Memorial Location
with Allyn West
September 22-23
1-5
Houston is a city of driving, but it becomes more pleasurable – and more interesting – when you’re walking. This two-day writing workshop updates the figure of the flaneur – defined by Charles Baudelaire as a “passionate spectator” in the late 1800s – for our contemporary age and encourages a literature of observation. As described by Bijan Steven in the Paris Review:
In this unusual and exciting two day essay workshop in which Allyn West — former Cite magazine writer and current Gray Matters editor for the Houston Chronicle — will lead a workshop for essays you might find in a place like Gray Matters. It will concentrate on placemaking, in the spirit of the literary flâneur.
Fair warning: In the spirit of the flaneur, this workshop will involve significant time spent walking around a neighborhood. The Memorial location is in a beautiful sun room in a home newly restored after Hurricane Harvey.
Allyn West is an editor and writer at the Houston Chronicle for Gray Matters. Previously, he worked as a writer for the Rice Design Alliance and Swamplot. He graduated from the University of Houston in 2015 with a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing.
