Lisa Laughlin
Writing about the West
Managing Editor | Copy Writer
M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction
My work
Literary Essays
I write about the West. My essays have been published in various national journals. I write about dryland wheat farming, wildfires, place, loss, and more.
Out There Articles
I've written over 80 articles for Out There Outdoors magazine, an Inland Northwest outdoor recreation magazine. I have been the Managing Editor here since 2023. https://issuu.com/snyderzzz
Copy Writing
I work with DOMA Coffee Roasting Company's marketing team and artists to tell stories around coffee that end up on coffee bags, newsletters, blog posts, social media and more. https://www.domacoffee.com/
I am an avid trail runner and have only drawn blood one time so far while running. (I sprain my ankle more often.) I also enjoy backpacking in the Cascades and paddle boarding on our local lakes.
I grew up on a third-generation dryland wheat farm in central Washingston state and have an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from EWU. My chapbook of flash essays, "Kindling," was published in 2017 by Sweet: A Literary Confection.
My essays have appeared in Flyway, River Teeth, High Desert Journal, Orion's "Place Where You Live" section, and elsewhere. I have been an editor at three print magazines.
Featured Articles & Essays
A look at conservation issues of the Spokane River, weaving research, interviews and my first time whitewater rafting. // Published in Out There Outdoors magazine
Read More
My Editor's Letter examining the persistence of wild places and the powerful motivator to protect them: love. // Published in Out There Outdoors magazine
Read More
I was invited to answer this question alongside other western writers. // Published by High Desert Journal
Read More
An essay on the frustrations and benefits of taking young kids on the trail // Published by Out There Outdoors magazine
Read More
An excerpt from my print collection, "Kindling," this flash essay examines the ways we try to claim a place // Published by Sweet Publications
Read More
https://sweetlit.com/issue-10-1/essay-lisa-laughlin/
From the foreward:
"Laughlin's work in these essays covers ground related to loss, to the beauty and bare truth of it, and to how our sense of place accomodates that beauty and bare truth. All three of these selections reflect on the dryland wheat farm of Laughlin's youth, its austerity and dangers, and her own desire to hold it, to keep this home close, while acknowledging that impossibility. With language as stark as the land itself, and in the presence of a writer who meditates and reflects and discovers, we get an opening — a consciousness — that invites us to meditate and reflect and discover alongside, that sketches this place in the small, meaningful strokes of the short form." —K.C. Wolfe, Co-Founding Editor
More of Lisa's Writing
Literary Works
"A Science and an Art" | Flyway Journal of Writing and Environment | contest finalist | Spring 2018 https://flywayjournal.org/non-fiction/a-science-and-an-art/
"Ephrata, WA" | Orion Magazine's "Place Where You Live" Section | May 2015 https://orionmagazine.org/article/ephrata-washington/
"Kindling" | Sweet Literary Magazine | Nominated for a Pushcart Prize | Sept. 2017 https://sweetlit.com/issue-10-1/essay-lisa-laughlin/
"Body and Field" | High Desert Journal | Oct. 2017 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba1f61b311ac0566822d5c/t/5f98fe83a7b60175a59e363f/1603862149755/Lisa+Laughlin%2C+Body+and+Field+_+highdesertjournal.pdf
"A Sort of Trespass" | Sweet: A Literary Confection | Issue 9.1 https://sweetlit.com/issue-9-1/essay-lisa-laughlin/
"Listen to the Silence" | Belmont Story Review | Issue No. 1 https://issuu.com/belmontstoryreview/docs/bsrtext/2?ff&experiment=previewReaderTestMode,new-bff-links-purchased,new-bff-overlay
"An Absence of Yellow" | River Teeth's Beautiful Things | a micro essay | Nov. 2016 https://riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-things/an-absence-of-yellow/
