Writing in Paradise
Dear Friends,
I will be writing a proper update for summer solstice later this week, including a few words about our first-ever embodied writing workshop last weekend. It was so moving and I am still feeling vastly more alive, both literally and on the page, than before. You can skip to the end of this email for an example of one of the poems we studied and wrote in response to during our weekend of reading, writing, yoga, breathing exercises, live music, and sharing of work. Plus, baking (me) and eating yummy baked treats (all of us). For now, though, this quick note to say that we have only two spots remaining for our incredible December manuscript intensive in Troncones, Mexico.
I can’t believe it! December feels so far away—how did this fill so quickly? But, then again, Present Moment, where we will stay, is a truly magical seaside oasis. And the retreat itself—a combination of intensive individualized workshops for every writer plus playful generative sessions and immersive craft intensives—will be extraordinary. If you have any long-form work in progress (essay, short story, flash collection, novel, memoir, or other book project) this retreat can help you bring that work not only to the next level, but to the most luminous and true version of itself possible. I am so excited and grateful for the group of talented, caring, thoughtful writers who’ve already registered, and I would love to welcome YOU to the group! Please email elephantrockretreats@gmail.com with any questions, because I am happy to help you decide if this is the right retreat for you at this point in your project.
Other cool stuff coming up:
I’m offering a virtual, low-cost 90-minute workshop on Sunday, July 17 at 2 Central via Hidden Timber’s Work Behind the Work Series. I’ll be teaching the power of literary constraints. We all want to grab and hold our readers’ attention, which requires bringing our words to life on the page. But writing about painful and traumatic experiences in a way that engages, transforms, and inspires readers (and you, the writer!) is especially challenging. Luckily, entering into the material through an unexpected “side door” can make all the difference. Prompts and constraints in the style of the French surrealists and the renowned Oulipo (“workshop of potential literature”) can breathe life into your writing and unleash your fierce original voice. Plus, these methods are playful and fun. You’ll find yourself asking, in wonder and delight, “where did that come from?!” The literary devices and approaches we’ll cover in this session are universally effective for producing more startling, vivid, and original imagery no matter your topic, and they’re especially useful for anyone writing about trauma. The fee is only $50 and you can register here.
2. I’m also teaching at the fabulous Hippocampus Creative Nonfiction Conference again this year. This conference takes place August 12-14 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I’ll be talking about the power of child narrators, and how and when you might want to try one in your own work.
3. Finally, I have a 3-day intensive for harnessing the power of past, present, and future to clarify your life story (on the page and in your actual life!) coming up this fall, details coming soon.
Love,
Jeannine
P.S. Here is the poem I mentioned, one of 7 we studied during the Visceral Self workshop:
Evening Sun
by Jane Kenyon
Why does this light force me back
to my childhood? I wore a yellow
summer dress, and the skirt
made a perfect circle.
Turning and turning
until it flared to the limit
was irresistible . . . . The grass and trees,
my outstretched arms, and the skirt
whirled in the ochre light
of any early June evening.
And I knew then
that I would live,
and go on living: what sorrow it was;
and still what sorrow ignites
but does not consume
my heart.
