In this half-day contemplative writing workshop, we will tap into our choices as humans by starting with a simple plan: looking at objects and exploring how you arrange them. Juxtaposition (the act of choosing and placing things near to each other) will be our first activity — feeling into choice, writing, and sharing with each other. We will explore other strategies for attention (cloudspotting included) and leave our phones behind. 

Elaine Bleakney is a poet and writer living in Hot Springs, North Carolina. Her book of poems,Take the Exit Then Exit, is published by Understory Books and was a National Poetry Series finalist. Elaine's previous books include For Another Writing Back, an avant-memoir in lyric prose (Sidebrow Books, 2014) and the chapbook 20 Paintings by Laura Owens, an ekphrastic conversation (Poor Claudia, 2013). Her writing has appeared in the Kenyon Review, the Believer, the Yale Review, Literary Hub, and other publications. She has been a resident at the Vermont Studio Center and the Little Brown Mushroom Camp for Socially Awkward Visual Storytellers. Elaine has taught writing to artists as a guest at Penland School of Craft, Warren Wilson College, the University of North Carolina in Asheville, and elsewhere.