Wonder and wander

This past August, 10 Central Michigan University students traveled to the CMU Biological Station on Beaver Island to take the course “Wonder and Wander: Creative Writing in Nature” with poet and Professor Robert Fanning.

Immersed in the beautiful surroundings of Beaver Island, students explored their relationship to nature while hiking and writing.

“I called the course ‘Wonder and Wander’ because I wanted the island itself to inspire us to reconnect with nature around us as well as the nature in ourselves,” said Fanning.

For the week-long creative writing course, Fanning arranged both the content and daily excursions around five themes: connection, relationship, awareness, conversation, and integration.

Writers received a packet of poems engaging with natural themes by dozens of poets, including Robert Frost, Louise Glück, Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, Joy Harjo, Patricia Smith and many others, modern and contemporary. In the morning, course participants began with meditation on the beach, followed by a “wondering” session—reading and discussing poems and doing short writing exercises.

After lunch, the poets donned their backpacks and hiking shoes, to “wander,” heading out to Little Sand Bay, Iron Ore Bay, the Beaver Head Lighthouse, Mt. Pisgah, and other Beaver Island natural and historical sites, where they also filled their notebook pages.

“In addition to connecting with the ecological wonders of the island, I wanted us to consider the ancient and native humans who lived and settled in this place--to be aware of and to consider the history of this island before, during, and after its waves of colonial settlers,” said Fanning.

Students spent time one day researching historical and natural island sites, and then toured a few museums managed by the Beaver Island Historical Society, where they listened to an illuminating talk by one of the Society’s docents, followed by a trip to the home and tomb of Feodor Protar, one of the island’s favorite former inhabitants.

CMU Biostation Interim Director Kevin Pangle also was impressed with the collaborative experience.

“The station benefits greatly from the synergy between art and science, and it was remarkable to see the different ways the students were inspired by the island and then their willingness to share their perspectives through their work,” said Pangle. “I am excited to have more classes like these at the station in the future.”

“Having the chance to learn the incredible history of Beaver Island and explore the endless wonders of the different ecosystems and wildlife that inhabit the land truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said McKenna Lacount, a senior English major from Hesperia. “I will forever carry with me this connectedness to the world I am so, so lucky to call home, as well as the knowledge that it is possible to find the extraordinary in what we take for granted every single day.”

Draya Raby, a senior journalism major from Davison, said, “I have never felt more creatively inspired in my life…or felt so calm and at peace than I did on Beaver Island. From the course I learned that poetry is all around and it taught me how to get inspired by things, rather than (only) how to write poetry, which I loved.”

Students also loved their repeated trips to Beaver Island’s Daddy Franks for their famed ice cream.

“Stopping for ice cream is a non-negotiable,” Fanning said. “It’s great fuel for the poetic imagination.”