visit Gretchen’s website.

W4A Alumni News

We are thrilled to share writing and publishing news from our Writing for Animals alumni — thank you for using your talents to highlight animals!

Writing for Animals alumna and 2021 Siskiyou Prize winner Nadja Lubiw-Hazard has a poem appearing in The Scales Project: Conversations in art about ecological collapse and our place in the changing world.

W4A alumna E.V. Noechel’s poems, "Anything but Summer" and “Fetch,” were published in Writers’ Morning Out in April of 2022.

And W4A alumna Lillie Gardner interviewed My Days of Dark Green Euphoria author A.E. Copenhaver at the Feminist Book Club.

Please feel free to reach out (to midge@ashlandcreekpress.com) with your writing & publishing news — we look forward to sharing and celebrating all that you do for animals!