JACKSON, Wyo. — Almost Writers, the youth education portion of the non-profit Jackson Hole Writers, will ring in the New Year at the Teton Raptor Center on Tuesday, Jan. 2, to learn how to write from the lens of a hawk, owl, eagle or falcon.
Award-winning local author Nanci Turner Steveson will teach the group of young writers how to imagine the voice of an owl or hawk and the stories they would share. After a visit to the Teton Raptor Center, Steveson realized that an engaging way to help young writers imagine writing from an animal perspective would be to bring young writers in close observation with raptors and then leap into creative writing, according to Jackson Hole Writers.
“The students will visit with wildlife biologists and learn the different personalities of raptors, where they live, the different habitats and how they view things,” Steveson told Buckrail. “By being introduced to these birds, it will allow the kids to stretch their imagination, walk across the room and start writing. This is a great opportunity for them to learn how to use their environment to inform their writing.”
The students will visit the Raptor Center with their notebooks and pens and engage with the birds of prey. Turner will lead the writing side of the program while Teton Raptor Center staff will share information about the animals students will observe and write about.
“Nanci has done so much to inspire and educate young writers,” Jackson Hole Writers Executive Director Matt Daly said. “She has really outdone herself this time. What could be better for the imagination than looking into the eye of a raptor, learning about how it perceives the world and pondering how that raptor might look back? Writers and wildlife advocates share a passion for observing the world around them. This experience ought to give a group of aspiring young writers a great sense of how the skills they bring to their passion for words applies to their passion for the wild world around them.”
The current bird residents at the Raptor Center include a turkey vulture, barn owl, red tail hawk, Swainson’s hawk, ferruginous hawk and long-time favorite, Gus the golden eagle.
“Raptors are an enormous source of awe, wonder and inspiration and we hope our Avian Ambassadors will inspire these creative minds,” Amy McCarthy, Executive Director of Teton Raptor Center, said in a statement.
According to Steveson, Almost Writers lines up with Jackson Hole Writers’ vision moving forward with offering new programs throughout the year and broadening their reach within the community and beyond. The Almost Authors Program offers free events for kids ages 9 and up.
