Freshwater Writing

Ever dream of having a daily writing practice, but life keeps getting in the way? Looking for a writing ritual to push through the dark days of winter? This workshop is for anyone seeking community and who wants to create new work, fast. In the week before the winter solstice, during the shortest days of the year, we will meet in the early morning—before work, before the children rise—and we will write intensively for five days. At the end of the week, you’ll have five new poems you can revisit and revise at your own pace.

Spend a Sunday morning soaking up poetry that lingers in the natural world–poems that praise, celebrate, care for, mourn, and reimagine nature and our relationship to it. Drawing from poems in the newly released U.S. Poet Laureate-edited anthology You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World and beyond, we will attune ourselves to the sounds and language of our natural world and its landscapes. You can expect to leave with a burgeoning sense of how you might incorporate nature into your own work, and an abundance of freshly started pieces.

Have the busy summer months stalled your writing routine, or distracted you from your creative spark? Are you dreaming of building, or getting back into, a regular practice? For six weeks, we will focus on creating new work and sharing feedback so that we might quickly re-center ourselves and our writing in our community and our lives. 

Back by popular demand! Looking for a writing ritual to push through the heat of summer? In the week of the summer solstice, during the longest days of the year, we will meet in the early morning—before work, before the children rise—and we will write intensively for five days. At the end of the week, you’ll have five new poems you can revisit and revise at your own pace. We will also offer feedback on new poems, always keeping an eye on generosity.

Just as winter gives way to spring, fallow writing periods can signal the arrival of growth and discovery: an opportunity to revisit our process, take new directions in a project, and reconnect with our voice. Bolstered by the renewal of spring, at our weekend workshop we will investigate what new growth has been lying in wait during the winter season—what’s been shimmering in the dark. We will reunite with our clearest, truest voice by following our inner writer and returning to the tools that help us shake off the cold, nurture ourselves, and create the work that only we can write. Whether you are a brand-new or seasoned writer, join us for an intimate retreat on the shores of Lake Superior to discover—or rediscover—the power of attuning to the process of writing.

Are you looking for a writing community? Dreaming of a regular writing practice, either to deepen your craft, piece by piece, or work on a larger project? The Sustained Writer is a 12-week guided online writing circle centered on five principles: attention, curiosity, grace, practice, and community. This writing circle is for all writers, of all levels—and especially poets.

REGISTRATION IS FULL. Please contact Chelsea if you’d like to be added to the waitlist.

Winter can feel like a season of stagnation, with any new growth or transformation obscured by the snow and the cold. Like a rope leading the way through a blizzard from barn to house, at our weekend workshop we will learn to feel our way toward our clearest, truest voice–following our inner writer and returning to the tools that help us shake off the cold to create the work that only we can write. Whether you are a brand new or seasoned writer, join us for an intimate retreat on the shores of Lake Superior to discover–or rediscover–the power of attuning to the process of writing.