Recommended By Twenty-two Of The Most Inspiring Writers
YOU will always be the best judge of whether a writers retreat is right for you. You know better than anyone whether this conference’s programming or that colony’s writing cabins or this festival’s events or that residency’s schedule of seclusion is a good match for your own needs, experience level, and temperament. Scanning the websites of the more than three hundred writers retreats listed in our carefully curated database at pw.org is a great first step, but thanks to the power of our literary imaginations and the wonders of high-resolution, professional photography, let’s be honest: They all look pretty fantastic. Sadly none of us are lucky enough to be able to attend every one and formulate our own opinions based on firsthand experience, so the next best approach is to ask others who have been there to give their recommendations for which ones are exceptional. That’s exactly what we did while compiling this list. We reached out to some of the most generous, supportive, inspiring, and discerning authors we know and asked them to recommend retreats that are among the best in terms of productivity, motivation, networking, or any other criteria that is important to them as writers. Many writers based their recommendations on the adventures they had as attendees, while others drew on their experiences as workshop leaders or guest faculty. All of them offer a personal take on what makes these retreats unique—and what rewards they offer those who make the personal decision to devote time and resources to concentrating on one’s art in a new setting, among new people, and working toward a new understanding of one’s writing. We added some practical information about each to help you decide whether you agree.
Kaveh Akbar
recommends
BOAAT WRITER’S RETREAT
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Denne historien er fra March - April 2019-utgaven av Poets & Writers Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Literary MagNet
When Greg Marshall began writing the essays that would become his memoir, Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew From It (Abrams Press, June 2023), he wanted to explore growing up in Utah and what he calls \"the oddball occurrences in my oddball family.\" He says, \"I wanted to call the book Long-Term Side Effects of Accutane and pitch it as Six Feet Under meets The Wonder Years.\" But in 2014 he discovered his diagnosis of cerebral palsy, information his family had withheld from him for nearly thirty years, telling him he had \"tight tendons\" in his leg. This revelation shifted the focus of the project, which became an \"investigation into selfhood, uncovering the untold story of my body,\" says Marshall. Irreverent and playful, Leg reckons with disability, illness, queerness, and the process of understanding our families and ourselves.
THE MEUSEUM OF HUMAN HISTORY
READING The Museum of Human History felt like listening to a great harmonic hum. After I finished it I found the hum lingering in my ears. Its echo continued for days.
The Sea Elephants
SHASTRI Akella's poised, elegant debut, The Sea Elephants, is a bildungsroman of a young man who joins a street theater group in India after fleeing his father's violent disapproval, the death of his twin sisters, and his mother's unfathomable grief.
The History of a Difficult Child
MIHRET Sibhat's debut novel begins with God dumping rain on a small Ethiopian town as though. He were mad at somebody.
The Sorrows of Others
AS I read each story in Ada Zhang’s brilliant collection, The Sorrows of Others, within the first few paragraphs— sometimes the first few sentences— I felt I understood the characters intimately and profoundly, such that every choice they made, no matter how radical, ill-advised, or baffling to those around them, seemed inevitable and true to me.
We Are a Haunting
TYRIEK White’s debut novel, We Are a Haunting, strikes me as both a love letter to New York City and a kind of elegy.
RADICAL ATTENTION
IN HER LATEST BOOK, THE LIGHT ROOM: ON ART AND CARE, PUBLISHED BY RIVERHEAD BOOKS IN JULY, KATE ZAMBRENO CELEBRATES THE ETHICAL WORK OF CAREGIVING, THE SMALL JOYS OF ORDINARY LIFE, AND AN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE NATURAL WORLD WITHIN HUMAN SPACES.
The Fine Print
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Blooming how she must
WITH ROOTS IN NATURE WRITING, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, POETRY, AND PHOTOGRAPHY, CAMILLE T. DUNGY'S NEW BOOK, SOIL: THE STORY OF A BLACK MOTHER'S GARDEN, DELVES INTO THE PERSONAL AND POLITICAL ACT OF CULTIVATING AND DIVERSIFYING A GARDEN OF HERBS, VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, AND OTHER PLANTS IN THE PREDOMINANTLY WHITE COMMUNITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO.
