No Such Thing as a Dumb Idea: A Craft Class with Leah Sottile

When it comes to enterprise journalism and creative nonfiction, the most memorable stories can be based on ideas no editor in their right mind would accept. In this workshop, freelance journalist Leah Sottile will walk students through several stories her own editors raised their eyebrows at, but that evolved into some of her most memorable pieces of work. Afterward, attendees of this workshop will discuss their own weird ideas they've brought to the workshop, and together we'll create a toolbox that will help you figure out where to take the idea next, how to get started on research and how to create a pitch that can help sell the idea.

Leah Sottile is the author of When the Moon Turns to Blood: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell and a Story of Murder, Faith and End Times. As a freelance journalist, her features, profiles, investigations and essays have been published by the Washington Post, The New York Times Magazine, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Outside, The Atlantic and High Country News. She is the host of the BBC podcasts Burn Wild and Two Minutes Past Nine, and the National Magazine Award-nominated series Bundyville. She lives in Oregon.