Writing DC: Writing about Place and Space

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Every city has a story to tell. This workshop will focus on writing about DC and place/space based writing, including scenes, portraits/profiles, personal essays, and writing your daily life. Place and Space based writers often suggest their relationship(s) to the places and spaces they describe, using creative storytelling techniques such as playful language and factual details.

Students in this course will read short examples of place and space based writing, discussing the elements of evocative writing that makes for meaningful reading. We will also learn about drafting, revision, and publishing strategies. This course is ideal for beginners, particularly those who have always wanted to write or share a story, but weren’t sure where to start. It is also a welcoming a supportive place for more experienced writers to meet others, build community, and share their own strategies. Each student will leave with the beginnings of a piece that they may continue to develop toward publication. The instructor is an Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at George Mason University, with over three decades of publication experience in journalism, creative nonfiction, life writing, poetry, and academic writing.

Please bring a journal/notebook/pen or laptop/iPad, and your most creative self.  

About Michelle: Dr. Michelle LaFrance is an English Professor at George Mason University, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in writing, community writing, ethnography, feminist/cultural materialist and qualitative research methodologies. Michelle has published short stories, poetry, and essays, as well as academic books and articles. She writes the monthly Literary Hill column for The Hill Rag and serves as an Associate Editor for the Community Literacy Journal’s “Issues in Community Writing” section. She is working on a book about walking in the Historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC. She is an avid home brewer, community gardener, and concert-goer. For more info about the classes, retreats, and one-on-one support she offers writers, please see writinglostriver.org.