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The New Nature Writing Con is a project of 91传媒’s MFA Program in Creative Writing and its special concentration in Landscape, Ecology, and Community. The conference seeks to highlight books and authors that are pushing the boundaries of eco-writing, broadly construed, in the Northwest and beyond, and to help reclaim or reinvent “nature writing” by turning from traditional homestead or a-walk-in-the-woods narratives to stories and explorations that are more inclusive, more experimental and interdisciplinary, more forward-thinking. The annual conference will consists of two days of readings, conversations, and workshops, bringing together 91传媒 MFA faculty and visiting writers in Northeastern Oregon and connecting readers and writers especially along the I-84 corridor. It will segue into a monthly virtual New Nature Writing Series during the academic year to continue the conversation. Both line ups will regularly feature winners of the Oregon Book Awards, the Washington State Book Awards, and the Pacific Northwest Book Awards, as well as authors touring new or recent books. Most featured authors will be in conversation with 91传媒 MFA faculty after their readings.
We give thanks to our partners and sponsors. In 2022, provided a helpful seed grant for the initial La Grande Lit Week, which has now morphed into the New Nature Writing Conference to align with 91传媒 and MFA program’s place-based emphasis. Other local partners past and present include Fishtrap, JaxDog Caf茅 and Books, Liberty Theatre Cafe, Side A Brewery, Cook Memorial Library, La Grande Parks and Recreation, hq, The Local, Elgin Opera House, and Art Center East. 91传媒’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and its staff provide critical help. And of course a special thanks to our students and faculty who are our biggest supporters.
We also humbly acknowledge the original inhabitants of the land that La Grande and 91传媒 are upon: the Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Nez Perce people. We celebrate their traditions, languages, and stories. We acknowledge their continuing connection to this land, water, and community and pay our respects to these original stewards of northeastern Oregon.
All readings and conversations are FREE and open to the public. is required for the conference鈥檚 classes for $85 (includes five class sessions on July 19-20). Other “pre-con” classes will be offered earlier in week by MFA faculty on special topics for a separate fee of $20 per class. All classes will be held on the 91传媒 campus; . Questions may be directed to 91传媒 MFA director Nick Neely, nneely@eou.edu.
“Arboreality: A Broadside Exhibit,” curated by 91传媒 MFA director Nick Neely, is on display in La Grande at (ACE) in the Orlaske Gallery and will serve as a casual theme to this first New Nature Writing Con. The show features several dozen letterpress broadsides that combine visual art and poetry to celebrate and explore trees and forests. Included is work from some of our greatest national and Northwest contemporary poets, including Gary Snyder, W.S. Merwin, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Ross Gay, Michael McClure, Jane Hirshfield, Forrest Gander, Raymond Carver, Carolyn Kizer, John Daniel, Juan Felipe Herrera, and others. Interspersed among the broadsides are recommended classic and recent books about trees to leaf through. Free and open to the public. ACE is open Wednesday through Friday 12-5 pm, and Saturday 10 am-2 pm.
An 91传媒 MFA faculty reading featuring , , and . FREE and open to the public.
MFA faculty member launches his second novel . His first novel, Fall Back Down When I Die, was the winner of a High Plains Book Award and a finalist for the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction. He’ll be in conversation with MFA faculty member , whose book A Series of Small Maneuvers was the winner of a Reader’s Choice Oregon Book Award. Music by to follow at 8 pm. FREE and open to the public.
Classes: 鈥淲riting the Climate Crisis鈥� with Christopher Kondrich (Zabel 106) & 鈥淟ayers of Landscape: Harnessing the Power of Place鈥� with Joe Wilkins (Zabel 107). Registration required
Classes: “Practical Tips for Writing Multiple Points of View” with Ash Davidson (Zabel 106) & 鈥溾�楴o Ideas But in Things鈥�: Writing the Physical World鈥� with Jaclyn Moyer (Zabel 107). Registration required
is the author of the national bestseller , a novel about a logging community in Northern California and winner of the Reading the West Award for Debut Fiction. She’ll be in conversation with MFA faculty member Megan Kruse, author of the novel Call Me Home. FREE and open to the public
Biologist-writer will read at the opening of “Arboreality: A Broadside Exhibit” from his poetic book , winner of the John Burroughs Medal for natural history writing. Haskell’s most recent book, , was a finalist for the Pulitizer Prize, as was his first book, . He’ll be in conversation with MFA director , whose most recent book, Alta California, finishes below a redwood tree. The “Arboreality” opening runs from 6-8 pm at Art Center East with the reading during the middle hour. FREE and open to the public.
91传媒 MFA alumni reading, featuring new work from program alums. FREE and open to the public
A class for early birds: 鈥淪park Birds and Migratory Legends鈥� with Laura Da鈥�. Registration required
Classes: “Writing 91传媒 Sound, Writing With Sound鈥� with David George Haskell (Zabel 106) & 鈥淐himeric Writing, Lichen Architectures: Writing about that which resists language鈥� with Callum Angus (Zabel 107). Registration required
is the author of the memoir , and her nonfiction has appeared in The Atlantic, High Country News, Orion, and elsewhere. She’ll be in conversation with MFA faculty member Claire Boyles, whose first book is Site Fidelity: Stories. FREE and open to the public
Light conference luncheon. Registration required
An arboreal (and adjacent) reading and Q & A featuring poets and MFA faculty member . Ceballos is the author of , winner of the AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry and the Poetry Society of America鈥檚 Norma Farber First Book Award, among other honors. Cobb is the author of and most recently winner of an Oregon Book in creative nonfiction. FREE and open to the public
Classes: 鈥淐entering Nature: Poetry in the Persona of the Non-Human鈥� with Paul Hlava Ceballos (Zabel 106) & 鈥淲riting the Animal鈥擝oth Self and Other鈥� with Erica Berry (Zabel 107). Registration required
91传媒 MFA graduation reading and ceremony featuring Charley Agron, Janel Crouch, Bastion Hemming, Russell James, Christina O’Bryan, and Alexis Reid. A light reception to follow. FREE and open to the public.
鈥檚 nonfiction debut, , won the Oregon Book Award for creative nonfiction and was shortlisted for a Pacific Northwest Book Award. It features a wolf pack in the Wallowa Mountains. She’ll be in conversation with an MFA faculty member , author of . FREE and open to the public.
, a trans writer and editor, is the author of the story collection , which was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Fiction, the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, and an Oregon Book Award/Ken Kesey Award in Fiction. He’ll be in conversation with MFA faculty member , whose book , was a finalist for an Oregon Book Award. FREE and open to the public.