Artist-In-Residence Workshop with Poet Leila Chatti

Chatti will lead a writing workshop titled “Poetics of Place: Hello From ______!” This generative workshop will be focused on how to write place-based work, from postcard poems and travel narratives delighting in new experiences to deeper exploration of our well-known, day-to-day domiciles. How do we capture a place—its sounds, sights, smells, culture, and quirks—and convey it to someone who’s never been? How do we train our eyes to see again, more clearly, the details of our homes and hometowns, which may have become “mundane” through familiarity? This workshop will look at the work of established writers for examples of how to bring the places we love (and hate!) to life for distant readers, and participants will be given exercises to further their own work. Everyone has a story to tell about where they’re from, and where they’ve been—including Mackinac Island!

This workshop will take place at the Station 256 Conference Room, located above the Mackinac Island State Park Visitor’s Center. This is a free event.