Title: LIVING WORDS, FOLKLORE AND CREATIVE WRITING: PEGGY YOCOM
Date & Time: July 23, 2:00pm – July 29, 9:00am
Location: Monson Maine
Registration link: monsonarts.org/workshops

Description:
Living Words: Folklore and Creative Writing

Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. — Eudora Welty

In our workshop, through the gifts of traditional lore, we will listen for stories, for those moments that are worth writing down on the page. We’ll explore the unsuspected depths of everyday cultural forms and practices that are especially relevant for participants’ own poetry, fiction, and non-fiction writing.

Folklore and creative writing make good partners, for both depend on attention and bewilderment, precision and ambiguity. Proverbs and jokes pare down words and turn on themselves quickly; they urge us to condense, to write concisely. Folk speech anchors words in place. Riddles lead us to danger and wisdom; they obscure and reveal. The family foods we eat, the objects we treasure, and the rituals we practice brighten our lives—and our writings—with memory and meaning. And the stories we tell—whether mythological tales, “fairy tales,” legends, supernatural tales, tall tales, or stories of personal experiences—provide the inspiration, provocation, and backbone for many poems, short stories, novels, memoirs, and non-fiction essays.

TUITION, ROOM & BOARD
Single: $1465
Double: $1240

Contact: director@monsonarts.org

Directions: Monson is located in the north-central Highlands of Maine, close to mountainous regions great for outdoor recreation. It is approximately 250 miles north of Boston (4hrs), 140 miles from Portland (2.5 hrs), and 60 miles from Bangor (1.15hrs).