time to get away?

Sometimes, as another short gray day dawns, even twinkling holiday decorations aren’t enough to cut through the gloom. When that happens, it’s time to start thinking about getting outta town. A writing retreat may be solution, and looking forward to an upcoming retreat may be just enough to lift you from the doldrums.

This list is not comprehensive. The residencies, retreats, workshops, and other getaways vary widely in locale, cost, activities, competitive entry, expectations, and other variables. Some programs do not yet have dates posted but you can usually get on a mailing list for updates. Dates are 2020, except as noted.

• January – March (various dates) – Manzanillo, Mexico – Vancouver & Victoria Schools of Writing Winter Retreats in Mexico
• January 9-19 – Tepoztlán, México – Under the Volcano
• February 1 – Kingston, Washington – Intensive Poetry Manuscript Workshop & Two Sylvias Press Tour
• 28 February – 1 March – Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand – Kāpiti Writers’ Retreat
• February 28 – March 1 — Astoria, Oregon — the FisherPoets Gathering
• Spring – Orcas Island, Washington – Artsmith residency
• April – November – Austerlitz, New York – The Millay Colony for the Arts
• April 5-11; July 19-25; October 4-10; November 15-21 – Kauai, Hawaii – The Kauaʻi Writing Studio Residency
• April 29 – May 3 – Dolores River valley, Colorado – Writing Round the Trees transformational writing retreat
• May – September – Mineral, Washington – Mineral School residencies
• May 8-15 – Brittany, France – Verse Kraken Writing Retreats
• May 15-16 – Portland, Oregon – PDX Writers Spring Retreat at the Lyle Hotel with Jennifer Springsteen
• May 25 – June 1 – Corfu, Greece – TLC writing retreat with Tammy L. Coia (one of many retreats on her site)
• May 29 – June 7 – Patmos, Greece – Freeing the Written Self: Poetry & Writing Salon on the Isle Of Revelation
• June – October – Blue Mountain Lake, New York – Blue Mountain Center month-long residencies
• June 7-13 – Greensburg, Pennsylvania – Cave Canem’s annual week-long retreat at the University of Pittsburgh
• June 18-21 – Tucson, Arizona – CantoMundo retreat at The University of Arizona Poetry Center
• July 6-12 – Wallowa Lake, Oregon – 33rd Summer Fishtrap Gathering of Writers
• August – Greenough, Montana – Beargrass Writing Retreat
• August 23-29 – Victoria, BC, Canada – Victoria Summer Writing Retreat
• September 25-27 – Tieton, Washington – LiTFUSE
• October/November – Port Orchard, WA – Northwest Writers’ Weekend
• October 29 – November 1 – Seabeck, Washington – Seabeck Haiku Getaway, sponsored by Haiku Northwest
• November 6-9 – Tahoe City, California – Writing By Writers Manuscript Boot Camp
• December 26-30 – McCormick, South Carolina – The Watering Hole
• Year-round – Saratoga Springs, New York – Yaddo
• Year-round – Lower Piney Creek, Wyoming – The Jentel Artist Residency Program
• Year-round – Lake Forest, Illinois – Ragdale 18- and 25-day residencies

Future opportunities (2020 application deadlines are past):

• February through October – Whidbey Island, Washington – Hedgebrook residencies for writers
• Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California
• Writing Between the Vines offers retreats in California, Oregon, and Canada
• Writing By Writers has future retreats in Oregon, Minnesota, Idaho, and Colorado

Even visiting these websites will make you feel better…

. . . . .
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Seabeck Haiku Getaway

It’s time to sign up for the 2019 Seabeck Haiku Getaway, October 24–27 in Seabeck, Washington. Among many other activities, this year’s program features Adam L. Kern, editor and translator of The Penguin Book of Haiku, and Ion Codrescu, a renowned haiga artist from Romania. It will also celebrate the launch of the Seabeck Haiku Walk, a series of twenty metal plaques featuring poems by Haiku Northwest members, that are being permanently installed around the Seabeck Conference Center campus. Complete schedule here and registration information here.

tantalizing

Kahini has a tantalizing list of year-round offerings, including writing retreats on the island of Kaua’i in January, April, July, October, and November, and the 2020 April Poetry Symposium with Kim Addonizio. And there’s more: the Kolkata Writers’ Retreat, in April, and the Kampala Writers’ Retreat, in October. These programs have limited enrollment and fill quickly, so if you’re interested, don’t hesitate.

