Writing the Wild

J. Drew Lanham and Krissy Kludt talked at length this morning about writing, wildness, and hope. Listen in to learn more about our work together! @krissykludt @wildandincolor @writing.the.wild

"Thank you Krissy and Drew. Somehow in a climate of crisis and scarcity and collapse, you have managed to curate abundance." -past participant #writingthewild #writingworkshop #naturewriting #naturewritingworkshop #soulschool

"Joy is serious business." —Annie Wenstrup @akwenstrup Krissy Kludt @krissykludt and J. Drew Lanham@wildandincolor recently interviewed @akwenstrup about her writing process and new collection of poetry, The Museum of Unnatural Histories. This conversation was part of the 2025-2026 @writing.the.wild cohort. We hope you enjoy Wenstrup's insights in these beautiful notes by @katerutter ! And shout out to Lucy Grignon @ruby_curr and for her seed saving work featured in this sketch note!

Postal mail is a cornerstone of our programming. Our writers receive monthly prompts throughout the year, rooted in our core texts and the seasonal rhythms of the Earth. Taking inspiration from our program’s core texts, the natural world, and our own lives, our cohort’s Writing Practices prompts invite generative writing in a variety of genres as well as opportunities to revise and share our writing. Our Nature Immersion prompts invite deeper intimacy with the landscapes that shape our lives through innovative, playful, and embodied practices. Through simple and accessible artistic practices, Creative Cross Training prompts sharpen our prisms of vision. Playful Rest prompts invite moments of simplicity, ease and refreshment, essential habits for nourishing our creative selves.

🌿 MAIL Our most transformative moments of growth are embodied, tactile: We can hear, taste, smell them. We can feel them. What sets Writing the Wild apart from other writing programs is the unique combination of on- and offline resources—while our gatherings are virtual, physical mail is a core component of engagement in this journey. PACKAGES Writers receive curated care packages, including: 🪶 writing materials 🪶 art supplies 🪶 core texts for your journey (8 or more books) 🪶 limited edition broadsides (printed poems with accompanying art) from our guests 🪶 a printed copy of the Writing the Wild Zine (a professionally-designed print artifact created just for the cohort, to which each participant contributes) 🪶 some surprises along the way PROMPTS Writers receive monthly prompts throughout the year, rooted in our core texts and the seasonal rhythms of the Earth. These prompts invite: 🪶 writing (poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, and more) 🪶 nature immersion (coming to know your own landscape) 🪶 creative cross training (simple artistic practices to sharpen your prisms of vision) 🪶 playful rest (essential to the creative life) Learn more at WritingtheWild.org #naturewriting #naturewritingworkshop #writingworkshop

"Writing the Wild is an immersive, holistic incubator for writers, with all the compendious care and miracle of a womb or a humus-rich forest floor. It is an invitation to gaze into still waters, notebook in hand, and see what of oneself and what of this breathtaking world is reflected back." -past participant #writingthewild #writingworkshop #naturewriting #naturewritingworkshop #soulschool

Virtual gatherings in community are a cornerstone of our programming. Our cohort gathers twice or more monthly on Zoom to write, connect, and learn with guest writers, artists, and creative professionals in order to engage in a mutually-encouraging learning community. Our gatherings include craft workshops, readings and interviews with writers and artists, seasonal contemplative workshops, and a final celebratory reading. Each Writing the Wild cohort is designed for both new and established writers to learn alongside one another. We play at the edges of art and writing, of the personal and ecological realms, of the literary and mainstream worlds. Our cohorts of 45-65 writers act as an ecotone—a borderland between distinct habitats, where lives and ideas and expression meet. Here, we offer an in-between place where a unique diversity of life can flourish. Learn more—and sign up for email updates—at WritingtheWild.org. #naturewriting #naturewritingworkshop #writingworkshop

🌿Writing the Wild 2026-2027 Cohort: Enrollment opens this month! @writing.the.wild is an 8-month interactive writing journey guided by Krissy Kludt @krissykludt and J. Drew Lanham @wildandincolor . Blending virtual gatherings and tactile-sensory learning packages sent by mail, the program offers writers a multidimensional experience to deepen creative intimacy with their human and more-than-human communities, in response to the urgencies of our time. If you join the cohort, you will: 🍃Explore wildness (around and within you) through words. 🍃Deepen your intimacy with the more-than-human world. 🍃Release your creativity for the sake of mutual flourishing. We'll share more details in the coming weeks. You can learn more—and sign up for email updates—at WritingtheWild.org. #naturewriting #naturewritingworkshop #writingworkshop

Another peek at our monthly mail, including a graphic organizer by @asensitivefern to help mark/track your learning journey and a broadside of a poem by @mkdordiggsy with art by @abby_sunde , designed by @katerutter . 🌿 Enrollment opens in May for our 2026-2027 cohort—stay tuned, and comment or DM with questions. We’d love to have you join us! Photo by @ruby_curr .

"We don't need more silos. We need more wholes. We need people to show us how really beautiful wholeness is made." —Elizabeth Bradfield @e.bradfield Krissy Kludt @krissykludt and J. Drew Lanham @wildandincolor recently interviewed @e.bradfield about her writing process and new collection of poetry, SOFAR. This conversation was part of the 2025-2026 @writing.the.wild cohort. We hope you enjoy Bradfield's insights in these beautiful notes by @katerutter !

Here’s another peek at the mail we send to our @writing.the.wild cohort each month. The mailings pictured include a recipe from @ancestral_rebel ’s Pitāēpanuhkiw Lucy Grignon @ruby_curr and Farah Momen @farah_alia_momen , broadside art by @abby_sunde and @coyotethunder and a quotation from our workshop with @cmariefuhrman , alldesigned/drawn by @katerutter . Enrollment for our next cohort (October 2026-May 2027) opens in May. Stay tuned! Photos by Pitāēpanuhkiw Lucy Grignon @ruby_curr

Writing is no answer, but when you feel deeply there is little else to do." —Nickole Brown @nickole.brown Krissy Kludt @krissykludt and J. Drew Lanham @wildandincolor recently interviewed @nickole.brown and @storyvagabond about their writing and work as editors of the 5-book Elementals series from @humansandnature . This conversation was part of the 2025-2026 @writing.the.wild cohort. We hope you enjoy their insights in these beautiful notes by @katerutter !