Sensory Writing with Hayley Pisciotti

Using examples from the Ploughshares archive, Ploughshares Editorial Associate of Orders Hayley Pisciotti will lead a generative workshop on Sensory Writing. Together, participants will explore how fixating on any of the five senses can elevate the syntax, tone, and mood of short-form prose and/or poetry. How does each sense evoke emotion on the page? Which one do we, as writers, gravitate towards to ground ourselves in a piece? Where do senses begin to create metaphorical meaning? This workshop will be a space that invites those questions (and many others) to serve each writer’s creative process. Through guided tactile prompts and brief discussion, the workshop allows each writer to pursue their own meaning of a singular sense. The session will conclude with optional sharing and supportive conversation (in the spirit of Liz Lerman’s CPR style). Participants will leave with at least one new draft and a new angle on how the senses give creative perspective and purpose to our writing.

Part of "The Ploughshares Master Class Series at the Writer’s Room of Boston", this event is part of a five-week series for emerging and established writers alike. Each generative workshop riffs off an archival Ploughshares literary piece, inviting participants to engage directly with the journal’s rich history while creating new work of their own. Led by editors, poets, designers, and marketers from the Ploughshares community, sessions combine close reading, guided prompts, discussion, and optional sharing in a supportive space. Writers across genres will leave with fresh drafts and practical craft tools.

Excellent work generated by attendees in these sessions will be considered for publication on the Ploughshares blog.

SENSORY WARNING: this workshop will employ the use of perfume and other scents.