Winter Wonderland Writing Retreat

Friday, Feb 8th

Saturday, Feb 9th

Sunday, Feb 10th

Suzi Banks Baum

Gathering Words & Warmth on a Snowy Day

In this workshop, let's each make a book. We will create small handmade books using our own words, favorite quotes and simple art techniques. Explore the idea of 'commonplace books' while we create an embellished container. Pride of authorship is guaranteed as we expand access to the Muse with artful exploration.

Suzi Banks Baum, artist, writer and full time mom, can be found creating community wherever she goes. While writing her first book, Laundry Line Divine: A Wild Soul Book for Mothers, Suzi discovered the vital voices of mothers who make art while raising children. Suzi is a theatre professional, group facilitator, and mixed media collage artist. See Out of the Mouths of Babes: An Evening of Mothers Reading to Others at the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers March 1, 2013. For more information, visit: http://laundrylinedivine.com/

Heather Summerhayes Cariou

Writing As Connective Tissue

In this workshop, we will look at writing as connective tissue, which links skin and muscle to bone, stores energy and provides a structural framework. In this context, inspired by in-class discussion and writing from prompts, we will explore what it means to use our writing as connective tissue between experience and insight. We will find in our writing a place to store emotional energy, as well as a framework for productive retrospection. We will discover how metaphor and imagery can link skin and muscle to the bone in the stories of our lives. Finally, by sharing our work aloud in a safe setting, we will see how our writing can be profound connective tissue between writer and listener/reader.

Heather Summerhayes Cariou is the author of the best-selling Sixtyfive Roses: A Sister’s Memoir. She has been a member of the International Women’s Writing Guild for 29 years, and was a Director of the Board for 20 years. As well as teaching for the Guild, she has led independent workshops in the U.S., Canada and Ireland. Ms. Cariou believes that although we cannot change our stories, we can change the way we tell them and by doing so, change our lives. She is currently back in school after 40 years, finishing her B.F.A., and hopes to enter Columbia University to earn her Master's in Narrative Medicine. For more on Ms. Cariou and Sixtyfive Roses, visit: http://www.sixtyfiverosesthebook.com/

Susanne Davis

Write Your Story in Your Voice

Fun! Inspiring! Come cultivate your unique voice and craft the story whispering to be told, whether yours or the fictional one you've wanted to tell. We will discover the unique characteristics of our spoken and writing voice, learn elements of storytelling craft, try out some exercises to see what stories are beckoning to us at this moment and then begin (or re-envision) a creative work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry to sustain our revitalized creative juices!

Susanne Davis's short stories have been published in numerous journals including: American Short Fiction, Notre Dame Review, descant, Feminist Studies, St. Petersburg Rev, Zone 3, Carve and Boston Fiction Annual Review. Her work has won awards and recognition including: Hemingway First Novel Award, American Short Fiction Contest (second place), and mention as distinguished story in Best American Short Stories series, among others. A section of her novel, GRAVITY HILL, was featured at the Boston Fiction Festival. Susanne holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Take the first courageous step to create YOUR story... She teaches creative writing at University of CT. For more information, visit: http://www.susannedavis.com/

Sandy Mattucci

Every Woman's Voice...Are You Listening?

This powerful introduction to our Winter Wonderland Writing Retreat features historical speech, book excerpts, and music. Writing time included!

Sandra holds a bachelor's degree in Contemporary Ministries with a specialization in psychology/counseling. She is a certified Chaplain and holds a Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies with a specialization in Spirituality. She has completed studies through the Art Instruction Schools. In 2012, Sandra received a certificate in applied spirituality through the Women's Leadership Institute. She is a budding artist, storyteller and author who was born with a pencil in her hand and has used it expressively & creatively. For more information, visit: http://onesingledrop.com/

Myra Shapiro

The Portrait: "I Am Not I"

"I Am Not I" is a poem by Juan Ramon Jimenez. It will reveal itself, in part, by the writing we do together, which is an exercise in paying attention and its rewards.

Myra Shapiro’s work with poetry goes back to childhood in the Bronx followed by years in Georgia and Tennessee as a librarian and teacher of English. In her forties she began writing steadily. Myra has written three books of poetry, most recently 12 Floors Above the Earth, and a memoir, Four Sublets: Becoming a Poet in New York.