Writing Ourselves through Thoreau with Rochelle Johnson

July 27 – Aug 1

Writing Ourselves through Thoreau: A Workshop in Place-Based Creative Nonfiction/Memoir

Experience Level: All writers at any level are welcome.

We remember Henry David Thoreau as a gifted naturalist, a philosopher of selfhood, a forward-thinking environmentalist, and an impassioned advocate of civil disobedience—but to his mind, writing was his vocation. As he wrote in his Journal, “My work is writing.” Through writing, Thoreau nourished his intense search for individual meaning, cultivated his attentive relationship to landscape, and pursued his insistence on “living deliberately.” Through writing, he explored Penobscot culture, contemplated the meaning of freedom, and grappled with what it means to be true to the self while being a good friend. Also through his writing, he honed his commitments to social justice and wove nature’s wildness into his days. Writing became his work—his means of crafting meaning in his life and toward his legacy.

In this workshop, we will follow Thoreau’s lead, making writing our work. We will pay particular attention to the place where we find ourselves, discovering how our surroundings might contribute to our thinking and expression. We will consider how the landscape calls on our stories, and how our experiences find resonance in the land. As a group, we will explore short readings, practice lessons in craft, engage in prompted writings, and learn through workshop and discussion. We will meet as a group, but participants will also have plenty of time to explore our surroundings and write on their own. Throughout the week, participants will practice the techniques of creative nonfiction, working toward a short, finished piece to share, if they wish, with the larger group in a final reading.

The workshop is open to writers of all levels. Participants will receive a brief packet of readings in advance of the workshop. No knowledge of Thoreau is required, but watching the new PBS documentary on Thoreau by Ken Burns/Ewer Bros. is recommended. It airs on March 30 and 31, 2026, and—for anyone who can’t watch those evenings—it will then be available through PBS’s Passport for some fixed period of time.

What to Bring:

• Participants can bring:
• writing utensils;
• a writing journal with plenty of blank pages (we will all do much writing by hand);
• a laptop (if they wish to write, sometimes, on the computer; not required);
• bug spray and sunscreen; and walking shoes (if walking is available; it’s not required).
• Binoculars will also be helpful, as will a comfortable outdoor chair. As much as possible, we will meet and write outdoors.

Bio:

Rochelle L. Johnson is a creative writer and scholar of the environmental humanities. Her “Phantom Pains” essay was awarded the 2025 Georgia Review Prose Prize in Creative Nonfiction. Rochelle teaches writing and interdisciplinary environmental studies at the College of Idaho and holds the 2026 Robert Frost Chair of Literature at the Bread Loaf School of English, where she teaches literature and creative writing. A recipient of the Carnegie Foundation’s Idaho Professor of the Year award and the 2024 Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities award from the Idaho Humanities Council, Rochelle is the author of Passions for Nature: Nineteenth-Century America’s Aesthetics of Alienation and co-editor of several volumes, including Thoreau in an Age of Crisis (with Kristen Case and Henrik Otterberg). Her research appears in various academic journals and collections, including Thoreau Beyond Borders. Also a leading scholar of 19^th-century naturalist Susan Fenimore Cooper, Rochelle has earned fellowships from the American Antiquarian Society and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among other granting agencies. A former president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) and of the Thoreau Society, she currently chairs the Award Committee for the Thoreau Prize in Nature Writing. Find more at: RochelleJohnsonWriter.com.

Lodging and Meals

Monson Arts offers on-campus housing in a private (single) or double (shared with one other person) room in a house with shared bathroom and kitchen. Houses are comfortably furnished with linens provided. If you do not need housing, you may register as a day student and pay only for meals. All meals are prepared by the The Quarry, a fine-dining restaurant in downtown Monson and 2024 James Beard award winner!

Includes tuition, room and all meals:

Single Room: $1680

Double Room: $1440

Day Students, Tuition and Meals:

All meals $1230

Lunch Only: $900

Participants have access to studios 24/7 as well as lake side enjoyment, swimming, boating, and easy hiking in the area. Monson Arts aims to proved rest along side creative rejuvenation.