Writing in the Garden with Azar – #1
As I ended my junior year, it was a series of goodbyes and hellos to all sorts of firsts and lasts; one of the most significant to me is my dear creative writing teacher and mentor Azar Kohzadi who is changing jobs from her work at DSA. Azar has been one of my most loved guides in writing and every step of my school experience starting way back in 6th grade! I’ve been so grateful to learn from her these past 7 years, especially as I enter my senior year of high school.
This summer I had the opportunity to take a workshop with Azar on creative writing about the garden and capturing all sorts of mini ecosystems of life that are often going on in our own backyards! Some of my fondest memories when I was really little were of playing in the garden with my old dog, Lily, and feeling so much delight at how much could be contained in so little; we typically think of the woods or somewhere we could picture ourselves “roughing it” like Bear Grylls out in the forest as “real nature” and everything else is kind of not really the real deal. However, there can be a whole lot of wonderful and enchanting things going on in even just a little bit of space!
This is a series of writing prompts inspired by these general ideas! Feel free to share anything you write or think about in the comments, in the feedback slot at the bottom right or on the Kidsanimalstation.com contact page!
Especially in Black and Indigenous communities, there are often creative, lesson-teaching and often humorous ‘Origin Stories’ which explain how a species, season, or plant came to look or act the way that it does. For example, this story of the African San Clan of how the Zebra got its stripes. Write an Origin Story, nonfiction or fiction, about something in nature, that fascinates, surprises or confuses you!
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