Last Chance for Ixtapa!
Dear Friends,
First, some extraordinary news! We have a very last-minute opening for our upcoming seaside writing retreat in the tiny village of Troncones, near Ixtapa, Mexico. This 7-night deep-dive creative adventure (November 13 - November 20) will take place at Present Moment, a premiere wellness center known for its exceptional food, attentive staff, and utterly stunning natural beauty with architecture that incorporates its surroundings, including the open sea air, beautifully. This retreat is all-inclusive except airfare—your tuition includes ground transportation, all meals and lodging, daily writing workshops and guided yoga and meditation, individual manuscript review, and more. Our small group of approximately 15 writers (vaccination required) including my Elephant Rock team have nearly exclusive use of the resort due to its already limited, intimate size. Please inquire right away if you would like to join us! Email elephantrockretreats@gmail.com with questions or to sign up.
As for news closer to home, I will be presenting my work (virtually) for the North Suburban Center for the Arts Reading Series this Thursday evening, October 14, at 7:30 PM Central. I’ll be joined by Jim Paruk, a professor of biology at St. Joseph’s College, in Maine. Paruk has been studying Common Loons across North America for the past 28 years. He has published over 25 scientific articles on loons and recently wrote a book, Loon Lessons: Uncommon Encounters with the Great Northern Diver (University of Minnesota Press), that takes an evolutionary approach to understanding their behavior and life history strategy. Jennifer Ackerman, author of the New York Times bestseller The Genius of Birds, said Loon Lessons “will delight and amaze you.”
I am especially excited to meet Jim because I am currently teaching a special animal-writing themed session of Writing in the Dark, in collaboration with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop and a cohort of students from Shakopee Prison. Studying the art of animal writing has been eye opening to say the least!
Finally, I will be announcing winter classes very soon, so keep an eye out here and on social media for those opportunities to write together in 2022. Or, sooner, if you can join us in Ixtapa!!
With love,
Jeannine
P.S. A quick bit of great news—I recently completed an essay for the anthology Passed On: Daughters Write About Father Loss, Lack, and Legacy, and I learned last week that the manuscript was accepted by and is now under contract with University of Georgia Press for publication in 2022! Yay, and, to make it even better, my essay, called “What My Father Knew About the Other Man I Called Daddy,” was also just accepted for publication in April by Los Angeles Review of Books. This is my first new work in the publication pipeline since The Part That Burns, and I am celebrating! Thank you for all of the ways you’ve celebrated with me over this last year—it means the world.
