Wander and Wonder: Writing in the Woods with Jennifer (JP) Perrine

This class, held outdoors in the woods here on Plas Newydd Farm, will guide you in practicing skills associated with shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing—a gentle, meditative approach to being with nature. The class will include several invitations to explore your senses and your relationship with nature, time for written reflection, and opportunities to share your writing. You’ll learn approaches to writing and to being with nature that you can use every day to foster relaxation, connection, and wonder.  All forest bathing and writing prompts may be practiced seated, standing, or walking/rolling. The class will be entirely outdoors, so please dress appropriately.

No prior experience with writing is required.

Please bring:

• a filled water bottle or two 
• snacks and/or lunch, if you’d like
• a notebook and pens/pencils or other writing materials
• comfortable walking shoes
• sunscreen and/or bug spray, if desired
• a camp chair or stool if you’d prefer not to sit on the ground (We’ll provide cushions in case you want to sit on the ground without getting dirty.) 

Workshop Leader:

Jennifer (JP) Perrine is the author of four books of poetry: Again, The Body Is No Machine, In the Human Zoo, and No Confession, No Mass. Their poems, stories, and essays have been described as “muscular,” “hard-working,” “disciplined,” “grimly witty,” “scientific,” “ecstatic,” “sensuous,” “mythic,” and “full of surprises.” A 2022 Oregon Humanities Community Storytelling Fellow and a 2022-23 Independent Publishing Resource Center Artist-in-Residence, Perrine lives in Portland, Oregon, where they cohost the Incite: Queer Writers Read series, teach writing and gender studies, and serve as a wilderness guide. Their writing classes—which range from Surrealist writing games to poetic constraints to nature writing–foster play, experimentation, and creativity. In all their classes, their goal is to help us build relationships with our inner wisdom, with each other, and with the more-than-human world.