Illinois Historic sites offer writing workshops

Two Illinois historic sites are hosting workshops for aspiring writers.

Springfield’s Dana-Thomas House and Vachel Lindsay Home will feature a total of five two-hour fiction and poetry writing sessions throughout October, November and December. The sessions are being taught by instructors from the University of Illinois at Springfield and Benedictine University and organized by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and Vachel Lindsay Association. Topics include “Facing Fear in Your Fiction” and “Bad Fruitcake, Burnt Turkey, Good Stories”— a workshop about turning holiday tension into good writing. Sessions cost $10 with a student rate of $5.

A full daylong session will be held Nov. 16 at the Adams Wildlife Sanctuary in Springfield. It will cover autobiographical writing, historic research and poetry about nature. There is a fee to attend the session.