May 18, 2006

(4) Comments

Writing the High Country

David in Great Falls

OK, this doesn’t quite fall into the category of “Big Sky,” but I suspect that it will be of interest to many Big Sky Bloggers who enjoy writing, particuarly of the Western/Montana type. I received the following e-mail from Reif Larsen:

Dear David,

I just wanted to let you know about a unique writing workshop that I will be teaching in July which may be of some interest to you and your blog readers. The workshop will take place at Granite Creek Ranch, a guest ranch in eastern Idaho that also has a working cattle component to it. The workshop participants will spend their mornings writing and discussing literature of the “new west” and in the afternoons we will ride horses through the Idaho Tetons. The schedule will be intensive, and I see this inter-change of communal outdoor activity and private, reflective writing time as central to the ethos of the workshop.

And if the subject matter isn’t enough to convince you to attend, then perhaps the location will. Although I won’t be able to attend, I look forward to hearing from any bloggers that participate.
More details:

Writing the High Country:
A Fiction Workshop Intensive on a Western Cattle Ranch

Have you ever wanted to spend the morning on horseback and the afternoon writing about the quiet pull of a mountain range?
Here’s your chance: a week long fiction workshop intensive located on a working cattle ranch near the Snake River in the Idaho Tetons. We will read a selection of classic and contemporary western writing, discussing both the legacies of the mythical “old west” and the realities of the “new west” as they play out in literature. Ranching activities (trail rides, round-ups, camp fire yarns) and a rodeo will be interspersed throughout the workshop schedule. Each participant will emerge from the week with a piece of short fiction. Readings from Wallace Stegner, William Kittredge, Richard Hugo, Cormac McCarthy, Thomas McGuane, Richard Ford, Barry Lopez, Annie Proulx among others.

The Location: A working cattle ranch, Granite Creek Ranch is located in the Snake River valley in Ririe, Idaho, halfway between Jackson Hole, WY and Idaho Falls. The ranch is on a five-acre lake, surrounded by magnificent mountain vistas. Yellowstone & Teton National Parks are nearby. Accommodations are in rustic cabins. The cost of the workshop includes all meals, lodging, and activities. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to the ranch. For more info go to: www.granitecreekranch.com.

Dates: July 9-15th, 2006. Space is limited to twelve participants.
About the Instructor: Reif Larsen is a writer, filmmaker, and teacher. He has taught writing workshops in South Africa, the UK, and New York City, where he currently teaches writing at Columbia University. He is working on a novel based in Montana about cartographers, cowboys, and scientists.

For more information and an application, please email: ril2104@columbia.edu.
4 responses to "Writing the High Country"
Jen said:
May 19, 2006

Of course if I wanted to really go to a farm, I’d just get a job and get paid to work there instead of putting money out.

ZenPanda said:
May 21, 2006

It would be sooooooo cool to go but I don’t think the hubby wants to work 3 jobs to pay for it!! :)

moos said:
May 22, 2006

Jen – You can always come work here – but I’ll warn you – it does NOT pay! Obviously, I’m in the wrong business.

Jen said:
May 22, 2006

LOL. The big farming family here in town, the Tudvedts are very kind to their employees – money and housing wise. And I don’t think I’m cut out for farming duty but I’ll send my cousin your way.

;)

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