Environmental journalist and novelist Melina Sempill Watts will talk about writing about nature and read from her book, Tree.

10 a.m. – noon – Writing Workshop – Each participant will have an opportunity to talk about story ideas. Watts will lead a writing exercise in class and close out with a talk about how to get from project idea to published piece.

1:30 – 2:30 – Book Reading and Conversation –  Melina Sempill Watts will read and connect with audience members in a conversation about her book, “Tree,”  the story of 229 years in the life of a California live oak from the perspective of the tree. She will discuss California history, botany, literature and modern California.

ABOUT MELINA SEMPILL WATTS

Melina Sempill Watts’ writing has appeared in Sierra Magazine, the New York Times motherlode blog, Earth Island Journal and Sunset Magazine, in local environmental venues such as Urban Coast: Journal of the Center for the Study of the Santa Monica Bay, the Heal the Bay blog and in local papers such as Malibu Times, Malibu Surfside News, Topanga Messenger and Argonaut News.

Watts began her career in Hollywood as a development executive, writing consultant and story analyst working for such luminaries Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Peter Horton and at Dreamworks. She has worked as a watershed coordinator, run a stable, shelved books at a library and created, marketed and ran Starfish Catering. Watts graduated from UCLA with a degree in history. She lives in California.