Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned writer, you’ll improve your skills through hands-on prompts and dedicated writing time within a supportive community of fellow nature writers. You will:
- Complete warm-up exercises and use creative prompts to develop your writing skills in class
- Work on assignments between classes and share your writing with classmates
- Listen to excerpts from classic nature writers and discuss their writing techniques
- Investigate how nature writing is used in different genres, from fiction to memoir to fantasy
- Ask questions, take risks, and explore in this fun and supportive small-group environment
The same qualities of good writing apply to everything from blogs to podcasts, newsletters to books. No matter your background or interest, join us and take the next step to become the writer you always dreamed you could be.
All experience levels are welcome.
This program meets in person at the Arboretum.
Instructor: Cindy Crosby, author and naturalist
Age: 16 and older
Course number: A097
Instructor
Cindy Crosby, author and naturalist
Cindy Crosby is the author, compiler, or contributor to more than 20 books, including The Tallgrass Prairie: An Introduction, co-author of Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit and author of Chasing Dragonflies: A Natural and Cultural History. She is a prairie steward at the Schulenberg Prairie and Nachusa Grasslands, and she coordinates dragonfly monitoring programs at both sites. She earned a master’s degree in natural resources at University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. She blogs each week at Tuesdays in the Tallgrass, and she teaches natural history and trains naturalists in the Chicago region.
What to Know
This program meets indoors.
This program is open to all experience levels.
Please bring a journal or sketchpad and something to write with.
See Education Program Policies for information about cancellations, refunds, and scholarships.
Program Schedule
This program meets the following four times.
Thursday, August 6, 2026, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 13, 2026, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 20, 2026, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 27, 2026, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Thornhill Education Center (parking lot P-21), West Side
