The interior landscape responds to the character and subtlety of the exterior landscape; the shape of the individual mind is affected by the land as it is by genes.  Barry Lopez

We’re inviting you to use a beautiful setting of gardens and a seascape to evoke, prompt, bring to the surface a memory of a time. A place, a person, or event that had meaning in the past for you and that perhaps you have always wanted to write about. It will be about letting go of the barriers, the distractions, the procrastinations and allow yourself the time to free flow a significant memory and get it down on the page – in any form you wish. This is memoir work but it has no prescribed form: essay, narrative, poetic, lyrical, expository – the content you choose will tell you how to write it. The level of your writing is insignificant, this will be about just writing the words down. We will share for feedback or not, as you will. Please bring a bag lunch; coffee, tea, sparkling water and snacks included.

Marianna, or Mimi, Edmunds has had a long career in Broadcast journalism and documentary production, primarily with CBS News and 60 Minutes followed by PBS, Discovery, and independent productions. Her series with Discovery on The Maya won the Cable Ace award for the best documentary film in the series Archaeology. She has taught journalism and documentary production and writing for over 15 years, first at USC’s Annenberg School and then at Emerson College in Boston, and she has been on the faculty for Maine Media since1987. Most recently she completed her MFA in Creative Non-Fiction with University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Program in Creative Writing. She is currently writing essays, mentoring, and working on a memoir with, and about, her daughter.