Retreats & Convenings

Convenings

Our Convenings are often genre or theme-based and designed to offer an intimate experience both on the land and virtually. See below for our current offerings and reach out to programs@hedgebrook.org if you have an interest in curating a group of writers for a future one!

Participants of our Convenings are not considered alumnae of Hedgebrook, making them eligible to apply for our core Writers-in-Residence program and The Mother Tree Residency.

Current Offerings:

So Be It! See To It! A Generation Intensive Convening for Intermediate Speculative Fiction Writers

November 22-25

Register before November 1st to ensure you receive your packet in time which will include the required reading, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.

November 22nd Workshop: Tara Campbell knows a little weird goes a long way. In this workshop, participants will explore two ways of unlocking new stories: defamiliarizing common expressions and excavating unfinished business to write horror (even if you don't think you write horror). We'll then interrogate the line between speculative fiction and horror in a discussion of Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild." The workshop includes writing time, which participants can use to flesh out works in progress or generate entirely new stories.

November 23rd Workshop: Fonda Lee explores the process of building on ideas and how to transform the seed of a story into a compelling narrative. She’ll hone in on character development, with an emphasis on tools and exercises to create more complex and nuanced personalities on the page. Through generative exercises, participants will stock themselves with new ideas but also consider how to evaluate which projects to focus on.

November 24th Workshop: Minal Hajratwala opens a window into speculative poetics for prose writers. Experiment with symbolism, metaphor, and syntax to generate new work and to revise/revive older work. Bring a printout of a stalled or "failed" story that still haunts you, and a pair of scissors. Participants will play with language, leaving with an array of tools to dissolve and reconstruct the inner workings of their writing. 

November 25th Workshop: Nisi Shawl offers word-building for world-building. Meet them at the intersection of creating new words and repurposing old words to imagine and build a new world, considering both setting and cultural impacts. In smaller breakout sessions, participants will share and witness fresh writing built on prompts. Nisi will structure “homeplay” – an opportunity to shape what’s next in continuing and developing writing begun in the workshop.


Radical Craft Retreats

Our multi-day writing retreats suit writers at different levels of experience and phases in the writing process. With daily workshops led by seasoned teachers from our Hedgebrook alumnae community, participants receive individual feedback from the instructor and curated time to write, whether in-person or virtually. Some retreats are generative and designed to inspire new projects or breakthroughs in your process, while others focus on craft or developing a project already underway.

Sample Daily Schedule

Participants of our Radical Craft Retreats are not considered alumnae of Hedgebrook, making them eligible to apply for our core Writers-in-Residence program and The Mother Tree Residency.

Current Offerings:

EDIT—the Art & Craft of Revision with Deborah Harkness

November 7-11, 2024

We will gather to face our fears and put together an editing toolkit that you will be able to take home with you to continue the work you establish at Hedgebrook. We will explore how other arts like sculpture, painting, and architecture provide useful templates to get us started. An emphasis will be placed on editing as part of the creative process, rather than the add-on once you’re through a rough draft, and you will be encouraged to identify deep structural, character, and story problems that may be keeping your work from reaching an audience.  

Applications are now closed and notifications were sent via SlideRoom on August 1st.