Write Where You Are: Sense of Place in the Personal Essay

“Traveling and discovering new places isn’t easy right now,” says instructor Erin Van Rheenen, who identifies as a recovering travel writer. “But it’s the perfect time to turn our attention to places closer at hand—our homes, our streets, and our neighborhoods, where we experience the world viscerally, translating those impressions into words, images, and ideas.”

In this online course, Erin invites students to start where they are, grounding the personal essays they’ll write with concrete details of where we find ourselves at this moment in time. Erin says, “We’ll work with writing prompts, craft exercises, and between-class assignments. We’ll look at how other writers evoke place, environment, and climate, in all the many connotations of those words. And we’ll create a writing community that is energized, supportive, and open to risk-taking.”

Erin wants students to come away from this class with at least two complete new essays between 800 and 1500 words long. “I hope students will dive into themes and stories that haunt them, keep them up at night," Erin says. "The most vital and intimate essays often explore universal themes through a very specific and personal lens.”

Writers of all levels and backgrounds are welcome.

About The Writing Salon's Remote Classes

Due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, The Writing Salon is running all classes in a remote learning format. You will be able to participate in live class meetings via Zoom videoconference. To attend classes, you'll need a phone, tablet or computer and access to the internet. You can participate in the class from wherever you'd like, whether on your living room couch or in your office. Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about Zoom and your remote class. If you have any questions about remote learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.