Future Meetings

Writing Travel Stories

Sunday, February 26, 2011
2 to 4 pm
at Book Passage in Corte Madera
$5 members; $10 nonmembers
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The genre of travel writing offers tips on where to stay and what to eat and see, while a travel story describes a meaningful encounter between self and place. These stories use the tools of fiction such as character and setting, and the plot will revolve around the change that the narrator must undergo as a result of being there. Personal memory bumps against the collective memory of locals and requires re-examination and adjustment; sense of self and identity shifts in response to being in new, often challenging territory.

"Writing Travel Stories" offers examples of approaches to structure, and practice exercises to enliven and animate your writing. Bring a pen and notebook or laptop. Resource materials, tips for publishing, or other questions may be discussed.

Marianne Rogoff teaches Writing & Literature at California College of the Arts and leads week-long studio-workshop trips for writers in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, during her winter and summer breaks. She has won two Marin Arts Council Individual Artist Grants in Fiction, and is the author of the memoir Silvie’s Life and numerous fictions, essays, and book reviews. Her travel stories appear often in Travelers Tales' annual "The Best of the Year" series.