Writers Retreat Workshops

At the Women At Woodstock Writers Retreat, we welcome women bloggers, memoirists, fiction writers, poets, and nonfiction writers of all levels and any age. Our content-rich retreat offers two tracks: Track 1 - The Writers Colony, and Track 2 - The Workshop Intensive.

You have your choice of either track at the retreat - it's up to you which you choose.

Options For Everyone

For everyone at the Writing Retreat, there will be workshops and writing time during the day. In the evenings we'll gather for an Evening Salon of cheese and wine (or beverage of your choice) and readings, sharing what we wish from the day's work.

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You will start each day with a morning workshop taught by resident writing coach Ginnah Howard and then the day will be open for you to write, think, and map out your writing future without interruption, surrounded by other writing women also pursuing their own creative quests. Prior to the retreat you will have been invited to submit a manuscript up to 20 pages for Ginnah to read and critique. During the retreat, you will have the opportunity to schedule a one-on-one session with Ginnah to review your manuscript and receive individual coaching regarding your work and the process of getting published.

Ginnah Howard's work has appeared in Water~Stone Review, Permafrost, Portland Review, Descant 145, Eleven Eleven Journal, The Tusculum Review, and elsewhere. Several stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Night Navigation, Book 2 of her upstate novel trilogy, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. Chronogram called Book 3, Doing Time Outside (Standing Stone Books, 2013), “a beautiful read.”  Book 1 of the trilogy, Rope & Bone: A Novel in Stories (Illume, 2014) was listed by Publishers Weekly as one of the “best of the best” Indie books of 2015. In her latest book, I’m Sick of This Already: At-Risk Learning in a High School Class, Howard focuses on a year of working with students in a small rural town. For further information, visit www.GinnahHoward.com

As an author who has participated in and facilitated many critique workshops, Ginnah Howard has an experienced and critical eye. She will do a close reading of your manuscript, concentrating on what’s “working” and what still needs to be developed or revised, This critique will provide objective, thoughtful consideration of how a writer can improve her manuscript and make it more attractive to literary agents and publishers. Beyond the review of your 20-page writing sample that you will submit to Ginnah before our retreat, if you have a full-length manuscript that you feel is ready for this kind of editing, email ghoward@GinnahHoward.com for a detailed description of what would be included in a book-length manuscript critique. You will have time to meet with Ginnah individually during the writers retreat for review of your work and guidance you as you write and refine and mold your work toward publishable shape.

Ginnah will teach a daily morning workshop for the Writers Colony track of the Writers Retreat, for women who have a work in progress or who want to write intensively on a new project for the weekend under the guidance of a writing coach, who will advise on all aspects of writing and finishing a completed manuscript and readying it for publication.

The Writers Colony track will have two parts:

(1) three morning workshop sessions with participants volunteering to read a few pages of their works-in-progress out loud, with time given to talk about each piece to help the writer consider what revision may be needed. We will also discuss craft using excerpts from the group’s favorite authors.

(2) an individual conference with Ginnah on one of the afternoons to discuss your submitted manuscript (up to 20 pages of fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction or poetry) that you will email-attach to her no later than two weeks prior to the workshop. Before our retreat, Ginnah will contact you by email with more information about all the above.

Ginnah will be available to meet with every track attendee individually to review and critique a sample of her writing and discuss avenues to getting published.

Are you inspired to record the transforming events of your life? Are you drawn to translate your most vivid memories into writing? Are you driven to shape your experiences into well-crafted and poignant memoirs? This workshop offers a supportive environment where participants will write, share their writing with the class, receive constructive feedback, and have the chance to rewrite and revise as desired. We will address topics such as the (un)reliability of memory, the creation of sensory scenes, the challenges of revisiting the past, and the importance of adhering to the truth.

Susan Hodara is a memoirist, teacher, and journalist. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Communication Arts, and more. Her short memoirs are published in various anthologies and literary journals, and she is a co-author of the collaborative memoir Still Here Thinking Of You: A Second Chance With Our Mothers (Big Table Publishing, 2013). She is a highly sought-after teacher of creative and nonfiction writing, and has taught ongoing memoir workshops at the Hudson Valley Writers Center since 2009.

Click here to visit Susan's website.