From the Center for Sustainability Website:
"Earth's Eye" Event to be held at Presque Isle State Park and Penn State Erie
Wednesday, July 25 2012
Writers, naturalists, birders, journal keepers, teachers and students are invited to learn how to turn observation into word at "Earth's Eye: A Festival of Writing in and on the Natural World," a day-long event to be held at Presque Isle State Park and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.
Earth's Eye participants will spend the morning of Saturday, Sept. 8, exploring the landscapes of Presque Isle State Park to gather inspiration from the park's plant and animal life. After a picnic lunch, they will return to Penn State Behrend to sharpen their writing techniques under the tutelage of professional writers and faculty members from Penn State Behrend's B.F.A. program in creative writing.
Award-winning nature writer Scott Russell Sanders will be among the writers offering assistance and advice at Earth's Eye. Sanders is the author of 20 books; among his honors are the Lannan Literary Award, the John Burroughs Essay Award, the Mark Twain Award, the Cecil Woods Award for Nonfiction, the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Earlier this year he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
"The goal is to help participants discover how to use a moment of observation to tell a better story," says Penn State Behrend assistant professor Kim Todd, whose biography of 17th century naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian was named a "Book to Remember" by the New York Public Library. "Anyone can do this. You don't need a goal, just an interest. I especially encourage attendance by beginning writers, or writers who feel self-conscious about their work, because we won't follow a traditional writing-workshop model. Earth's Eye is intended to be a supportive, not critical, environment for the budding nature writer, pun intended."
The cost to attend Earth-s Eye is $36 and includes transportation from campus to Presque Isle, lunch and dinner. For more information or to register for the festival, visit behrend.psu.edu/festival or phone 814-898-6443.