Saturday Jan. 30th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m Berkeley
$95 members/$110 others Cancellation/Refund Policy
Testimonials for Ben
CLOSED
What is a ‘writing practice’? What does that mean exactly? What does it entail? Are there rules? Guidelines? Examples? Says Ben, “You follow what fascinates you about your own life. You ask yourself, ‘What makes my life passionate, singular, intriguing?'”
In this class Ben will lead you through writing exercises designed to engage the senses and help you tap into your reservoirs of memory and imagination—reservoirs you may not even know you have.
“While writing in class, we’ll strive to be as open and honest as possible, allowing the creative process to carry us away,” says Ben. “For some of you, childhood reflections could be your source of inspiration; for others, imaginative leaps into the future may generate the most exciting possibilities.” Time will also be set aside to read a few excerpts from journal entries, essays and interviews from well-known writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Stafford, and Louise Erdrich to see how they developed their own writing practices.
“Our goal in this workshop is to know ourselves better through self-reflection,” says Ben, “and to begin the ever-evolving process of discovering a writing practice that works best for us. It’s for anyone—from beginning writers to published authors—who wants to explore, nurture and pursue an ongoing writing practice.”
Ben Jackson has taught creative writing to students from the second grade up to the college level. A graduate of Warren Wilson’s MFA Program, he currently teaches literature at the University of San Francisco. His work has appeared in New England Review, Hudson Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, The Journal, and elsewhere. His awards include the 2015 Robinson Jeffers Tor House Poetry Prize as well as residencies from Vermont Studio Center, Jentel Artist Residency Program, and Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts.