Eco-Poetics: Writing with Water, Stone, and Wind with Matthew Duffy
590 Water St., Prairie du Sac, WI 53578
Saturday, March 6th, 2027 | 10am-1pm | Deadline to Register: March 3rd, 2027
$35 – Indigenous students may take this class at a 100% scholarship
Students Should Bring: Something to write with (notebook and pen; laptop, tablet, etc.)
Level: Beginner/No prior experience necessary
Ages: 16+
CLICK TO REGISTER AS AN INDIGENOUS STUDENT
This immersive workshop invites writers into a deeper relationship with the living landscape through poetry. Rooted in the rivers, bluffs, stone, and wind over the Driftless region, Eco-Poetics explores how careful attention, embodied presence, and ecological listening can transform the way we write.
Rather than writing about nature, participants will learn to write with it — allowing water, wind, geology, and living systems to shape voice, rhythm, and image. Through guided outdoor observation, sensory grounding, contemplative exercises, and generative writing prompts, students will create new poems inspired directly by place.
Drawing from eco-poetic traditions, environmental literature, and contemplative writing practices, this workshop emphasizes curiosity, patience, and openness. Writers of all experience levels are welcome. No prior poetry background is required — only a willingness to slow down, notice deeply, and experiment on the page.
Participants will leave with:
- New poems generated during the workshop
- Practical tools for ongoing eco-poetic practice
- Techniques for deep observation and sensory-based writing
- Greater confidence in poetic voice and expression
- A renewed connection to place, creativity, and attention
This workshop is ideal for poets, nature lovers, environmentalists, hikers, anglers, artists, and anyone seeking a meaningful creative experience rooted in landscape and wonder.
Artist Bio: Matthew Duffy is a writer from the Maa Wákąčąk (“Sacred Earth”) area on ancestral Ho-Chunk land in Wisconsin. He is an active member of the Driftless Writing Center, and his poetry appeared in Ink Waves and A Catalog of Small Machines. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a runner-up creative writing award from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Matthew serves as the Editor of the Alder Fork Journal for the Aldo Leopold Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
In the event a workshop is canceled due to low enrollment, you will be contacted immediately and refunded entirely. Please review our cancellation policy here.
