New Nature Writing Con
July 18-19, 2025
(with a pre-con event and classes July 14-17)
All readings and conversations are FREE and open to the public
Registration is now open for the conference’s four classes for $75.
Four pre-con classes are an additional $75. See below for class descriptions.
The New Nature Writing Con is a project of EOU’s MFA Program in Creative Writing and its special concentration in Landscape, Ecology, and Community. The conference seeks to highlight books and authors that are pushing the boundaries of eco-writing, broadly construed, in the Northwest and beyond, and to help reclaim or reinvent “nature writing” by turning from traditional homestead or a-walk-in-the-woods narratives to stories and explorations that are more inclusive, more experimental and interdisciplinary, more forward-thinking. The annual conference will consists of two days of readings, conversations, and workshops, bringing together EOU MFA faculty and visiting writers in Northeastern Oregon and connecting readers and writers especially along the I-84 corridor. A quarterly New Nature Writing Series runs during the academic year to continue the conversation. Both line ups regularly feature winners of the Oregon Book Awards, the Washington State Book Awards, and the Pacific Northwest Book Awards, as well as authors touring new or recent books. Most featured authors will be in conversation with EOU MFA faculty after their readings.
We give thanks to our partners and sponsors, past and present. In 2022, the Union County Chamber of Commerce provided a helpful seed grant for the initial La Grande Lit Week, which has now morphed into the New Nature Writing Conference to align with EOU and MFA program’s place-based emphasis. Other local partners include Fishtrap, JaxDog Café and Books, Liberty Theatre Cafe, Side A Brewery, Cook Memorial Library, La Grande Parks and Recreation, hq, The Local, Elgin Opera House, and Art Center East. EOU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and its staff provide critical help. And of course a special thanks to our students and faculty who are our biggest supporters.
We also humbly acknowledge the original inhabitants of the land that La Grande and EOU are upon: the Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Nez Perce people. We celebrate their traditions, languages, and stories. We acknowledge their continuing connection to this land, water, and community and pay our respects to these original stewards of northeastern Oregon.
All readings and conversations are FREE and open to the public. Registration is required for the conference’s classes for $75. Those interested may also register for additional “pre-con” classes for a separate $75. All classes will be held on the EOU campus. Any questions may be directed to EOU MFA director Nick Neely, nneely@eou.edu.
Pre-con Event and Classes
See this page for the schedule and description of four pre-con classes led by EOU MFA faculty from July 14-17, each at 3 pm. These classes are by separate registration.
Tuesday, July 15
7 pm, hq, 112 Depot Street
An EOU MFA program reading featuring second-year students and faculty members Megan Kruse, Nick Neely, and Eliot Treichel. FREE and open to the public.
The Second New Nature Writing Con
Friday, July 18
Note: Emma Pattee’s class has been moved to Saturday at 9 am
3-4 pm, Badgley Hall (EOU campus)
Class: “‘Why?’ Intentional decisions as a craft tool” with Emma Pattee. Registration required
Every writer can feel paralyzed by the decisions before them. What should a character do now? What is the point of this piece? Why does this scene start when it starts? Common writing advice often relies on a muse or some bolt of creative inspiration to push through this “stuckness,” or recommends workshopping a piece to get outside advice. In this class, we are going to take a different approach: intentional decision-making as a craft tool. Through short readings, examination of student work, and a behind-the-scenes breakdown of my own drafting process, we will practice using a decision-making framework to move our writing pieces forward in a meaningful, cohesive way.
