Writing the Unspeakable

Instructor: Beth Bates 
In this class we will explore a few creative nonfiction forms such as vignette, narrative list, and review. In a safe, non-judgmental setting you will have a chance to try out these tools to help you wrangle topics that may feel too painful, complex, or wondrous to translate into the written word.

Beth Bates is a reluctant Hoosier since 2002, Beth credits the Butler University creative writing MFA program with saving her from death by mountain deprivation. A previous prose editor for Butler’s Booth journal, Beth has essays published in (mostly obscure, online, or now-defunct) literary journals, including Treehouse, MonkeyBicycle, and Used Furniture Review. She has worked as a writer and editor for a local nonprofit, a large publisher, and LitGrit, her own consulting business helping other writers polish their work. She is currently a copy director for a healthcare marketing agency in Carmel, where she resides with her husband, Dan, 18-pound cat Gary, and two college-age kids when they return for food, money, or a Gary fix. In addition to her MFA, Beth has an MA in counseling from Denver Seminary; she worked as a therapist while living in Colorado back around the time Mary Karr published “Liars Club” and Anne Lamott came out with “Traveling Mercies.”