WRITERLY DELIGHT IN THE MORE-THAN-HUMAN WORLD

“It didn’t take me long to learn that the discipline or practice of writing these essays occasioned a kind of delight radar. Or maybe it was more like the development of a delight muscle. Something that implies that the more you study delight, the more delight there is to study.” (Ross Gay, The Book of Delights)

In this class, we'll read and discuss the works of writers who engage unabashedly with their sense of delight in the natural world. We'll do some exercises designed to help us discover ways in which the more-than-human world offers us invitations into moments of delight and awe--and discuss how to develop a practice of accepting these invitations when they come. Then, we'll practice writing about these delights in fresh, original, and unapologetic ways. Led by mindful creative writing professor, Melissa Jean, Ph.D.

$22 to Be inspired to Write Now! Register to receive your Zoom link. All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Melissa Jean is an Assistant Professor in the Mindfulness Studies masters’ program at Lesley University. She teaches courses in academic writing, creative writing, research methods, and mindfulness and the environment. She received an MFA in Fiction Writing from Lesley, and a PhD in Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Science and Management from Utah State University. She is trained as a mindfulness facilitator and a naturalist, and is currently working toward becoming a forest therapy guide. Her writing has appeared in The Colorado Review and the 2020 Reckoning anthology, as well a variety of online journals, including most recently The Hopper, Waxing and Waning, and Causeway Lit.

Write Now!

Writing About Art

It can be wonderful to visit a museum and contemplate visual art, but we can also rely on this same experience as a jumping-off place for our practice as writers. This online class will explore how to reflect on visual images and create written narratives that open new directions, both as writers and art-lovers. We will look at several different works of art, some modern installations and other more traditional paintings, before delving into our own imaginative realms. This invitation to look again, to absorb an image and its complexities, is a contemplative practice in itself. Writing offers another level of delight to our inquiry and the chance to become dynamic observers of the world around us.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. Register to receive your Zoom link.

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

About Julia

Julia Napier was born in the United States but has spent most of her adult life in Argentina. As a dedicated writer, translator and yoga practitioner, she has worked in the worlds of publishing and contemplative practice. Julia has studied with many senior yoga teachers and is a personal student of Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor. She also studies Tibetan Buddhism with Dr. Jules Levinson and Dr. Robert Thurman. As a writer, Julia edited the successful anthology Mujeres Argentinas in 2012 and again in 2014. In 2014, she co-authored The Ordinary? with the renowned artist Leandro Erlich and has collaborated with him as a writer over a decade. In 2016, she became the founding editor of La Colección Ananta, a collection of books in translation about contemplative traditions, for the distinguished Spanish-language publishing house El Hilo de Ariadna. In addition to her duties as editor, Julia has also translated many of Ananta’s books, including work by Richard Freeman, TKV Desikachar, Dr. Christine Caldwell, Eddie Stern, Tim Parks, Sharon Salzberg and Pattabhi Jois. Her book En la práctica, a collection of essays about the intersection of daily life and yoga practice, was published in Latin America and Spain in 2021. She currently lives Concord with her husband Juan and their two children, Oliverio and Justina.

Flowery Poetics: Creative Writing With and About Flowers

Event Description: Flowers have always been a favorite subject of poets, and it's no wonder--flowers are the epitome of impermanent beauty. Flowers have a mystical relationship to time and seasons, and their unpredictable brilliance shocks us into states of awe. In this online workshop, we will read poems about flowers and discuss what makes these poems feel fresh and surprising. Participants will bring at least one flower with them to the class, and we will do a mindfulness exercise with the flowers to bring us into a state of deeper noticing that can give rise to fresh, original writing about these timeless beauties.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Melissa Jean is an Assistant Professor in the Mindfulness Studies masters’ program at Lesley University. She teaches courses in academic writing, creative writing, research methods, and mindfulness and the environment. She received an MFA in Fiction Writing from Lesley, and a PhD in Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Science and Management from Utah State University. She is trained as a mindfulness facilitator and a naturalist, and is currently working toward becoming a forest therapy guide. Her writing has appeared in The Colorado Review and the 2020 Reckoning anthology, as well a variety of online journals, including most recently The Hopper, Waxing and Waning, and Causeway Lit.

