let’s work together
I am an Associate Fellow at the Attic Institute for Arts and Letters, and have taught writing to teenagers and adults at Oxford Academia, the New York Times Student Journeys, Literary Arts, the Portland Writers-in-the-Schools, the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, the National Writers Series of Traverse City, and the Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School in Sicily, among others.
I’ve also lectured, visited courses, and led workshops at Willamette University, the University of North Carolina, Vermont State University, Ithaca College, Bowdoin College, University of Michigan, University of Washington, and others.
Workshops and Lectures
Available to visit your class/school/office/library, virtually or in-person.
Topics: literary nonfiction; environmental writing; researched memoir; writing across genre; science-writing; journalism; “creative research”; building writing habits; freelance writing.
To request an in-person or virtual speaking engagement with me, please contact Authors Unbound, or view my speaking profile.
Freelance Editing/Brainstorming/Structure
Looking for an extra set of eyes on an in-progress work of fiction, memoir, or research, or for help getting a project off the ground? Whether you’re hoping for written feedback or a 1x1 conference, let’s chat, I’d love to help you accomplish your goal. Drop me a line with a few sentences about who you are and what you are hoping to gain working with me.
Andrea Lonas, 2022
Upcoming Classes
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Orion Environmental Writers' Workshop
JUNE 16-21. The Omega Institute. Rheinbeck, NY.
Whether your passion is nonfiction, fiction, or poetry, the Orion Environmental Writers’ Workshop is a creative laboratory for anyone seeking to reflect their environments through their work. The course features generative breakout sessions dedicated to intensive craft practice, faculty readings and lectures, student readings, and panels on publishing.
Workshop seats will be limited in size so that each participant receives individualized attention, feedback, and focused time with faculty members and Orion editors to discuss whatever is on their minds. Throughout the week, literary agents and editors will stop by for panels and conversations to answer questions and offer advice on bringing out your work in the publishing world.
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PERMISSION TO WRITE: EXPERIMENTS IN PROSE
JULY 12, 10-4pm. The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Otis, OR.
Have you been wanting to write fiction or nonfiction, but are unsure where to start? Are you trying to figure out how to get back into a creative groove, or how to best approach an idea you have now? This generative workshop is aimed at giving you the confidence and creative oxygen to build your own writing routine. Through short readings, generative writing prompts, and craft discussions aimed at empowering you on the page, we'll explore how each writer can find their own path. Students will leave with seeds of future ideas and techniques to write them into reality.
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The Art of Looking: Writing About Environment and Self
JULY 15-16, 10-4pm. The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Otis, OR.
A writer is, first and foremost, an observer - not only of the world, but of how they inhabit and move through it. In this multi-genre workshop, we'll explore writings that move between the natural world and the self, bringing an intimate eye to each. How can we train ourselves to be better observers of the natural world, and how can we capture our observations on the page? The workshop will include readings of short published works, discussion of how writers capture their own life stories and the natural world on the page, and generative writing prompts to inspire you.
Jere Grimm, Visual Artist
“Working with an editor was a first for me, and Erica made it feel like the exact right thing for me to be doing at that exact moment in the development of my essay. Erica seemed to intuit the necessary and gently probing questions. It was a crucial and helpful step for which I was so very grateful.”
Agueda Pacheco Flores, Freelance Journalist
“Erica Berry’s class helped me regain that pure form of confidence one feels when they first realize writing is their “thing”…it was the push I needed to redirect my writing goals back to their roots, one where I saw writing not as a means to an end, but a passion that gives my life meaning.”
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Associate Teaching Professor Andrea Otáñez, Communication, University of Washington, Seattle
“Many descriptors come to mind when I think of Erica Berry: wise, incisive, generous…she creates a warm, encouraging environment while offering accessible tools to express our truths or explore what those truths may be. I always emerge so much smarter when I read ERica’s work or sit in the classroom with her.”
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Testimonials
Professor Deirdre Mahoney, Ph. D, Communications, Northwest Michigan College