Workshops
May 18 - June 22
Katherine West is offering "Poetry as Song, Jazz Poetry!" as a creative writing workshop on Sundays (May 18-June 22) from 1:30-4:30 at Colorado Contemporary Music College, 219 Magnolia St. in Fort Collins. Cost is $75. For more information, phone her at 970-214-8766.
June 22 to 27
Former Poet Laueate Robert Pinsky will be giving a poetry workshop in Aspen this summer at Aspen Summer Words, a festival sponsored by the Aspen Writers' Foundation. The workshop will take place in Aspen from June 22 to 27. The deadline for applying for the workshop is April 1. Find details at www.aspenwriters.org
June 28-29
The Green Fuse Poetic Arts Association Summer Poetry Festival, June 28-29, features free two-hour poetry workshops taught by regional poets including Katherine West, Maggie Rowlett, and M. D. Friedman. It will be held at the Loveland Museum in downtown Loveland, Colorado. Call 970-214-8766 for more information.
“The Gathering Gathering,” July 18-20, San Juan Mountains.
Taught by Sandra Dorr, this is a weekend retreat for writers -- both women and treasured men writer friends, by special request -- to gather up work, and to bring work-in-progress. In the process of writing alone and with the group, students will finish a draft and plan where they might send the final piece. The workshop features writing exercises that begin with memory and proceed to other things, and read fiction, memoir, some poems, and autobiographical excerpts of Annie Dillard and other lyrical Western writers. The setting is a beautiful house at 10,000 ft., 6 miles from Cimarron, on the Alpine Trail between Montrose and Gunnison (2 hours from Grand Junction). The house sleeps 12, with an additional teepee out back. Picture lofts, decks, hammock, porches and nooks, overlooking 20,000 acres, and the “Little Blue” running below. Friday afternoon and morning writing sessions; evening group readings & discussions. Optional Anusara yoga classes with the incomparable Susan Crosby. Il Bistro Italiano catering.
Retreat hours: 4 p.m. Friday – 1 p.m. Sunday. Cost: $275 ($250 before June 30). Limited to 12.
“Out of Their Mouths,” July 21-25, downtown Grand Junction
Taught by Sandra Dorr, this is a new creative writing course for all teachers of students ages 8-18. Learn how to motivate students to write stories and poems, and dive into the heady experience of writing. Cost: $300 ($285 before June 21). Two Mesa State graduate/undergraduate credits. Limited to 15.
“Writing the Sacred” Oct. 2-5
“Writing the Sacred” Oct. 2-5, a women’s contemplative retreat lead by Sandra Dorr, will be held at Benet Pines, north of Colorado Springs, a women’s Benedictine retreat house with a Zen garden and a walking labyrinth on 44 acres of Ponderosa pines in the Black Forest. The workshop’s purpose is to renew the self and explore the relationship between writing and spirituality. The spiritual focus will be on Zen, learning optional short walking and sitting meditation, and reading some of the ancient and modern Zen and other contemplative writers. Morning writing sessions, optional Anusara yoga classes with the marvelous Susan Crosby, and hours to write, walk, dream, or engage in more spiritual practice with the sisters. Evening group readings and discussions. High-quality food; simple, comfortable double rooms with two beds per room.
Retreat hours: 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, to noon Sunday, Oct. 5.
Cost: $475 ($450 before Sept. 2). Limited to 12.