Turning Fact into Fiction

Historical novels based on real people or real events abound, but incorporating historical events and figures into a narrative can be complicated and confusing. Writers wonder: how much research do I have to do? How can I successfully write about a place and time that feels utterly different from my own life? What are the rules for fictionalizing the life of a real person? The truth is that there’s no one right way to write fiction about the past, but there are tools and guidelines you can use to be comfortable with your choices. In this interactive talk, we’ll discuss the purpose of historical fiction, take a look at some examples of successful projects, discuss research techniques, and more.

Write Now! is a series of online monthly Mindful Writing Workshop exploring essential elements of craft that lead to memorable storytelling. Experiment with writing exercises that engage your creative flow state and discover new ways to celebrate your storytelling skills.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Whitney Scharer (BWBH VP) holds a BA in English Literature from Wesleyan University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. Her short fiction, essays, and interviews have appeared in numerous publications including Vogue, The Telegraph, The Tatler, and Bellevue Literary Review. Her first novel, The Age of Light, based on the life of pioneering photographer Lee Miller, was published by Little, Brown (US) and Picador (UK) in February, 2019, and was a Boston Globe and IndieNext bestseller and named one of the best books of 2019 by Parade, Glamour Magazine, Real Simple, Refinery 29, Booklist and Yahoo. Internationally, The Age of Light won Le prix Rive Gauche à Paris, was a coups de couer selection from the American Library in Paris, and has been published or is forthcoming from over a dozen other countries. Whitney has been awarded residencies at the Virginia Center for the Arts and Ragdale, a St. Botolph Emerging Artists Grant, and a Somerville Arts Council Artists Fellowship. She teaches fiction in the Boston area and is a co-founder of the Arlington Author Salon, a quarterly reading series.

Strategizing for Publication Success

Ready to find a home for your manuscript and keep writing in the process? Join award-winning author and master writing instructor Virginia Pye for this online clinic-style writing seminar to discover mindful strategies for every stage of the process, including creative ways to:

• share drafts and with whom

• set up a reliable system for magazine submissions

• strategize about and take steps toward getting a literary agent

• learn how and when to apply to writer’s colonies, conferences, and fellowship programs

• generate more than one writing project at a time without undermining your efforts

With these and other concrete suggestions, find your way to set up professional writing practices and increase chances for success - even before receiving that first acceptance letter!

Write Now! is a series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshop exploring essential elements of craft that lead to memorable storytelling. Experiment with writing exercises that engage your creative flow state and discover new ways to celebrate your storytelling skills.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Virginia Pye’s collection, Shelf Life of Happiness, won the 2019 IPPY Gold Medal for Short Fiction and her two historical novels, Dreams of the Red Phoenix and River of Dust, also received literary awards. Her essays have appeared in Literary Hub, The New York Times, Huffington Post, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, and elsewhere. She is Fiction Editor of Pangyrus, and a board member of the Women’s National Book Association, Boston Chapter. Virginia holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence, was a Tin House Workshop Scholar, and a repeat fellow at the VCCA. Virginia has taught writing at NYU, and UPenn, and most recently, at GrubStreet’s Muse and Marketplace conference. Her forthcoming novel, The Book Lovers, will be published by Regal House Publishing in the fall of 2023. www.virginiapye.com

Ready to revise? Let’s do it anyway! Revision is a mindful part of the writing process that allows us to reflect and reframe our initial narrative. Join master writing instructor and BWBH founder, Lara Wilson, to find more ease on the road to revision. For decades, Lara has helped countless esteemed writers more fully comprehend the essence of their work, write with enthusiasm on the journey to publication and experience literary satisfaction.

