Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society
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Place as Character in Creative Writing

Environmental Writing Studio Workshop

01.06.2026 12:00  – 14:00 

Location: Rachel Carson Center, fourth floor, Conference Room, Leopoldstr. 11a, 80802 Munich, Germany

Guest Speaker: Esmé Kaplan-Kinsey

“Place” is a frequently discussed term in the field of environmental humanities, so commonly invoked that its definition can become blurry. In modern literature, particularly the Western canon, place and ecosystem tend to be treated as backdrops to human activity rather than agentive forces within narratives. This perspective, especially once taken beyond literary contexts, constitutes a major concern when considering the impacts of human activity on the environment.

In this workshop, we will explore what it means to use creative writing as a tool to increase our relational consciousness with the natural world. What does it mean to write a story that assumes its environmental setting to be just as influential as its characters? Might place itself have the potential to emerge as a narrative agent in its own right? This workshop will include a group discussion as well as time to generate our own written pieces that address place as character.

The workshop is limited to 15 people. To sign up, please email pauline.kargruber@rcc.lmu.de.

Esmé Kaplan-Kinsey is a writer and a California transplant living in Munich, Germany, where they are a visiting scholar at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. Their research focuses on human–nature relation, queer studies, ecofeminism, and place-based writing. In their creative work, they strive to deconstruct binaries casting humankind in opposition to the natural world. A 2026 Anthony Veasna So Scholar through the Adroit Journal and a Monarch Queer Literary Award winner, their work appears in publications such as Split Lip, SmokeLong Quarterly, and the Cincinnati Review. During their stay at the RCC, they are drafting their first novel.