Writers often struggle with balancing narration and scene. In this seminar, we’ll literally see the difference between a narrator’s voice and the narrator-as-character, and think about how to apply the lessons of graphic novels to our own writing. There will be a fun in-class writing exercise using graphic novels.

Pamela Petro is an author, artist, and educator living in Northampton, MA. She has written three books of place-based creative nonfiction, including Travels in an Old Tongue, Sitting up with the Dead, and The Slow Breath of Stone. Her articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Granta, The Paris Review, and others. She is also the author of After Shadows, an artist’s book, and Under Paradise Valley, a graphic script. Pamela has received fellowships and residencies from Grand Canyon National Park, the MacDowell Colony, the Spring Creek Project, the Black Rock Arts Foundation, and more. She teaches creative writing at Smith College and on Lesley University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program, and directs the Dylan Thomas Summer School at the University of Wales.