being exploitative and the challenges of speaking for vs. Something that significantly stuck with me was our conversation about how writers and artists navigate the difficulties of offering representation vs. Having the opportunity to meet with Rebecca Solnit and hear her speak about her experience grappling with the world of writing, censorship, understanding how to represent a community she cannot call her own properly, and asking us students who are so newly entering the world of writing, insightful questions were an unforgettable experience. This was a key topic of discussion, as Solnit has rewriting pieces, making them more realistic and relatable for today's society She challenged the student writers to see themselves in their writing and provide more diverse representation in their works. It was an unbelievable honor and privilege to help welcome her to Duke.ĭuring the workshop, Solnit presented the attendees with the question, 'What is your story?' This led to a discussion of writing from different perspectives and retelling stories from more diverse viewpoints than they were originally written. She embodies what it means to write with open eyes. Students in my advanced workshop encountered Solnit's work at a few different stages in her career, and these readings spoke to the stunning breadth of her passions: from ecofeminist to art to literary critic.

During her visit, Solnit dropped pearls of wisdom that encouraged those who love writing and shared her passion for the fight against climate change. It concluded with an evening reading and Q&A in the Rubenstein Library. Her visit began with a workshop with Duke English creative writing students. Solnit argues for the necessity of preserving the time and space in which to walk in our ever more car-dependent and accelerated world.Author, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit, known for helping to make the term 'mansplaining' popular, visited Duke on April 19. She profiles some of the most significant walkers in history and fiction–from Wordsworth to Gary Snyder, from Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet to Andre Breton’s Nadja–finding a profound relationship between walking and thinking and walking and culture.

Arguing that the history of walking includes walking for pleasure as well as for political, aesthetic, and social meaning, Solnit focuses on the walkers whose everyday and extreme acts have shaped our culture, from philosophers to poets to mountaineers. A passionate, thought provoking exploration of walking as a political and cultural activity, from the author of the memoir Recollections of My Nonexistenceĭrawing together many histories–of anatomical evolution and city design, of treadmills and labyrinths, of walking clubs and sexual mores–Rebecca Solnit creates a fascinating portrait of the range of possibilities presented by walking.

Wanderlust by rebecca solnit