Write Now! is a series of monthly Mindful Writing Workshop exploring essential elements of craft that lead to memorable storytelling. Experiment with writing exercises that engage your creative flow state and discover new ways to celebrate your storytelling skills.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Lara Wilson, MA, GCMS, founder of Be Well Be Here and curator of the Concord Festival of Authors, devotes her life to exploring the intersection of personal narrative and mindful wellBEing. Her short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section, among others, as well as anthologized in Printers Row and Hacks: 10 Years on Grub Street. She received an 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Council  Fellowship in Fiction, and scholarships from the Sewanee and BreadLoaf Writers’ Conferences. A recent essay about her breast cancer journey was published on WBUR's Cognoscenti. A lifelong meditator, Lara established 501c3 non-profit Be Well Be Here, a mindful wellness educational collaborative in Concord, MA, whose mission is to equitably build compassionate connection and caring community through creative experiential well-being practices. Lara also serves on the Corporation Board of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. For more information, please visit BeWellBeHere.org

IGNITE YOUR WRITING in 2022! Need some encouragement to streamline the story that only you can tell? Join master writing instructor and BWBH founder, Lara Wilson, for this Mindful Writing Workshop to explore essential elements of craft that lead to memorable storytelling. For decades, Lara has helped countless esteemed writers more fully comprehend the essence of their work, write with enthusiasm on the journey to publication and experience literary satisfaction. Experiment with writing exercises that engage your creative flow state and discover new ways to celebrate your storytelling skills.

$22 to Be inspired and Write Now! All levels welcome. 

Be Well Be Here here offers scholarships and subsidies thanks to our generous donors. Apply HERE!

Lara Wilson, MA, GCMS, founder of Be Well Be Here and curator of the Concord Festival of Authors, devotes her life to exploring the intersection of personal narrative and mindful wellBEing. Her short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section, among others, as well as anthologized in Printers Row and Hacks: 10 Years on Grub Street. She received an 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Council  Fellowship in Fiction, and scholarships from the Sewanee and BreadLoaf Writers’ Conferences. A recent essay about her breast cancer journey was published on WBUR's Cognoscenti. A lifelong meditator, Lara established 501c3 non-profit Be Well Be Here, a mindful wellness educational collaborative in Concord, MA, whose mission is to equitably build compassionate connection and caring community through creative experiential well-being practices. Lara also serves on the Corporation Board of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. For more information, please visit BeWellBeHere.org

Join the conversation with Julie Carrick Dalton, author of Waiting for the Night Song. This debut novel, what the author calls “climate fiction,” explores the vagaries of friendship, and is a love song to the natural world, a call to fight for what we believe in, and a reminder that the truth will always rise. Julie will be introduced on Zoom by Be Well Be Here founder, Lara Wilson.

Friday, January 29 at 7 pm. To Register, visit ConcordLibrary.org

Julie Carrick Dalton’s debut novel WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG has been named to Most Anticipated 2021 lists by several platforms including Buzzfeed and Medium. Her second novel, THE LAST BEEKEEPER, is due for release in 2022. As a journalist, Julie has published more than a thousand articles in publications including The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, The Hollywood Reporter, Electric Literature, and The Chicago Review of Books. A Tin House alum, 2021 Bread Loaf Environmental Writer’s Conference Fellow, and graduate of GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator, Julie holds a master’s in literature and creative writing from Harvard Extension School. She is the winner of the William Faulkner Literary Competition and a finalist for the Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature and the Caledonia Novel Award. She blogs for DeadDarlings and The Writer Unboxed. She is a member of the Climate Fiction Writers League and is a frequent speaker and workshop leader on the topic of Fiction in the Age of Climate Crisis at universities, high schools, and writers conferences. Mom to four kids and two dogs, Julie also owns and operates an organic farm in rural New Hampshire, the backdrop for her novel.

Are you a fiction writer looking for guidance and encouragement? Try our mindful writing workshop in collaboration with Concord-Carlisle Adult & Community Ed, The Art of Writing Fiction. Join master writing instructor, award-winning short story author and curator of the Concord Festival of Authors, Lara Wilson, MA, for this supportive fiction writing workshop. Together, we'll experiment with writing exercises that engage the observational mode, strengthen your writing process and hone your narrative. We'll also discuss elements of craft that sharpen self-expression and allow readers to meaningfully engage with your story. Bring a sample of your work to revise, and awaken new paths to storytelling with added confidence and creativity.