it’s LiTFUSE season

Welcome to Mighty Tieton, Washington, where LiTFUSE takes over the town September 28-30, 2018. This year’s faculty features Kevin Prufer and poets Katrina Roberts, Cindy Williams Gutiérrez, Jonathan Johnson, Christopher Howell, Jennifer Boyden, Kevin Goodan, Kimberly Burwick, Imani Sims, Joanna Thomas, and Gerardo Calderon. There’s still time to register for this terrific poetry weekend. Go!

more summer planning

Two Sylvias Press is once again offering their four-week Online Poetry Retreat(s), designed to help you fine-tune your poetry with critiques by a guest poet. This year’s poets include Adrian Blevins, Jennifer Jean, January Gill O’Neil, Susan Rich, Diane Seuss, and Jennifer K. Sweeney.

Participants receive poetry prompts, example poems, creativity suggestions, and reflection questions to inspire their writing, all via email.

There are two summer sessions and one fall session available, each with limited enrollment: July 2 – 29; August 6 – September 2; and October 1 – 28. Past participants are encouraged to return, with all-new prompts, exercises, and reflection questions on offer.

See the full details on the Two Sylvias Online Poetry Retreat page.

Deep in Cascadia Poetics Retreat

Tucked away in the Comox Valley of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Cumberland calls itself “a bustling village.” Home to some 3,700 souls, it’s an area known for hiking, biking, and refreshing dips in glacier-fed Comox Lake. If an end-of-summer visit sounds tempting, consider enrolling in the Deep in Cascadia Poetics Retreat, September 6-9, 2018.

A no-frills gathering of up to 30 participants, Deep in Cascadia will focus on “our role as poets and bioregionalists at this time of ecological crisis and end-stage empire, and to support one another in our efforts to create the deepest gestures in response to this situation and how that relates to Cascadia.”

See the complete description and schedule, visit the Cascadia Poetics LAB.

get inspired!

It’s time again for the Two Sylvias Press Online Poetry Retreat: four weeks of new prompts, writing exercises, inspiration and critiques offered by the editors of Two Sylvias Press (Kelli Russell Agodon and Annette Spaulding-Convy).

There are two sessions: June 26 – July 23 (July session) and July 31 – August 27 (August session). Find all the details and registration information on the Two Sylvias Press Online Poetry Retreat page.

haiku haiku

If haiku is on your radar, here are two bits of information from Haiku Northwest (via Michael Dylan Welch) that might interest you:

• The thirteenth annual Porad Haiku Award is accepting haiku submissions for just one more week. The deadline is Thursday, September 15, 2016. The 2016 judge is Charles Trumbull, former president of the Haiku Society of America and editor emeritus of Modern Haiku magazine.
• The Seabeck Haiku Getaway 2016 doesn’t take place until October 27–30, but you can save money by registering now. Early registration ends on Friday, September 23.

Follow the links for additional details on each of these haiku opportunities.

cap your summer

Whether it’s the finale of your summer or the launch of your fall poetry season, LiTFUSE is a great way to juice up your year. Each September, the small town of Tieton, Washington — “Mighty Tieton” to those who love it — welcomes a lively throng of poets for a weekend of workshops, readings, exhibits and conversations. The atmosphere is welcoming and congenial, casual and stimulating.

This is LiTFUSE 10 and celebrations will include the official launch of POETS UNiTE! The LiTFUSE @10 Anthology (Cave Moon Press), now available for pre-order. See the complete LiTFUSE lineup and find registration information at LiTFUSE 2016.

another summer treat….times two!

We recently featured a rather hefty list of upcoming summer festivals and retreats in the Cascadia region. In case that wasn’t enough to get your poetic juices flowing — or in case you expect to spend your summer at your desk — here’s one more option.

Two Sylvias Press is offering two Online Poetry Retreats — June 27 – July 22, 2016 and August 1 – August 26, 2016. Participating poets will receive prompts, inspiration, a book and critiques by cofounders and editors of Two Sylvias Press, Kelli Russell Agodon and Annette Spaulding-Convy. Read more about the retreats and sign up on the Two Sylvias website.