Aspiring nature writers will trek to the Sierra July 17-24 to refine their work at UC Davis' "Art of the Wild" program. The weeklong session, co-sponsored by the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, offers writers with an interest in the ties between the literary arts and the natural world a chance to brush elbows with 15 published authors, including Gary Snyder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and UC Davis English professor. Writers who share "a real potential in their craft and a real desire to find ways to deal with wilderness and nature in their writing," are admitted to the program, says program director Jack Hicks, a UC Davis English professor. In its second year, the program is fast becoming the sort of event where "publishers will call up and want to scout it out," Hicks says.