Sand & Story: Capturing Desert Symbolism in Your Writing (Virtual Class)

Infuse the power of desert symbols into your writing! This generative virtual writing workshop starts with an introduction to landscape symbolism in the desert. Then, take writing prompts out into your nearest outdoor space. This beginner-friendly class focuses on putting words on the page rather than critiquing to help jumpstart your personal writing practice.

• This workshop is held via Zoom and offers closed captions. 

• This beginner-friendly workshop is suitable for ages 12 and older.

• Anyone may attend! No writing experience is required.

• Registered participants will receive the slides following the class. The class will not be recorded.

Activity level: This is an introductory-level online course.

Required items for participants: 

• Notepad or journal for writing

• Pen or pencil

• Must have access to Zoom

We will provide the Zoom link one week before the class start date.

Meet your instructor: Cindi Anderson is a producer, professor, and PhD in Mythology and Archetypal Psychology, giving her a unique lens into how we are shaped by our personal and collective stories and how powerful storytelling can move people into action on important causes. Anderson has lectured and taught courses in Story, Creative Writing, American Cinema, Entrepreneurship, and Landscapes’ Symbolism and Meaning. Her scholastic work focuses on diminishing and emerging patterns of human engagement with Nature from Classical Greece through today, patterns which are now mirrored in the dynamics of the global economy, environmental activism, and the growing political divide seen around the world. In addition to her scholastic work in mythology, she is a writer, producer, and brand strategist. Using her unique cross-discipline expertise, she has filled various executive and production roles in leading entertainment and advertising companies, including HBO, ICM, Tall Pony Productions, Guthy-Renker, Havas, and more. Her entertainment programs have aired globally, and she has helped launch some of the most successful brands in the world. Anderson was an inaugural Instructor at the Joseph Campbell Writers’ Room and contributed work to the Joseph Campbell Foundation. She is currently Executive Producer at The Mythology Channel and works in collaboration with Mythouse and Story Atlas. She also gives workshops for Desert Institute, the nonprofit education arm of Joshua Tree National Park Association.

Photo credit: Desert Institute