Sunday, June 2, 2013

5-Day Retreat on Mindful Writing and Writing Blocks: July 22-26, 2013


SUMMER INSTITUTE, July 22-26, Salem State University
ENL 833: Overcoming Writing Blocks
Alexandria Peary, MFA, MFA, PhD
Spend a week in historic Salem, Massachusetts, meditate and write in a calm and supportive environment, and pick up some life-long writing strategies. This five-day course focuses on the writing process in order to understand and address writing blocks. Participants learn strategies and practice hands-on techniques to increase fluency and ease in academic, personal, or workplace writing. By exploring process theory--specifically, its concepts of freewriting, private writing, audience, feedback, and revision--problems such as anxiety, procrastination, and failure can be alleviated. We also explore various embodied rhetorical practices related to a sound writing process: chief among those is mindfulness practice. Buddhist mindfulness practice, with its heightened awareness on the self and its intrapersonal dialog, naturally complements process pedagogy. Participants will practice mindful eating, listening, talking, and walking as well as standard seated meditation. We discuss concepts such as equanimity, groundlessness, and impermanence in order to develop a mindful writing practice.


Go to http://www.salemstate.edu/academics/graduate-studies.php for information on how to sign up. Feel free to contact me at apeary@salemstate.edu if you have further questions. 

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