This December, I will serve as the writer-in-residence at the Bloedel Reserve, an incredible, 150-acre botanical reserve on Bainbridge Island, Washington. As part of this opportunity, I’ll be hosting a reading on the theme of climate change and extinction on Dec. 16, and teaching a class at the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) on Dec. 9.

The class is titled “The New Nature Poem: Critical Approaches to Writing About the Natural World.” I’m thrilled to have the chance to teach on this subject, which has been so central to my own work for so long, as I put the finishing touches on my book about the great auk. In this class, we’ll read and discuss some of the exciting work that contemporary poets are creating around animals, the environment, and climate change. We’ll upset traditional conceptions of what the “nature poem” looks like, and write poems of our own informed by this expanded definition. Learn more and sign up here.

While it’s only been a few months since I last taught a creative writing class, it feels like ages. This could be the pandemic talking, but I think that a big part of it is that I love teaching. I draw so much inspiration and energy from working with students, whether they’re brand new to writing or have many years under their belts. There’s a special kind of electricity that takes place in the writing classroom, and I feel like it pushes me beyond the restrictions I’ve placed upon myself—forces me to think differently about my work. I hope to create the same experience for my students.

The reading on Dec. 16 will feature an exciting lineup of Pacific Northwest writers, including Melinda Mueller and Knox Gardner, all taking a distinct approach to a theme that is more urgent than ever: climate change, extinction, and the environment.