Annual Writers Retreat
ink & insightURSA Retreat Centre
JUNE 14 – 17, 2024 This year's retreat will focus on developmental editing, providing manuscript consultations, complemented by follow-up one-on-one consultations, and offering ample dedicated writing time throughout the weekend. We are excited to announce that this year, we will have two Writers in Residence: Jenna Butler & Susan Forest. The feedback provided in your sessions will focus on developmental editing, including refining narrative structure, character development, and plot coherence.
Our goal is to cultivate a supportive environment where writers can elevate their craft and gain valuable insights into the editing process. |
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Registration is now open!
what will be included
Manuscript Consultations:
- Submit your work prior to the retreat to the Writer in Residence of your choice. During the retreat, you will have a one-hour manuscript consultation.
- Reserve your spot at time of booking with one of our Writers in Residence.
Manuscript Submission Details:
- The Writer in Residence of your choice will review up to 5000 words of your work in progress - fiction or creative non-fiction.
- You will need to submit your pages by May 31, 2024 to allow ample time for review.
- Manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced, 12-pt font such as Times New Roman, Calibri, Courier, Arial. Upon booking we will contact you to arrange.
- Email your submissions to: [email protected] with the subject line: Writers Retreat submission - 2024
Follow up One-on-One Consultations:
- You've submitted your work for review, you've had your manuscript consultation, and you've had time to work on the feedback you received -- most likely you will have follow up questions. The last day of the retreat, Sunday, will have scheduled 30-minute sessions with our experienced Writers in Residence to discuss follow up feedback on your work. You can switch up the Writer in Residence you're meeting with or stick to the same.
- If you don't book a manuscript consultation, you can also book the one-on-one consultations to ask questions about process, talk through a sticky spot in your manuscript, other writing challenges you are facing, plot and structure, and more.
- The schedule for these one-on-one consultations will be available for sign up at arrival and check-in and throughout the retreat.
- Note: These consultation sessions are limited to one session per participant.
Creative Breaks and Relaxation:
Group Discussions and Story Clinics:
Other Activities:
- Self-directed creative breaks for relaxation, rejuvenation, and creative inspiration.
- Optional activities such as nature walks, meditation sessions, or creative writing prompts.
Group Discussions and Story Clinics:
- Optional: Dedicated time will be scheduled for participants to share a part of your story and receive feedback through group discussions.
Other Activities:
- Self-directed writing time - spend as much time as you need, writing on your own.
- Fireside chats and evening gatherings - come together at the end of the day around the outdoor firepit for some casual conversation or gather in the sitting room around the fireplace. A lot of opportunities to discuss your projects, the creative process and so much more.
Cost
AWCS Members: $650
Non-Members: $750
(Fee includes 3 nights accommodations and all meals. Check in: 2:00pm MT, June 14, Check out: 11:00am MT, June 17)
AWCS has a subsidy program available for anyone who needs it. For more information, see the J Michael Fay Subsidy Program.
Non-Members: $750
(Fee includes 3 nights accommodations and all meals. Check in: 2:00pm MT, June 14, Check out: 11:00am MT, June 17)
AWCS has a subsidy program available for anyone who needs it. For more information, see the J Michael Fay Subsidy Program.
accomModation
Shared accommodations. 2-person, 4- person and 8 person rooms. Sorry, no single rooms. If there's someone you would like to share with, please let us know and we will do our best. Some rooms are equipped with desks, but we encourage people to write in the dining lounge, the library, the games room, the patio, outdoors, or a quiet spot in the hallway.
Food restrictions can be accommodated, just let us know.
Food restrictions can be accommodated, just let us know.
writers in residence
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Susan Forest is the author of dual Aurora Award-winners Bursts of Fire (2019) and Flights of Marigold (2020) as well as over 25 internationally-published short stories (Analog, Asimov's, Beneath Ceaseless Skies). She edits an award-winning anthology series for Laksa Media Groups, was Editor Guest of Honour at Keycon in 2022, and co-edited Life Beyond Us (2023). Gathering of Ghosts, the third novel of her Addicted to Heaven series (2023) confronts issues of addictions in an epic fantasy world of intrigue and betrayal.
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Dr. Jenna Butler (she/her) is an award-winning Canadian poet, essayist, and editor. She is the author of three books of poetry, Seldom Seen Road, Wells, and Aphelion; a collection of ecological essays, A Profession of Hope: Farming on the Edge of the Grizzly Trail; and the Arctic travelogue Magnetic North: Sea Voyage to Svalbard. Her newest book, Revery: A Year of Bees, essays about beekeeping, climate grief, and trauma recovery, was a finalist for the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award in Non-Fiction. Butler is a retired professor of creative and environmental writing and an off-grid organic farmer in northern Treaty 6.
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