WORKSHOPS + SEMINARS
WORKSHOPS + SEMINARS
Excavating The Travel Essay
May 1, 12:00-5:00 p.m. ET // $345
Format: One lecture followed by 3-week self-paced online course and virtual writing community.
Write a literary travel essay in just three weeks! This course is for anyone who wants to write travel essays that are as vivid as they are insightful. We'll mine old travel journals, photos, correspondences, and conduct original research to write a rich and layered essay. Perhaps it's a story of transformation abroad, of a place that moved you or a stranger who changed your life, a journey that still haunts you, or simply of a distant meal you'll never forget. Or maybe it's a story of migration and identity in a foreign landscape. We’ll push the boundaries of the genre while remaining committed to the heart of the story.
We begin by reading a broad range of travel essays to understand how different techniques impact the reader. When would an anecdote be more effective than a statistic? How should a writer portray a culture they know little about? We'll break away from the clichés, tropes, and stereotypes that plague travel writing in order to tell an authentic and dynamic story.
Next, we'll dive deep into structure and craft. Whether you're writing a chapter in a memoir, a magazine feature, a letter, or deep captions for a photo essay, we'll cover the pillars of a solid travel story—curiosity, sense of place, a moment in time, local characters, rich context, narrative arc, sensory details—as well as techniques to illustrate it skillfully.
The course is formatted with a one-day Zoom session to deep-dive into the craft of the travel essay, followed by three weeks of virtual class that includes:
-
Daily writing prompts that correspond with the course material
-
Video lessons to guide you through writing a full essay
-
Live craft chats to help hone your skills and support your journey
-
Online community forum for group support and feedback
-
Virtual public reading to showcase your work
Each participant will write an original travel essay of up to 3,000 words and receive personalized feedback on their story, including a personalized list of recommendations for places to submit.
*One full scholarship is available for a promising writer with a background historically misrepresented or underrepresented in the travel writing genre.
VIRTUAL
Excavating The Travel Essay
May 1, 12:00-5:00 p.m. ET // $345
Format: One lecture followed by 3-week self-paced online course and virtual writing community.
Write a literary travel essay in just three weeks! This course is for anyone who wants to write travel essays that are as vivid as they are insightful. We'll mine old travel journals, photos, correspondences, and conduct original research to write a rich and layered essay. Perhaps it's a story of transformation abroad, of a place that moved you or a stranger who changed your life, a journey that still haunts you, or simply of a distant meal you'll never forget. Or maybe it's a story of migration and identity in a foreign landscape. We’ll push the boundaries of the genre while remaining committed to the heart of the story.
We begin by reading a broad range of travel essays to understand how different techniques impact the reader. When would an anecdote be more effective than a statistic? How should a writer portray a culture they know little about? We'll break away from the clichés, tropes, and stereotypes that plague travel writing in order to tell an authentic and dynamic story.
Next, we'll dive deep into structure and craft. Whether you're writing a chapter in a memoir, a magazine feature, a letter, or deep captions for a photo essay, we'll cover the pillars of a solid travel story—curiosity, sense of place, a moment in time, local characters, rich context, narrative arc, sensory details—as well as techniques to illustrate it skillfully.
The course is formatted with a one-day Zoom session to deep-dive into the craft of the travel essay, followed by three weeks of virtual class that includes:
-
Daily writing prompts that correspond with the course material
-
Video lessons to guide you through writing a full essay
-
Live craft chats to help hone your skills and support your journey
-
Online community forum for group support and feedback
-
Virtual public reading to showcase your work
Each participant will write an original travel essay of up to 3,000 words and receive personalized feedback on their story, including a personalized list of recommendations for places to submit.
*One full scholarship is available for a promising writer with a background historically misrepresented or underrepresented in the travel writing genre.
VIRTUAL
OFF THE PAGE is a virtual conversation series with authors, editors, translators and other fixtures in the storytelling community that takes place on Instagram Live.
Photography by Nish Nalbandian
OFF THE PAGE
AUTHOR CHATS
LAVINIA SPALDING
A conversation with Lavinia about
editing her new anthology:
"The Best Women's Travel Writing Vol 12"
On Instagram Live: @Jenna_Scatena
Podcast guest
Hidden Compass
Virtual, November 2021
Speaker
Women's Travel Fest
New York City, March 2020
Speaker
Global Wellness Summit
The Breakers Palm Beach, October 8 - 11, 2017
Reader
Best Women's Travel Writing Vol. 11
Book Passage, Corte Madera, June 2017
Reader
Best Women's Travel Writing Vol. 11 Book Launch
Brick & Mortar, San Francisco, May 2017
Faculty
Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference
Book Passage, Corte Madera, August 11 - 14 2016
Reader
Book Passage, Corte Madera, December 2014
Faculty
Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference Book Passage, Corte Madera, August 14 - 17 2014
Reader
Hotel Rex, San Francisco, November 2013
Reader
Best Women's Travel Writing Vol. 9 Book Launch
Book Passage, Corte Madera, October 2013
Panelist
Generation Progress Journalism Summit
Washington D.C., September 2013
Guest Speaker
The Monty Show
KGO Radio, June 2013
Food and Wine Judge
Mendocino Crab, Wine and Beer Festival
Mendocino, January 2013
Guest Speaker
Morning News
KGO Radio, October 2012
Guest Host
KTVU
Napa, July 2011