“What gnaws at you about the times we’re living in? What enrages, confuses and saddens you?” asks instructor Katharine Harer. “This class will provide a safe and encouraging space where we can write creatively about what is happening in our communities, our country, and the world.”
In this half-day class, you’ll learn how to write artfully about political events, and you’ll put those tools into practice during in-class writing activities. Katharine says, “We’ll learn how to produce writing that is grounded in observation and contemplation. We’ll also experiment with image, metaphor, and symbol to artfully channel our beliefs and emotions.” To guide your in-class writing, Katharine will bring in examples of poetry and personal essays from writers such as Mosab Abu Toha, Lucille Clifton, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Pablo Neruda.
You’ll leave class with 2-3 early drafts of poems or short personal essays that you can continue to develop and refine while using tools from the day’s lessons. “Our goal as writers,” says Katharine, “will be to connect to others on a human level as we bear witness to our current time.”
About The Writing Salon's In-Person Classes
Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about your class. If you have any questions about in-person learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.
Katharine Harer loves teaching creative writing. She has worked with hundreds, maybe thousands, of students in her over thirty-year career as a community college writing teacher at Skyline College and as a private workshop instructor. Katharine has published seven collections of poetry, the most recent, Deconfliction, in 2020, and a full-length volume of poems, Jazz & Other Hot Subjects, in 2016. Her poetry and nonfiction have been published widely in literary journals, newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. Her travel essay Delle Donne appeared in Best Women’s Travel Writing 2016 and a personal essay, Blue Flags & Painted Crosses, is forthcoming from Sonora Review in Tucson.
- Saturday, May 09, 10:00am-1:00pm
I think Katharine is a great teacher. She gives everyone respectful, individual attention. She lets everyone have their own opinion and encourages us to listen to each other with the same empathy.