Linda Watanabe McFerrin: Writing About Place Across Genres

We live in a world of monumental movement and migration, so it's no surprise that navigating that terrain on the page has never been more important. Whether in fiction or nonfiction, the ability to create a sense of place and all its connections—physical, emotional, psychological, historical, experiential, and so on—with verisimilitude can make the difference between whether the writing connects or gets ... literally ... left behind. It also allows for publication in multiple markets and genres.

In this class, Linda Watanabe McFerrin will be covering the elements involved in creating that very specific sense of place in a limitless world. 

Linda Watanabe McFerrin is a poet, travel writer, novelist and contributor to numerous newspapers, magazines and anthologies. She is the author of two poetry collections, past editor of a popular Northern California guidebook and a winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. Her award-winning book-length fiction titles include NAMAKO: SEA CUCUMBER, THE HAND OF BUDDHA, and DEAD LOVE (Stone Bridge Press, 2009), a Bram Stoker Award Finalist for Superior Achievement in a Novel. The most recent collection of her work, NAVIGATING THE DIVIDE (Alan Squire Publishing, 2019), was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist. Anne Lamott had this to say about Linda’s latest poetry collection, POST-APOCALYPTIC VALENTINE (7.13 Books, 2024): “I have loved everything I've ever read by Linda Watanabe McFerrin.”

In addition, Linda has co-edited twelve anthologies, including the HOT FLASHES: SEXY LITTLE STORIES & POEMS series; judged the San Francisco Literary Awards, the Josephine Miles Award for Literary Excellence and the Kiriyama Prize; served as a visiting mentor for the Loft Mentor Series; and been guest faculty at the Oklahoma Arts Institute. A past NEA Panelist and juror for the Marin Literary Arts Council and the founder of Left Coast Writers®, she has led workshops in Greece, France, Italy, England, Ireland, Central America, Indonesia, Scotland, Spain and the United States and has mentored a long list of accomplished writers and best-selling authors toward publication.

Join us on Thursday, July 23rd, 5:30-7:00pm PT, to learn how creating a sense of place could put your writing on the map! You can register here to save your seat.

If you missed last month’s free writing workshop with Grant Faulkner, you can watch the recording here.

Enjoy, and happy writing!

Shirin