"Ice Breaker" | Hippocampus Magazine | Mar. 2016 https://hippocampusmagazine.com/2016/03/ice-breaker-by-lisa-laughlin/
Selected Out There Outdoors Articles
"Learning to Ski as An Adult" | Jan/Feb 2025 https://outthereoutdoors.com/learning-to-ski-as-an-adult-at-49-degrees-north-mountain-resort-near-chewelah-wa/
Book Review: "World of Wonders" | Mar/April 2024 https://outthereoutdoors.com/world-of-wonders-by-aimee-nezhukumatathil/
"Backcountry Biking for All" | An experience of north Idaho's Hiawatha Trail | Aug/Sept 2023 https://outthereoutdoors.com/backcountry-biking-for-all/
"7 Ways to Go Solar in Your Backyard" | July/Aug 2020 https://outthereoutdoors.com/7-ways-to-go-solar-in-your-backyard/
"Exploring the Hanford Reach National Monument" | Oct/Nov 2020 https://outthereoutdoors.com/exploring-the-hanford-reach-national-monument/
"Hiking Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area" | Mar/April 2019 https://outthereoutdoors.com/hiking-swanson-lakes-wildlife-area/
"Proof of Life: From Brain Tumor to 50k" | Based on an interview with a trail runner | Jan/Feb 2018 https://outthereoutdoors.com/proof-of-life-from-brain-tumor-to-50k/
"Inland NW Trail Runs Worth Traveling For" | May/June 2018 https://outthereoutdoors.com/trail-runs-worth-traveling-for/
"Barefooting the Spokane: The Short-Lived, Spokane River Water Ski Craze" | July 2018 https://outthereoutdoors.com/barefooting-the-spokane-the-short-lived-spokane-river-water-ski-craze/
"5 Hikes in Washington Wine Country" | Oct/Nov 2018 https://outthereoutdoors.com/5-hikes-in-washington-wine-country/
Find the full collection of my articles here: https://outthereoutdoors.com/?s=lisa+laughlin
Copy Writing and Profiles for DOMA
Start with Coffee: Seaweed Farmer: https://www.domacoffee.com/pages/seaweed-farmer
Start With Coffee: Fly Fisher Guide: https://www.domacoffee.com/pages/fly-fishing-guide
Limited Oxygen Coffee Processing: https://www.domacoffee.com/blogs/blog/limited-oxygen-processing
Start With Coffee: Therapeutic Sailing: https://www.domacoffee.com/pages/dogsmile-adventures
The Zion Forever Project: https://www.domacoffee.com/pages/zion-forever-project
Start With Coffee: The Texas Chef: https://www.domacoffee.com/pages/locos
The Dukunde Kawa Cooperative: https://www.domacoffee.com/pages/dukunde-kawa-co-op
Selected Editor's Letters for Out There Outdoors
"A Season for New Things" | Jan/Feb 2025 https://outthereoutdoors.com/a-season-for-new-things/
"Find Your Flow" | Nov/Dec 2024 https://outthereoutdoors.com/find-your-flow/
"Learning the Lexicon of the Places We Love" | July/Aug 2024 https://outthereoutdoors.com/learning-the-lexicon-of-the-places-we-love/
"An Enlightening Backcountry Encounter" | May/June 2024 https://outthereoutdoors.com/an-enlightening-backcountry-encounter/
"A Case for Reading the Weather" | March/Apr 2024 https://outthereoutdoors.com/a-case-for-reading-the-weather/
"For the Love of a Place" | Sept/Oct 2023 https://outthereoutdoors.com/for-the-love-of-a-place/
"Learning on the Trail" | July/Aug 2023 https://outthereoutdoors.com/learning-on-the-trail/
"Jumping into Summer" | May/ June 2023 https://outthereoutdoors.com/jumping-in-to-summer/
"Illumination for the Long Run" | March/Apr 2023 https://outthereoutdoors.com/illumination-for-the-long-run/
"This heirloom variety from Ethiopia is a washed-process coffee with red apple acidity and floral aromas, extra refreshing as an iced brew. It's clean and sweet, like the air on an open prairie as a long summer day wanes to night.
With an homage to the high plains of Montana, artist Coila Evans' lone lady longhorn is meant to evoke the enduring, independent spirit of the West. Let this coffee inspire you to explore the liminal, like where the horizon meets the sky, and strike a balance between peace and purpose."
Contact
- Spokane, Washington, United States
I'm interested in freelance writing and editing projects. Get in touch!