Who is this for?

• Writers and non-writers alike—anyone curious to explore, reflect, and grow.

• People who love the natural world, storytelling, and deep reflection.

• People curious about using metaphors from nature as tools for inspiration and insight.

• No gardening experience is needed. Full transparency: I’m not a gardener! (I call myself a garden appreciator.) No permaculture knowledge is needed. Just bring a curiosity for learning how to benefit from nature’s wisdom.

This class will use the ten principles of permaculture as metaphors for exploring how creative growth and the creative process work in our lives. Participants will explore storytelling, poetry, and personal essays inspired by natural cycles and sustainability through guided prompts, readings, reflection, and conversation. You’ll cultivate your creativity and overcome obstacles in a way that feels rich, resilient, and regenerative— just like the natural world.

Nature’s patterns hold deep wisdom—not just for growing food and sustaining ecosystems, but for the way we live, create, and evolve. Explore the principles of permaculture as a metaphor for cultivating a sustainable and creative life.

Class Format

This enlivening weekly class will include writing prompts and spirited conversation. Optional reading list will be provided.

• 10 minutes: Grounding warm-up writing prompt.

• 5 minutes: Guided discussion to explore each permaculture principle and its metaphorical implications for our writing life.

• 20 minutes: Reading a short passage from a writer to illuminate our weekly theme, followed by a writing session.

• 15 minutes: Second Prompt and Writing Session

• 10 minutes: Time for sharing and reflection.

Class Outline

Session One: Tuesday April 22, 7-8 ET

Permaculture Principle 1: Observe and Interact Writer’s Practice: The Art of Paying Attention

Deep listening and observation reveal patterns, cycles, and truths that might otherwise go unnoticed. Like a permaculture designer observing a landscape, writers must notice the world around them. Good writing starts with deep observation. Learn to recognize the subtle influences internally and externally that are shaping your creative process.

Using writing passages from Leslie Marmon Silko and Mary Oliver as inspiration, this class will offer writing prompts that will inspire you to see through new eyes and deepen your awareness of the world around you.

Session Two: Tuesday, April 29, 7-8 pm ET

Permaculture Principle 2: Catch and Store Energy Writer’s Practice: Gathering Inspiration

Nature captures abundance—leaves store sunlight, rivers gather rainfall, trees hoard nutrients for winter. This is about the practice of gathering inspiration before it fades. Creativity is like the natural world—ideas come in bursts, and if we don’t catch them, they may be lost.

Using writing passages from Rachel Carson, Robert McFarlane and Sigurd Olsen, this class will offer writing prompts that inspire you to capture fleeting moments and take action when we sense a stirring inside.  

Session Three: Tuesday, May 6, 7-8 pm ET
Permaculture Principle 3: Obtain a Yield Writer’s Practice: Harvesting our Work

In nature, nothing grows indefinitely without bearing fruit. If a tree produces no seeds, a river never feeds a field, or a bee gathers pollen without returning to the hive, the system collapses. Every natural system produces something—a harvest, a habitat, a renewal of the land. Our writing also needs to offer something. What is the yield of your creative work? Perhaps it is a story or poem, or it is joy, clarity, connection, and the act of making something that feels true.

Using writings from Terry Tempest Williams, Lauret Savoy and Toni Morrison, this class will offer writing prompts that inspire you to explore what kind of harvest your writing might yield.

More details after you register!

Class Four: Tuesday, May 13, 7-8 pm ET
Permaculture Principle Four: Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback
Writer’s Practice: The Art of Pruning

Class Five: Tuesday, May 20, 7-8 ET
Permaculture Principle Five: Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
Writer’s Practice: Honor What Replenishes You

Class Six: Tuesday, May 27, 7-8 ET
Permaculture Principle Six: Produce No Waste
Writer’s Practice: Transforming Writer’s Block

Class Seven: Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 7-8 ET
Permaculture Principle Seven: Design from Patterns to Details
Writer’s Practice: Finding Structure in Chaos

Class Eight: Tuesday, June 10, 7-8 ET
Permaculture Principle Eight: Integrate Rather Than Segregate
Writer’s Principle: The Power of Connection

Class Nine: Tuesday, June 17, 7-8 ET
Permaculture Principle Nine: Use Small and Slow Solutions
Writer’s Principal: Trust the Process

Class Ten: Tuesday, June 24, 7-8 ET
Permaculture Principle Ten: Use and Value Diversity
Writer’s Practice: Embrace Different Perspectives

2 HOUR BONUS CLASS: (Date and time TBD— we’ll find a good time for everyone to come!)
Principle Eleven: Use Edges and Value the Marginal
Principle Twelve: Creatively Use and Respond to Change
Final Reflection: Cultivating a Creative Life

Harness the wisdom of nature to nurture your writing. Join us!