WORKSHOP: WRITING WITH WATER (AZ)

Photograph by Gretchen E. Henderson (Tucson, AZ)

EVENT: Saturday, October 28, 2023 (9:30AM - 1:30PM)

INSTRUCTOR: Gretchen Ernster Henderson

LOCATION: University of Arizona Poetry Center (Tucson, AZ)

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION: Human bodies are largely comprised of water, as is the planet. In the climate crisis, reports of aquatic catastrophes from droughts to floods increasingly swirl. Yet more than dying, water is life-giving, quencher of thirst, nutrient of seeds and soil, aquifer and river, wave and tide. In this writing workshop, we reimagine the liquid presence of water in our words—poetry, nonfiction, fiction, between & beyond—rippling between lines and sentences, paragraphs and poetics of place, even pulsing under our skins. More info here.

Includes lunch catered by Tumerico, with lunch guest speaker Julie Regalado, Education Program Director of Watershed Management Group.

Land Acknowledgement (from the University of Arizona): We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service. Read more here.

This generative workshop is part of a seasonal series on "Relational Ecologies: Writing with a More-than-Human World" taught by Gretchen at the UA Poetry Center, a sister effort to her residential short courses on "Literary Ecologies" and "Writing the Landscape" at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Virginia. Gretchen's online versions as "Seed Retreats" are available through Randolph Lundine.

WATERSHED

Rillito River—Santa Cruz River—Gila River—Colorado River—Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California)—Pacific Ocean