Teaching & Workshops
“So many thanks and gratitude, Christian. Our classroom turned into a living book today. The students thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated their engagement with you. One said, “She’s so much like what she writes.” The highest compliment.”
– Gary Margolis
Christian teaches workshops by request, most often on poetry and non-fiction, with a focus on creativity and slowing down. These can range in length from half a day to a full week. See below for a description of possible choices.
Christian teaches almost every January in the Winter Studies program at Williams College, MA. She has also taught the occasional workshop for faculty and/or staff at Smith College and Hampshire College, and at the Zen Mountain Monastery in Upstate New York. For a number of years, she co-taught a weeklong course on the Scottish island of Tanera, with her friend, the textile artist, Jan Kilpatrick.
In Praise of Listening
A half-day workshop
One of life’s great joys is finding time to listen — whether to the grown ups talking far above our heads, or to the many voices of the non-human world: the crash of thunder, the wind in the leaves, the bright birds singing outside our morning window. Sounds from childhood can be especially potent. In this introductory workshop, we will take the time to remember (and to write about, and even draw) the sounds of long ago, as well as those in the immediate present. Bring your journals and your colored pencils, and expect to spend the session reading, writing, and drawing, and sharing sound memories and stories. Weather permitting, we will also spend some time out-of-doors.
No experience necessary.
The Art of Letter-Writing
Voice, Calligraphy & Spirit, co-taught with artist and calligrapher, Barbara Bash: Two Day Workshop
Here in the United States, most of us spend more than an hour a day writing and responding to email. But finding time to write – by hand – a thoughtful, considered personal letter, has become increasingly rare. Over the course of this weekend, Barbara and Christian explore the history of letter-writing, drawing on examples by practicing artists and writers, and setting it in the context of the “slow living” movement. Participants are introduced to the basics of calligraphy (“beautiful writing”) and everyone has the chance to write (and perhaps to illustrate) several letters for themselves.
The Art of Looking
A half-day workshop
The nineteenth century artist John Ruskin encouraged all his students to draw, even if they weren’t especially good at it. “The greatest thing a human being ever does in this world is to SEE something, and tell what [they] saw in a plain way.” For most of us, such clarity and focus have become increasingly rare. There is so much to see, and it passes by so fast, on the tiny screens of our digital cameras and the larger ones of our personal computers, on TVs and videos and flashing billboards, that simply looking has become a luxury.
In this half-day workshop, Christian will guide you in “the art of looking,” both as a pleasure in itself and as an opportunity for more sustained creative work. You will take the time to read and write and draw, exploring ways in which to braid such practices into your own ordinary/extraordinary daily life.
In Praise of Walking
A full-day workshop
Almost everything we care deeply about, we do with some nimbus of slowness around it, whether that be writing a poem, digging a garden, or baking a birthday cake for a beloved child. “The greatest assassin of life is haste,” said the poet Theodore Roethke. And yet more than a third of us say we “always feel rushed.” This day-long workshop is intended as an antidote to that frantic sense of urgency. Over the course of our time together, we will focus on very ordinary, everyday activities — walking, talking, writing, drawing, telling stories — exploring them both as a source of pleasure in themselves, and as a pathway to our own creative work.
World Enough & Time
On Creativity and Slowing Down: Week-long Retreat
“Art,” said the novelist, Saul Bellow, “has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos… an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction.” And yet here in the United States, more than 38% of the population describes ourselves as “always feeling rushed.” This week-long retreat provides a welcome antidote to that crazy-busyness: an opportunity to slow down and pay attention, combining stories and discussion with a special focus on reading, writing, walking, drawing and dreaming.
All participants are welcome, though it will be of particular interest to creative writers, and to practicing artists of whatever genre. Please bring a favorite notebook or journal, paints and crayons if you have them, and a pair of comfortable walking shoes.
Tributes & Praise
“Christian McEwen is fantastic. She should be a full-time Williams professor. Her deep knowledge and breadth of intellectual engagement made class fascinating and delightful. Furthermore, she inspired me to go above and beyond the excellent assignments.”
“Thank you so much for a wonderful winter study. I really, really enjoyed the class, both the slowing down and reconnecting with writing. Drawing and learning a bit more about nature were nice bonuses too. I hope I can continue what I’ve begun in your class, and I just wanted to tell you how appreciative I am of everything you’ve shared with me.”
– Winter Studies students at Williams College, MA
“Thank you so much for once again sharing your teachings with us, and making writing feel accessible, within reach, and non-scary. Your warmth and presence here are so deeply felt.”
– Ikusei at Zen Mountain Monastery, Mount Tremper, Upstate NY
“I just wanted to let you know that I dropped a check in the mail today for my copy of World Enough & Time. I really can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading it. Not only is it profound and moving and absorbing, but I love that it’s crafted in a way such that it will always be there, able to be read by bits, offering moments of peace and inspiration. Thank you again for your workshop. It was truly transformative for me.”
– Johnny Williams
“Christian, About 10 years ago I was in a writing workshop you taught for high school and college newspaper writers at Columbia University. Soon afterwards, I got a copy of Jo’s Girls, and have reread it about once a year since then. I can definitely say that for me your workshop left a strong and formative impression on me, strengthened by the presence of your book. Thank you for being an inspiring teacher, and for being the conduit for teachings that continue to unfold in my life.”
– Aramati
