Place can be both a launching point and a powerful force for stasis. Place is a shared language, a familiar system of signs, and a vibe you can’t shake, no matter how far you fling yourself. When we ground our work in a strong sense of place we perform a kind of magic, transporting readers in ways beyond imagined geography. In this class we’ll look at how sense of place functions in examples of contemporary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poems, including works grounded in Nashville and the South. Through guided exercises informed by these excerpts, we’ll explore place in terms of theme, metaphor, and concrete detail.
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SUSANNAH FELTS is a writer, editor, and cofounder of the Porch, a nonprofit literary arts center in Nashville, Tennessee. She is the author of the novels The Come Apart and This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record, and her writing has appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, StorySouth, Literary Hub, and elsewhere.
"Susannah is fantastic! Encouraging, authentic, and insightful. I came away with so many useful ideas for improving and deepening my writing practice. I'm already putting them to use! Her prompts for re-visioning previous drafts were especially helpful."
"Susannah was great at loosening up the group and encouraging us to volunteer our work and our feedback for others' work. She set the tone for the class's constructive spirit and guilt-free approach to engaging new techniques for creativity and trying out new writing and revision methods. It was great!"
"Susannah really personified empathy. From the first class, I felt challenged and accepted."
