Sense & Sensuality: Writing with the Five Senses

“I am not an intellectual, I write with my body,” wrote Clarice Lispector in 1977.

What is it to write with the body? What is it to drop out of the brain and into bowels (or lower) and write from there? How can we channel our senses to enliven our writing? And how do we access the deeper, darker, messier, and more physical places and bring them to the page? 

In this workshop, led by award-winning author and memoirist Nina MacLaughlin, in the charged space of the cemetery and through a series of exercises focusing on the senses, we’ll practice engaging the whole body in our writing. Letting our brains step out of the way, we’ll explore how bringing taste, touch, smell, sight, sound to the work — and how they mingle with the mind — can richen and deepen not only your writing, but how you move through the world. Participants will learn how to use the body to create rich and sensual writing in any genre.

The workshop will take place in the Bigelow Chapel glass wing. Check in will take place at Bigelow Chapel.