July 24 at 4 pm: I’ll be on Martha’s Vineyard at Vineyard Haven Library, talking with my friend, the author Natalie Baszile (Queen Sugar, We Are Each Other's Harvest) about The Best Women's Travel Writing and more generally, about writing and place and craft. I hope to see you there!
If you’ve ever wondered how to make a place spring to life on the page, this is your chance to learn and practice. In this three-hour generative course, we’ll explore techniques for evoking setting—whether you’re describing another country or your own backyard. Through discussion, short reading examples, and guided prompt sessions, we’ll cover the nuances of capturing on-the-go impressions, awakening all five senses, recreating atmosphere and vivid imagery, depicting both landscapes and urban spaces, and avoiding clichés. We’ll also delve into the multidimensional ways setting can be articulated, beyond physical details. And best of all, we’ll begin the practice of sharpening our attention so that wherever we are, we notice more deeply. This course will elevate journal entries, fiction, memoir, and poetry, and it’s open to writers of all experience levels.
Cost: $115
Target audience: essayists, memoirists, poets, novelists, journal-keepers—writers of all kinds and experience levels
More info to come, but for now, save the date for this magical evening of a sip & snip (wine + cut-your-own-bouquet on the most gorgeous flower farm you've ever seen) and a BWTW reading/discussion at Cross Street Flower Farms!
https://www.crossstreetflowerfarm.com/
I’m so excited for this one! I'll be on stage at my favorite bookstore in the universe, presenting The Best Women’s Travel Writing,Volume 13, introduced by my dear friend, the godfather of travel writing, Don George, and joined by fabulous contributors Faith Adiele, Marcia DeSanctis, Lisa VanderVeen, and Emma Morrell, who will read from their stories (and you’ll meet several more contributors).This event is open to the public, but if you’re attending the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, RSVP to have your seat saved!
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA
I’m thrilled to be on faculty again -- for my eleventh year -- at the extraordinary Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera.
This conference quite literally changed my life and the lives of countless writers I know and admire. It's where I met many of my closest friends and favorite editors. As a direct result of editors I met at the conference, I've been sent to Spain to study flamenco guitar, to Utah to go llama camping, and to South Korea to retrace my steps. (And that's just the highlights reel!) I've also met participants who have gone on to study with me and travel with me, and whom I've had the honor of publishing in The Best Women's Travel Writing. What I've learned from this conference is incalculable--but I've also had fun. I've laughed my head off and sung my lungs out at karaoke. I've dined with my heroes and found my community.
It's a really special conference.
If you’re interested in (or even just curious about) travel writing or photography, it may be the best money you’ll ever spend!
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA
For more information:
| Jun 13 | 2026 | BWTW reading in NYC | New York City | NY | Info > |
| Jun 9 | 2026 | BWTW Zoom Book Launch Party & Reading | Info > | ||
| Mar 9 - 15 | 2025 | The Art of Tranquilo with Lavinia Spalding and Colette Hannahan | Mexico | Info > | |
| May 13 - 17 | 2024 | Divining Creativity | Siracusa | Italy | Info > |
| Mar 15 - 22 | 2024 | The Art of Tranquilo | Yelapa | Mexico | Info > |
| Nov 6 - 16 | 2022 | A Fresh Start: Reawaken the Mind Through Writing and Meditation | Kathmandu | Nepal | Info > |
| May 4 | 2022 | Letter to a Stranger Reading | Info > | ||
| Jul 21 | 2021 | Podbean Live Storytelling Salon | Info > | ||
| May 19 | 2021 | In Conversation with Janna L. Goodwin (online) | Corte Madera | Info > | |
| Apr 26 - May 13 | 2021 | A Journey Into Personal Travel Writing | Info > | ||
| Mar 1 | 2021 | The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 12, at Elliott Bay Books | Seattle | Washington | Info > |
| Feb 18 | 2021 | Virtual Bookstore Reading at Magers & Quinn | Minneapolis | MI | Info > |
| Jan 5 - Feb 9 | 2021 | There You Go: Write the Travel Essay | Anywhere! | Info > | |
| Dec 8 | 2020 | Virtual Book Launch for The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 12 | Corte Madera | CA | Info > |
| Aug 20 - 23 | 2020 | The Annual Book Passage Travel Writers Conference | Corte Madera | California | Info > |
| Jul 1 - 31 | 2020 | Paris American Academy Summer Creative Writing Workshop | Paris | France | Info > |
| Aug 8 - 11 | 2019 | The Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference | Corte Madera | California | Info > |
| Aug 7 | 2019 | Deep Travel Anthology launch | Corte Madera | California | Info > |
| Mar 31 - Apr 8 | 2019 | Deep Travel Morocco | Fez and Moulay Idriss | Morocco | Info > |
| Dec 14 | 2018 | Book Celebration | San Francisco | California | Info > |
| Dec 11 | 2018 | This Immeasurable Place, Food and Farming from the Edge of Wilderness | San Francisco | California | Info > |
| Dec 10 | 2018 | Reading & Signing: This Immeasurable Place: Food and Farming from the Edge of Wilderness | Corte Madera | California | Info > |
| Oct 20 | 2018 | Litcrawl with AFAR | San Francisco | California | Info > |
| Oct 16 | 2018 | In Conversation with Apricot Irving | New Orleans | Louisiana | Info > |
| Aug 9 - 12 | 2018 | The Annual Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference | Corte Madera | California | Info > |
| Jul 29 | 2018 | On the Detour | Washington | Connecticut | Info > |
| Feb 26 - Mar 8 | 2018 | Turning the Wheel | the Khatmandu Valley | Nepal | Info > |
| Nov 7 - 9 | 2017 | Storytelling in Writing: Workday, Inc | San Ramon | California | Info > |
| Aug 8 - 12 | 2017 | The Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference | Corte Madera | Info > | |
| May 15 | 2017 | The Best Women’s Travel Writing Book Launch Party | San Francisco | CA | Info > |