This course will take place on two Saturdays, November 7 and December 5 at 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

Register at CCACE (Concord-Carlisle Adult & Community Education)

Are you a fiction writer looking for guidance and encouragement? Try our mindful writing workshop in collaboration with Concord-Carlisle Adult & Community Ed, The Art of Writing Fiction. Join master writing instructor, award-winning short story author and curator of the Concord Festival of Authors, Lara Wilson, MA, for this supportive fiction writing workshop. Together, we'll experiment with writing exercises that engage the observational mode, strengthen your writing process and hone your narrative. We'll also discuss elements of craft that sharpen self-expression and allow readers to meaningfully engage with your story. Bring a sample of your work to revise, and awaken new paths to storytelling with added confidence and creativity.

This course will take place on two Saturdays, November 7 and December 5 at 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

Register at CCACE (Concord-Carlisle Adult & Community Education)

Join Be Well Be Here founder, Lara Wilson, as she welcomes celebrated author, Jennifer Haigh, Keynote Speaker of the Concord Festival of Authors, who will be introduced by Helen Elaine Lee.

Why Stories Still Matter

In a time of national crisis – political, medical, financial, environmental and moral – storytelling is more important than ever. Novelist Jennifer Haigh discusses what literature has to teach us, and why it is urgently necessary in these troubled times.

Jennifer Haigh is a novelist and short story writer. Her sixth book, the novel Heat and Light, won a 2017 Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was named a Best Book of 2016 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and NPR.  Her previous books – Faith, The Condition, Baker Towers, Mrs. Kimble, and the story collection News From Heaven -- have won the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Massachusetts Book Award and the PEN New England Award in fiction, and have been published in eighteen languages.  Her short stories have been published widely, in The Atlantic, Ploughshares, The Best American Short Stories and many other places.  She has been awarded fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts, the James Michener Foundation and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.  A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, she currently teaches in the MFA program in Creative Writing at UMass Boston. 

Helen Elaine Lee is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School whose first novel, The Serpent's Gift, was published by Atheneum and her second novel, Water Marked, was published by Scribner. Her short stories have appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Callaloo, Hanging Loose, and Solstice Literary Magazine. She has written about leading creative writing workshops in prison in a New York Times essay, “Visible Men”.  Her novel, “Pomegranate,” will be published by Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books, in 2022.  Helen is Professor of Comparative Media Studies/Writing at MIT and Director of MIT’s Program in Women’s & Gender Studies.

Join award-winning novelist Steve Almond for this event as part of in his writing series, Workshops for Democracy, featured at the Concord Festival of Authors 2020. All CFA Writing workshops sponsored by Be Well Be Here are live online.

Where Your Story Starts: Doubt and Disequilibrium

Too often in our lives (off the page and on) we seek refuge in a sense of assurance and psychological stability. But our most intense and lasting experiences are ones that involve doubt and disequilibrium. So what happens when we focus on those moments, when we allow ourselves to return to those lost weeks and months and years? Looking at the work of Charles D’Ambrosio, James Baldwin, Lorrie Moore, Cheryl Strayed, and other modern masters, we’ll dig deep into this troubled terrain, and use an in-class writing assignment to discover what truths we can reveal.

Sunday, October 18 at 7:30 - 9:00 pm

Space is limited at a discounted rate of $15. Apply for a scholarship here.

This is a Workshop for Democracy, designed by Steve Almond. Steve will be contributing 100% of his teaching pay to the organization Black Votes Matter. Students pay a discounted fee of $15 to Be Well Be Here for the workshop, and donate a greater amount to a candidate or cause of their choosing - perhaps $25, $50 or $100. At the opening of the workshop, we will briefly discuss making contributions as an active way to participate in our democracy, and how to be citizens of good faith in this vital moment.

Steve Almond is the celebrated author of eleven books of fiction and non-fiction, including the New York Times Bestsellers “Candyfreak” and “Against Football.” His work has appeared in the Best American Short Stories, the New York Times Magazine, The Pushcart Prize, and elsewhere. For four years, Steve hosted the New York Times Dear Sugars podcast with his pal Cheryl Strayed. He lives in Arlington, with his wife and three children. For more information, visit SteveAlmondJoy.org