Writing Workshops and Retreats
Briefly Alive: Forest Edition
A Generative Writing Weekend
March 26-28, 2027
Bellingham, WA
“What goes too long unchanged destroys itself. The forest is forever because it dies and dies and so lives.” Ursula K. LeGuin
Life in its fullest form is expansive, interrelated, vast, and yet tenuous, perfectly brief, like a single breath that touches all other existence. How do we reach across differences to another? What kinds of languages exist alongside human? How do trees communicate through root systems, how do mycelial networks vein the planet, what can we learn from leaves and bark and dirt? What might we learn from animals and the forest if we admit we are the ones being perceived? What does it mean to create as a means of interspecies interconnected cross-communicative growth?
Open to all genres and experience levels. Expect to generate writing that crosses thresholds and creative portals to take home with you in your pockets.
Participants may stay onsite in group lodging or book their own accommodations. If you decide to stay elsewhere or already live in the area, the participation fee will be adjusted.
Tentative Schedule:
Friday:
3pm Arrival and settle in
5pm Dinner and introductions
6:30pm Building the collaboration container together
Saturday:
8am Breakfast
9:30-11:30am Writing Session I
Noon-2pm Lunch and free time
2-4pm Writing Session II
6pm Dinner
7:30pm Writing conversation and readings
Sunday:
8am Breakfast
9-10:30am Writing Session and closing
11am Check out
Transportation/Parking:
Parking is limited. There is space for 4 vehicles at the house, and a large parking area ½ mile away. Please carpool if you can!
Meals:
The following meals are included:
Friday dinner
Saturday breakfast
Saturday dinner
Sunday breakfast
You will need to provide for your own lunches. There will be a mid-day break for venturing into town or you can bring your own lunch items.
Retreat Pricing:
Deadline for securing your spot is January 1st with a $250 deposit.
Full payment due on or before February 26.
The following payment model is inspired by and borrowed from the payment model of Bayo Akomolafe. This workshop offers a sliding scale based on your relative financial standing. In an effort to reflect disparity in economic conditions and access to wealth, the following payment system is designed for those with more wealth to help cover the costs of those with less access to wealth and resources. We trust your discernment of your current financial situation and how you fit into the global economic context.
*If you’d like to share a bed with a friend or a partner, the rates will be adjusted accordingly. Please email info@seawolfbooks.com to discuss that option!
*Please note: there will be a very quiet dog on site, mostly likely in a separate room. This workshop is probably not the best fit if you are allergic to dogs.
Please email info@seawolfbooks.com to request your room preference from the room list and receive instructions for the deposit. *If you have your own housing nearby, you can sign up for the workshop as an offsite writer farther below.
Bedroom 1: 1 Queen Bed ($1100-1400) BOOKED
Bedroom 2: 1 Queen Bed ($1100-1400) BOOKED
Bedroom 3: 1 Full Bed ($1100-1400)
Bedroom 4: 1 Queen Bed ($1100-1400)
Bedroom 5: 1 Queen Bed, fireplace with seating area, full bathroom, walk in closet, and large deck (room shared with another person in their own bed) ($1100-1400)
Bedroom 5: 1 Queen Bed, fireplace with seating area, full bathroom, walk in closet, and large deck (room shared with another person in their own bed) ($1100-1400)
Offsite options below (no lodging, everything else included)
Offsite writer #1 ($600-$800) BOOKED
Offsite writer #2 ($600-$800)
Offsite writer #3 ($600-$800)
Offsite writer #4 ($600-$800)
Offsite writer #5 ($600-$800)
Offsite writer #6 ($600-$800)
Only Lovers Left Alive
A Generative Writing Weekend
Feb. 12-14, 2027
Orcas Island, Eastsound, WA
“So, this is your wilderness.” Eve
How is it that time moves in circles? How do humans reach across thresholds in search of connection? What is the connection? Is a brief encounter any less profound than one marked by duration? Is alone a real place? For this weekend writing workshop, facilitated by Lidia Yuknavitch and Charlie J. Stephens, we will watch and explore the themes of connection and isolation, the myth and reality of a sense of outsiderness, marginalization, desire for knowing, friendship and meaningful encounters. We will be watching Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive" and exploring how those themes and narrative structures can support our own writing.
Open to all genres and experience levels. Expect to generate writing that crosses thresholds and creative portals to take home with you in your pockets.
Participants may stay onsite in group lodging or book their own accommodations. If you decide to stay elsewhere or already live on the islands, the participation fee will be adjusted.
Tentative Schedule:
Friday:
3pm Arrival and settle in
5pm Dinner and introductions
6pm Film discussion and collaboration container
Saturday:
8am Breakfast
9:30-11:30am Writing Session I w/Charlie
Noon-2pm Lunch and free time
2-4pm Writing Session II w/Lidia
6pm Dinner
7:30pm Writing conversation and readings
Sunday:
8am Breakfast
9-10am Writing Session and closing
11am Check out
The group house where workshops will take place is about 3 miles from Eastsound, with private beach access, a hot tub, firepit and surrounding forests to explore.
Transportation:
Getting to Orcas Island requires taking a ferry from Anacortes. We recommend taking an earlier ferry and spending time in Eastsound on Friday the 12 as there are sometimes delays which could push your actual arrival late. Vehicle reservations are required in advance and can be made/purchased here: https://secureapps.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/reservations/vehicle/default.aspx?op=Make+reservations
Meals:
The following meals are included:
Friday dinner
Saturday breakfast
Saturday dinner
Sunday breakfast
You will need to provide for your own lunches. There will be a mid-day break for venturing into town or you can bring your own lunch items.
Retreat Pricing:
There is a nonrefundable $250.00 deposit to secure your spot.
The following payment model is inspired by and borrowed from the payment model of Bayo Akomolafe.
This workshop offers a sliding scale based on your relative financial standing. In an effort to reflect disparity in economic conditions and access to wealth, the following payment system is designed for those with more wealth to help cover the costs of those with less access to wealth and resources. We trust your discernment of your current financial situation and how you fit into the global economic context
THERE IS CURRENTLY A WAITLIST!
Please email info@seawolfbooks.com to be added to it.
About the Facilitators
Lidia Yuknavitch is a Pacific Northwest writer and swimmer, and the author of the anti-memoirs The Chronology of Water and Reading the Waves, as well as the novels Thrust, The Book of Joan, The Small Backs of Children, and Dora: A Headcase, as well as the short story collection Verge. She is the winner of two Oregon Book Awards, two LAMBDA awards, and many swimming awards which she gave away to excitable children.
Charlie J. Stephens is a writer from the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised in Oregon, Charlie has lived all over the U.S. as a bike messenger, wilderness guide, high school English teacher, and seasonal shark diver (for educational purposes only.) Their debut novel, "A Wounded Deer Leaps Highest" was published by Torrey House Press in April 2024. It was long-listed for The Center For Fiction's 2024 First Novel Prize, and is a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards/Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and the Indie Foreword Award in LGBTQ+ fiction. Their new collection of short stories was published by Buckman in early March, 2026. More at charliejstephenswriting.com.
