“Food and memories of food weave through every human experience, from birth to death,” says local author Irene Cooper. If you like to think and read about food or if you fancy yourself the next great food columnist, Deschutes Public Library invites you to attend “Nacho Ordinary Food Writing Workshop.” The workshop, led by Irene and her husband Mike Cooper, is designed to bring creative writing into the world of food writing. The workshop is free and open to writers of all abilities, and according to Irene is “For anyone who writes and eats, or wants to.” Space is limited and registration is required (register online at the link below).

Saturday, January 23, 2016 | 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
East Bend Library

Food has taken center stage in recent years, from getting its own television network to launching literary talents like Michael Pollan, Anthony Bourdain and Ruth Reichl. But according to Mike, there is good food writing and then there is bad food writing. “Good food writing is about an experience, hopefully one that we all share, while bad food writing is just about food,” he says. Irene says that bad food writing fails to make the connection between our senses and our understanding and that “Good food writing reveals something new from the familiarity of a whiff of cinnamon, from the weight of a juicy lemon in your palm.”

Using a series of writing exercises, participants will use food as a subject for creative writing. “We will read some non-traditional contemporary food reviews and essays, and touch on some of the food-writing greats,” says Mike. The four-hour workshop will also include sharing of work and discussion of writing practices and resources.

Mike and Irene met at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and have spent most of their lives working in the restaurant industry. As recent graduates of the inaugural OSU-Cascades MFA Writing Program, they have designed and led writing workshops for Caldera Arts, OSU Cascades and The Workhouse in Bend. Irene’s writing is grounded in poetry and essay work. She is a freelance writer working with G5, as well as internet sites specializing in law and medicine. Mike’s focus is short fiction and non-fiction. He has recently started submitting his work for publication and already placed in the top 25 for Glimmer Train’s New Writer’s Award.