There is a power and a presence in this northern Minnesota land that shapes all who live upon it.
We invite you to join acclaimed Minnesota author Kent Nerburn for an in depth exploration of writing in the north country…
AFTERNOON WORKSHOP:
Listening to the Land & Listening to Each Other
Saturday afternoon,
February 8, 2025
1:30-3:30pm
$30 course fee
Watermark Art Center Education Studio
Learn and practice techniques to explore connections to the unique northwoods landscape, and build believable stories by crafting a great dialogue.
Full Description →
Registration Required →
EVENING PRESENTATION:
“Listening for the Native Heartbeat: How Minnesota Shaped me as a Writer”
Saturday evening at 6pm
Watermark Kaul Gallery
Free & open to the public
Join Kent as he speaks on the layers of cultural and spiritual meaning he found in the north country – how they informed his sensibilities as a writer, and what they have to teach others who practice the arts in Northern Minnesota.
Workshop Part 1. “Listening to the Land”
Northern Minnesota is a unique landscape with a powerful presence. In this one hour session Kent will share some of the techniques he has used to put this presence into words. Participants will be asked to apply some of these techniques and to share some of their own in writing a description of this land that has so influenced and shaped us all. Registration Required →
Workshop Part 2. “Listening to Each Other”
Good dialogue is the key to believable storytelling. It is also quite unlike the dialogue most of us write when we put pen to paper. Kent will share examples of successful dialogue and the advice he has received about writing good dialogue. Participants will be asked to write and share short dialogues based on prompts.
About the Author
Kent Nerburn is the author of 16 books on spirituality and the bridge between Native and non-Native cultures, including the internationally-recognized trilogy, Neither Wolf nor Dog, The Wolf at Twilight, and The Girl who Sang to the Buffalo. He holds a Ph.D. with distinction from Graduate Theological Union and the University of California at Berkeley and is the two -time winner of the Minnesota Book Award.
Kent spent 25 years living in Bemidji with his wife and family, where his two proudest accomplishments were starting Project Preserve, an oral history project, on the Red Lake reservation, and being one of the founding members of Schoolcraft Learning Community, Bemidji’s first charter school.
After 10 years in Oregon, he and his wife, BSU professor emerita Louise Mengelkoch, have moved to St. Paul to be near family, but he says his heart will always belong to the Minnesota north country.
Thanks to the Bemidji Area Arts Endowment for sponsorship of this event.
Watermark is accessible, free and open to the public. Regular winter open hours are Tuesday through Saturday (closed Sunday & Monday) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information regarding exhibits, classes, or events contact 218-444-7570 or visit watermarkartcenter.org.