Give yourself an enriching adventure! Write and learn, relax and explore—inspired by beautiful landscapes and good company. I offer field workshops and retreats based in California and Oregon, ranging from a few hours to several days in length.
Scroll down for details. I recommend early registration, as some classes fill fast.
Click the sponsoring organizations’ links and/or contact them directly for information about fees, logistics and registration. For details about program content or for help deciding if a class is right for you, feel free to contact me.
A note on accessibility: Physical layout of facilities varies from one venue to another. The Pt. Reyes Lifeboat Station and SF State field campus, for example, have substantial staircases; others present fewer vertical challenges. If you have mobility issues, please communicate with the sponsoring organizations and with me to get a clear picture of whether the venue in question will be accessible and comfortable given your physical needs. We want to avoid unpleasant surprises, and we also want to make it possible for you to participate fully in your chosen program if at all possible.
August 7-12, 2022
High Country Writing Retreat
San Francisco State University Sierra Nevada Field Campus
North Yuba River, CA
This is a great opportunity for both new and experienced writers to take inspiration from the spiced air and rushing waters of the northern Sierra. Group sessions provide a stimulating setting for writing and sharing work without judgment, while unstructured periods allow plenty of time for individual writing, recreation, and optional one-on-one conferences. Prompts and exercises are conducive to poetry and/or prose. Bring a writing project in progress, an empty notebook ready to be filled, or both. For more information and (starting in early 2022) to register , go to the SFSU Sierra Nevada Field Campus website.
Here are some comments from prior participants:
“I come for what you give: permission to explore, muse, ponder, take time, scribble, stretch—all good things. It is nourishing and I feel more confident about writing at the end of the retreat. I am deeply grateful for your attention, presence, care.”
“The retreat was a wonderful mix of writing and reading and hearing the words of other writers—from books and from my classmates around the table.”
“It has been a fantastic experience. The tools we’ve been given—the prompts and the techniques—are things I wouldn’t have thought of applying to my writing. The retreat has been a great help to me, and I look forward to coming back to this magical place/magical people in the future.”
“The readings and poetry you selected were inspiring as always. Your ability to create a week seemingly on the spot, just for us, is truly amazing.”
“I really enjoyed a variety of readings from your collections of poems & stories. I especially liked the prompts that allowed us to wander off into nature.”
“Your approach to making this a retreat rather than a workshop was exactly right for me. Your prompts were super evocative and I loved the invitation to subvert assignments.”
“Thank you, A+, wonderful! What a gift this retreat has been.”
“Thank you so much for setting an open, welcoming, supportive, enriching tone right from the beginning of this retreat. The many short prompts helped me get my brain and pen moving. Thank you for your lending library: it was such a fantastic resource!”