Sarah Gilman

Freelance Environmental Writer, Editor, and Illustrator

Winthrop, WA

9/6 - 9/10

Introducing Sarah Gilman, a freelance journalist and editor whose work appears in several publications including The Atlantic, Hakai Magazine, and The Washington Post. Graduating from Whitman in 2004 with degrees in Art and Biology, Sarah credits her experience on Semester in the West in ’02 as the inspiration for her professional writing career. “Semester in the West is simply a crash course in journalism,” Sarah shares as we embark on a 4-day writing workshop by the banks of John Day River in Ukiah, OR.

On Semester in the West, students—Westies—engage with various stakeholders across the western United States in an effort to better understand the environmental issues and solutions at hand. Westies write three essays, Epiphanies, detailing their experiences in the West throughout the semester. Three writing workshops scatter between segments of the semester, enabling Westies to spark ideas about their Epiphanies. During our times with Sarah, she and her co-instructor—a corgi named Taiga—help with our Epiphany process through writing exercises, office hours, individual one on ones, and public readings.

Reminiscent of her experience as a Westie, Sarah sees the process of writing Epiphanies as similar to what Journalists do to publish a story—meeting sources, profiling people, telling stories. Now, as a journalist, Sarah extends her professional advice to us, reminding us the importance of accurate representation in storytelling, especially when telling the stories of others.

By Jake Wang