Place Is . . . with Ira Sukrungruang

Every story exists somewhere, and that somewhere, especially in memoir writing, plays a vital part in how we view ourselves and the people in our lives. The writing of a place needs to move beyond the descriptive qualities of setting, that place is about people, class, and history. Writing about place creates layers of narrative tension and can fluctuate between the real and surreal, between literal landscapes and metaphorical landscapes. In this session, we will crack open what writing about a place truly means and dissect the various ways a place can become an accessway to self-discovery. We will invoke the guidance of writers such as Annie Dillard, Dorothy Allison, Barry Lopez, and Barrie Jean Borich in our exploration.

Class meets in-person, Tuesday, August 5, 1 – 2:30 pm

Class size: Minimum 5. Maximum 12.

Member discount: Members of Write On receive a 10% discount on all classes and workshops. To become a member, please click here. To receive the discount, members must log in to the website using their unique password and enter member10 in the promotion code box. The code is case sensitive.

Teaching Artist: Ira Sukrungruang is the author of four nonfiction books, This Jade World, Buddha’s Dog & Other Meditations, Southside Buddhist, and Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist; the short story collection The Melting Season; and the poetry collection In Thailand It Is Night. His work has appeared in many literary journals, including The Rumpus, American Poetry Review, The Sun, and Creative Nonfiction. He is one of the founding editors of Sweet: A Literary Confection and is the Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing at Kenyon College.