Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP): Animals, Land, & Plants, Oh My: Nature as Metaphor

Have you always felt a kinship with a specific animal or plant? Does the landscape outside your window feel like the embodiment of your inner world? Looking for the backbone that’ll tie your latest project together? In this workshop, we’ll pay homage to our favorite creatures and/or natural features by using them as metaphors in our writing. First, we’ll read pieces that employ nature-based metaphor, such as Lily Hoang’s “A Bestiary” and Alexis Pauline Gumbs’s “Undrowned.” We will discuss how, exactly, nature-based metaphors bring depth and perspective to these works. Then, we’ll explore the parallels we innately see between our own chosen animal/land/plant and the story plots we’re crafting. Bring your current project that’s begging for a connecting theme, or come to start a new piece! Writers of all prose genres (memoir, fiction, non-fiction, etc) welcome! For writers age 13 – 18 ONLY.