Harpers Ferry Artist-in-Residence will host two creative writing workshops in November

This November, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and the Harpers Ferry Park Association will host writer, poet, and teaching artist Nancy L. Cook as an Artist-in-Residence. Cook will explore the intersection of geography, history and culture at Harpers Ferry, focusing on the central role of “place” in the area’s story: who uses it, who cares for it and who defines it.

Cook will use this research as the foundation for two free creative writing workshops in the John Brown Museum lyceum:

• Saturday, November 5 from 1:30-4 p.m. EST – “Resources and Resourcefulness: The Give and Take of Humans and Nature.” Participants will explore in poetry and literary prose the legacy of the land and ecology of Harpers Ferry, including how humans have used the land across time.
• Saturday, November 19 from 1:30-4 p.m. EST – “A Confluence of History, Fictions, and Truths: Stories, Poems and Conversation.” Participants will investigate the complex and sometimes conflicting storylines that made Harpers Ferry nationally significant, including John Brown’s Raid, the Civil War, the Niagara Movement, Storer College and the creation of the national park.

Workshop participants will create theme-connected pieces, including literary or flash essays, braided poems and fragmented prose. They will engage in guided writing exercises and group discussions as they explore how to find inspiration in Harpers Ferry’s stories.  

Both beginning and experienced writers are welcome. You can register for the workshops online to attend either or both.

The Artist-in-Residence program continues to honor the long tradition of artists in national parks, which began in the 1870s when the Hudson River School painters captured majestic Western landscapes. The work of those early artists allowed the public to see these special places in America for the first time and inspired the preservation of these lands for future generations.

Nancy Cook is a writer, teaching artist and community builder. She runs the “Witness Project,” a series of free community writing workshops in Minneapolis, Minnesota designed to enable creative work by underrepresented voices. As the former artist affiliate for the Southwest Minnesota Housing Authority, she helped design arts programs for adults in transitional housing. She is also a former Artist-in-Residence at Gettysburg National Military Park.

For more information about the Artist-in-Residence program at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, please visit go.nps.gov/Artist.  

Original source can be found here.