Events

Advance registration is necessary for all workshops.
Does your group want to host a workshop on a particular topic? Workshops tailored to your specific needs are offered upon request. 

Book Events (& News!)

Read the blurbs for Writing on the Landscape by clicking here.

Please stay tuned: We, Jennifer Wilhoit and Steve Jones, have completed our co-authored book draft and are now in the editing phase. Our book is entitled Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature; it is filled with personal and professional experiences about how nature and life are intertwined. We expect to begin scheduling book events by late fall or early winter.

Upcoming Workshops, Retreats, Courses, & Presentations 

Click here to contact Jennifer for details about specific offerings.

Ongoing Online Course - Growing Words of Compassion: Nature and Writing Practices to Love By
This on-demand course is available now (register and take the course whenever you want). This hands-on, multidisciplinary course will help students engage with their innate capacity for tender compassion. The curriculum is designed to meet each student where s/he currently is in the understanding and practice of compassion; deepening one’s expression of compassion is the primary focus. Click here for more information.

Coming soon! Online Courses - Writing on the Landscape: The Book Experienced and Instructors' Guide to "Writing on the Landscape"

September 22-23 (Saturday/Sunday) 10 AM - 4 PM Books Meet Writing in the Natural World: Coptic-Bound Nature Journal/Sketchbook class Co-Facilitators: Jennifer Wilhoit & MJ Linford (Hosted by BARN - Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network) $150. + $10. materials fee ($125. + $10. for BARN members)
In this two session class you will learn the techniques and gain the skills necessary for making your own nature journal/sketchbook with a Coptic binding. Learn from a writer/spiritual ecologist and a master bookmaker.You will be guided through step-by-step instructions for compiling, completing, and decorating your handmade book. Coptic-bound journals allow for pages to be opened flat, making them ideal for outdoor use. You will also be guided through simple outdoor, creative, nature-based, and writing activities aimed to inspire content for your journal/sketchbook. Please bring a willingness to go outside (with weather-appropriate clothing, rain or shine) for brief periods of time to engage in some of these inspiring activities. Students will leave class with their Coptic-bound book and a start on filling the pages with nature-inspired writings and images. Learn more and register here.

September 27, 2018  5-6:30 PM Journeying Through Emotions in Memoir Writing class for the "WhaMemWriMo" (Whatcom Memoir Writing Month) course series at Village Books, Bellingham $25.
This class offers hands-on instruction in ways we can write when the content or process of writing become difficult. Many writers of memoir find themselves at a stall at some point in the process of drafting their stories; sometimes this occurs because the emotions associated with particular content are challenging and other times it stems from a lack of how to draft the particular content or gaps in memory. We will focus on the structures and details of drafting emotional content as well as self-care and pacing in regard to emotions (our own and others') that arise as we do so. Register here.

October 6, 2018 Memoir Writing class 10 AM - 4 PM (Hosted by Bainbridge Island Parks) $50.
Many writers of memoir find themselves at a stall at some point in the process of drafting their personal stories; sometimes these challenges are emotion-based; other times they are technical. This one-day intensive offers both structures and details of drafting emotional content. Self-care and pacing will also be prioritized. Register here beginning 8/29.  (activity #563215)

October 8, 15, 22, 29, 2018 (Monday mornings 10 AM - 12 PM) Writing on the Landscape class (Hosted by Bainbridge Island Parks) $60.
This four-week course is based on the book Writing on the Landscape: Essays and Practices to Write, Roam, Renew, written by the instructor. This course offers inspiration, exploration of various writing forms, as well as writing- and nature-based practices that can guide participants through the writing process as well as through life. Register here beginning 8/29.  (activity #563214)

December 8, 2018 (Saturday morning) Grief and Writing Through the Holidays workshop Bainbridge Island $60.
Find comfort in writing and simple ways to cope as you navigate the holiday season without a loved one. Writing is a powerful tool for working through grief. Learn simple ways to cultivate peace & wellbeing, to find respite and healing. This is especially for people who have suffered a recent loss or significant life change. We will explore specific losses, the landscape of grief, and writing for healing. Register here. 

December 15, 2018 (Saturday morning) Writing for the Winter Solstice workshop Bainbridge Island $75.
We will explore how the wintertime shapes and moves us. Our time together will include sitting, writing, and walking solo on the land in order to experience more deeply our inner seasons. Register here. 

Popular Workshops

Writing the Inner/Outer Landscape - Introduction
Explore what it means to write from the perspective of the inner and outer landscapes. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with three evocative types of written expression: writing for insight, writing as rite and writing for outcome. Whether a novice or experienced writer, you are invited to see what emerges when writing meets inspiration and nature. 

Writing the Inner/Outer Landscape - Five Part Series, Includes:
Branching Out: Brainstorming
Stacking the Rocks: Getting Organized
Diving into the Stream: Actually Writing
The Brambled Trail: Roadblocks in Writing
Climbing the Mountain: Finding Stamina

Grief and Writing
Writing is a powerful way to work through the difficult emotions associated with loss or transition. Whether your life changes and sorrows are past or current, this workshop offers a path toward wholeness. You will have the opportunity to explore your individual expression of grief in a safe, confidential community. I will introduce a variety of simple nature-based, spiritual, and creative practices that can help you cultivate and sustain peaceful wellbeing even during hard times. 

Writing for the Equinox/Solstice
We will explore how the seasons shape and move us. Our time together will include sitting, writing, and walking solo on the land in order to experience more deeply our inner seasons.

Titles of Past Workshops & Trainings 

Altar-Making Workshop
Alternatives to Voice: Writing as a Means to Understanding
An Antidote to Writers’ Block
Compassionate Practices in Trying Circumstances
Crafting Your Writing Life
Developing a Body of Work: Beginners
Developing a Body of Work: Phase II
Exploring our Spiritual Roots: The Inner/Outer Landscape
Grief & Writing for the Holidays
Journeying Through Personal Responsibility Toward a Culture of Peace
Journeys into Landscapes: Travel Journaling
Meditation and Writing
Nature Journaling
Reaching Writing Goals
Season’s Greetings: Writing for the Holidays
Stories of Conflict: Calming Practices Rooted in Ecological Writing
Stories of Conflict: Writing for Insight as a Tool for Mediating
Sustainable Earth, Sustainable Lives: Writing that Sustains
Taking a Deeper Dive: Writing Stories that Transform
The Journey Through Grief
Transforming Conflict, Transforming Lives: Re-writing & Re-rooting Stories
Treephilia: Global Earth Exchange, in connection with Radical Joy for Hard Times
Volunteers Who Thrive: Writing & Nature Practices in Hospice Service
Writing as Life; Life as Writing
Writing as Rite
Writing for Non-Writers
Writing for Serenity
Writing for the Autumnal Equinox 
Writing for the Holidays
Writing for the Spring Equinox
Writing for the Summer Solstice
Writing for the Winter Solstice
Writing, Meditation, and Creativity
Writing No Matter What: Getting Words on the Page
Written Story Workshop