Writers gather during the quieter seasons on the coast of Maine to generate new writing and share their work fresh from the page in a supportive circle of kind listeners. 

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We typically meet for an extended weekend, beginning on a Thursday or Friday evening, and immerse in retreat until Sunday noon. Our schedule is structured around a series of Gateless Writing Salons. Each salon allows ample time to explore new ways in to each writer’s story with a sudden prompt, writing without the brakes on, and through longer writing sessions, alone among others, from a choice of generative prompts.

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Some salons involve journey mapping and art-making and/or taking hikes in nature to attune to the natural world and write outdoors. We engage in guided and walking meditations, tactile and visual art activities, an acclimatization activity in nature, sometimes with Tai Chi/Qigong.

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Over meals, we discuss strategies for practicing self-care as creatives, how to create and protect creative time, how to approach editing and publishing, and whatever topics are alive at the moment. Late afternoons allow time for relaxation, to talk with others, and to avail writers of our many local treasures.

 

On Saturday evening, we host a reading, where writers bring work they’ve polished at home or a segment of another writer’s work they cherish and want to share as inspiration.

 

We recommend that participants who come from afar tack on a day or two for extra time spent in further exploration of our treasured landscape.

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