Join Beavers Northwest and author Cassie Premo Steele for an interactive creative writing workshop, a reading from the novel Beaver Girl, and a beaver-themed nature walk.
Participants will meet Beavers Northwest staff at the west entrance to Meadowbrook Pond near the Meadowbrook Community Center at 7:30pm. Beavers Northwest staff will lead attendees on a walk to explore Meadowbrook Pond and provide context on the beaver presence in this area. This is a great opportunity to see the impacts that beavers have on ecosystems, observe the plants and wildlife that thrive in beaver-modified systems, and discuss beaver coexistence in our human-modified ecosystems. Author Cassie Premo Steele will explain “the code of the water way” in the novel Beaver Girl, read a short selection and give suggested writing prompts. Attendees will have time to reflect and explore their own creative practice as we finish out the walk on the boardwalk to observe beaver and other wildlife activities.
The event will last approximately 2 hours and participants will travel a distance of approximately 0.5 miles on flat gravel trails and boardwalks. We recommend wearing comfortable walking shoes and to dress for the weather. For best viewing of wildlife, we recommend bringing binoculars. We will have a few pairs available to borrow. For creative writing prompts, please bring a writing implement and a notebook for your own personal use. No one will be asked to share out their creative writing practice, this is just an opportunity to learn from Cassie and experience a beaver-modified urban ecosystem.
All ages welcome, but we strongly encourage folks with an interest in writing to join this event.
About Cassie Premo Steele:
Cassie Premo Steele's newest book is the environmental novel, Beaver Girl, chosen as the 2024 One Book, One Community selection for the City of Columbia, South Carolina. An environmental poet, novelist, and essayist, her writing focuses on the themes of trauma, healing, creativity, and mindfulness. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The author of 18 books, including 3 novels and 7 books of poetry, her poetry has been nominated 7 times for the Pushcart Prize. She was a Finalist for the Rita Dove Poetry Award judged by the former US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo and has also been awarded The DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Society Prize, the Stephanie Ellen Siler Memorial Prize, the John Edward Johnson Prize, the Carrie McCray Literary Award for Poetry, and the Archibald Rutledge Prize named after the first Poet Laureate of South Carolina, where she lives with her wife. https://www.cassiepremosteele.com/
About Beavers Northwest:
Beavers Northwest is a nonprofit serving the Puget Sound region with a mission of increasing acceptance and understanding of Beavers to support healthier and more resilient ecosystems. Beavers Northwest accomplishes this through five pillars of work: Outreach and Education, Technical Assistance, Restoration, Research, and Technical Consultation. https://beaversnw.org/