7:30-10 pm, hq, 112 Depot Street
Emma Pattee lives in Portland and is the author of the novel Tilt. She is also a climate journalist whose work has appeared in publications like The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. She’ll be in conversation with Megan Kruse, author of the novel Call Me Home. Followed by a performance by the folk rock artist Arthur Buezo. FREE and open to the public
Saturday, July 19
9-10 am, Zabel Hall (EOU campus)
Class: “‘Why?’ Intentional decisions as a craft tool” with Emma Pattee (moved from Friday). Registration required
Every writer can feel paralyzed by the decisions before them. What should a character do now? What is the point of this piece? Why does this scene start when it starts? Common writing advice often relies on a muse or some bolt of creative inspiration to push through this “stuckness,” or recommends workshopping a piece to get outside advice. In this class, we are going to take a different approach: intentional decision-making as a craft tool. Through short readings, examination of student work, and a behind-the-scenes breakdown of my own drafting process, we will practice using a decision-making framework to move our writing pieces forward in a meaningful, cohesive way.
Note: Unfortunately Charlie J. Stephen’s class is canceled due to unavoidable circumstances
Class: “Relational Landscapes: Place + Emotion in Writing” with Charlie J. Stephens. Registration required
In this generative class, we will read short excerpts from Justin Torres, Toni Jensen, and Melinda Moustakis and explore how these writers use place and emotion to form relational landscapes among and between characters, as well as with the places they experience. How does place create not only a backdrop but an essential component for our more emotional written work? How can we use this to bring forth not only a structure for—but a vital component of— connectivity in our writing? We will use these texts and questions as the framework for short, generative writing exercises.
10-11 am, Lewis Auditorium (Zabel Hall)
Shannon Cram is the author of Unmaking the Bomb: Environmental Cleanup and the Politics of Impossibility, which won the Ludwig Fleck Prize, the Julian Steward Award, and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She teaches at the University of Washington Bothell and lives in the Snoqualmie Valley. She’ll be in conversation with EOU MFA director Nick Neely, whose most recent book is Alta California. FREE and open to the public
11 am-12 pm, Zabel Hall (EOU campus)
Class: “Ecology, Apocalypse and Solarpunk” with Jeannine Hall Gailey. Registration required
It’s easy to be overwhelmed with bad news: climate change, nuclear pollution, space junk, water shortages … Is there a way to imagine past apocalypse to a space that’s better, safer, more aligned with the planet? We’ll talk about the idea of “solarpunk”–a subgenre of speculative work that envisions a more positive future where technology, humanity and nature coexist peacefully with each other–and try to write poems and short prose that demonstrate not only survival but thriving in an uncertain future.
12-1 pm, Zabel Foyer
Light conference luncheon. Registration required
1-2 pm, Lewis Auditorium (Zabel Hall)
Jeannine Hall Gailey is a writer with multiple sclerosis who served as the second Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington. She’s the author of six books of poetry including Field Guide to the End of the World, winner of the Moon City Book Prize, and most recently Flare, Corona from BOA Editions, a finalist for the Washington State Book Awards. She’ll be in conversation with Allison Cobb, author most recently of Plastic: An Autobiography. FREE and open to the public
2-3 pm, Zabel Hall (EOU campus)
Class: “Writing the Body” with Shannon Cram. Registration required
What does it mean to write with and about the body? How does the human form comprise and exceed the stories we tell about it? What can we learn from an embodied perspective? In this workshop, we will consider the body as an idea, lived experience, and narrative frame. We will read excerpts from authors that center the body in their work and practice some generative writing of our own.
Note: Unfortunately Charlie J. Stephen’s reading/conversation is canceled due to unavoidable circumstances
3-4 pm, Lewis Auditorium (Zabel Hall)
Charlie J. Stephens is a queer, non-binary writer born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. They are the owner of Sea Wolf Books & Community Writing Center on Oregon’s south coast. Their debut novel, A Wounded Deer Leaps Highest, was awarded the Leslie Feinberg Award for Gender-Variant and Trans Literature and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards in 2025. They will be in conversation with Molly Reid, author of The Rapture Index: A Suburban Bestiary. FREE and open to the public.
3:15-4 pm, Lewis Auditorium (Zabel Hall)
EOU MFA graduation reading and ceremony. FREE and open to the public.