Environmentalists Anonymous-Day 15
11/22/23
Our last meeting was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had a small group, but it was a good chance to reflect on our first years as a writing group. I am grateful for all of you and your interest in environmental writing. If you have any requests for a specific time or day for this writing group, let me know by responding to this message. If you are following along at home, would a ZOOM group also be helpful?
December 13th at 12 pm will be our last meeting of the year.
I think Wednesdays work, but we may consider moving up the time to 10:30am to be in sync with the other prompt group that meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays.
I will keep you posted on any schedule changes in 2024.
Hosting our in-person writing gatherings in the reading gallery has worked out well. It is quieter in this space and there is more room to spread out.
Now onto the writing…
For this week’s discussion I brought the book Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear by Erica Berry. I found it very timely as I recently read an article about the reintroduction of grizzly bears into the North Cascades, which brings up parallel issues with wolf reintroduction. I also just returned from a trip to Tucson where I had my first encounter with a bobcat. I have been thinking about predators, prey, and fear these days, but haven’t had the time to write about it.
This review in The Atlantic offers a good perspective on Berry’s book:
Wolfish, the writer Erica Berry’s debut, looks both at these invented wolves and at the real ones that have, of late, returned to her home state of Oregon; she also examines the more contemporary wolf metaphors—lone-wolf terrorists, warriors as wolves—that many people use to describe, or perhaps justify, their fear of other humans.
Writing Prompt:
Inspired by this book, choose an animal. Maybe it is one you have encountered lately or maybe it is the first one to come to mind. Now, choose an emotion or feeling like joy, grief, or even fear. What does this animal teach you about this emotion? Write in prose or poetry for twenty minutes.
We ran out of time in our session, but I also shared a poetic form called the Cento which borrows lines from other poets and poems. As an extension of this, you could also borrow lines from news articles or pieces of non-fiction that inspire you. Be sure to cite the original author, but have fun with this idea.
Here is a Cento prompt from Lantern Review. Give it a try!
Cento definition
Our next in-person meeting is December 13th from 12-1 pm at Village Books. All are welcome.
December 13th will be our LAST meeting of 2023. I am away on December 27th.
We will continue to meet in the Readings Gallery. This is located on the bottom floor of Village Books.
Environmentalist Anonymous meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesday at Village Books from 12-1 pm. This is free and open to the public. I will email a synopsis of our gathering and post on my Substack page, Her Deepest Ecologies, for easier access (no subscription required to see writing group updates).
