AWA's September Online Retreat

Here are some affiliate offerings (marked with *) as well as some AWA features:

*Mondays from noon to 2 p.m. EASTERN, August 24, 31 & September 7, Write Your Way In open-prompt workshops with Susan (Deepam) Wadds

*Tuesday, August 25, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm CENTRAL, Fran Gary leads Tuesday Night Writes!

*Wednesday, Aug 26, 6:00 pm EDT, For Such A Time As This: Writing Our Way Through-Building resilience in our life, creativity, and communities through writing

*Thursdays, Aug 27 and September 3, 6:30 to 8:00 pm PDT, Writing Ourselves Human in-person, Portland, Oregon

Monday, August 31, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm Eastern Time, The Art of Loss
with Meadow Jones & Matthew Curlewis

*Thursdays, Sept 3, 10, 17, 24, and October 1, 8, 11:00 am to 1 pm: Beyond the Prompt - a six-week series to structure, revise, organize, and create together

*Tuesday, Sep 8, 10:00 am to noon, EDT, Magic in the Middle: A Creative Writing Workshop for Midlife Women

*September 8, 15, 22, 29, 7 pm - 9 pm EDT, Writing for Caribbean Voices, a four-week series

Wednesdays from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm EDT, September 9, 16, 23 & 30, The Caregiver Project - a 4-week series
with Joyce Cohen & Carla Hanson

*Wednesdays, September 9 to October 28, 6:00-9:00 PM EST. What Our Mothers Didn’t Teach Us: Desire, Sex, and the Erotic as Power

*8-Week Online Workshop, Thursdays 3:30 - 6 pm Eastern, Sept 10 - Oct 29, Creating Memorable Short Fiction to Submit for Publication

Thursday, September 10, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm EDT, Introduction to AWA

Saturday, September 12, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm PDT, Monthly Online Write

Join our annual online retreat this September 25th-27th!

This event is open to our workshop leaders, writer members, and all writers, with select sessions geared toward AWA-trained facilitators. We hope our whole community, and anyone new to AWA, will join us. The theme of this year’s retreat is The Pen as Possibility: From Inspiration to Impact.

Our Keynote Speaker this year is Lisa Cooper Ellison. The Keynote and a Masterclass offered by Lisa are also available for purchase individually, if you prefer to attend just those sessions.

Have a peek at the sessions being offered and just try to choose!

Sessions marked with ** are geared toward AWA-trained workshop leaders. The rest are open to anyone!

Friday, September 25th

Bonus Pre-Retreat Sessions

4:00 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern | 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. Pacific | 9:00 to 10:30 p.m. Irish

SoulCollage® for Writer’s Block with Joyce Cohen

When the words won’t come, let an image begin the story.

No art or writing experience necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

Joyce Cohen is a certified life coach, AWA facilitator, and SoulCollage® facilitator who leads engaging workshops that spark creativity, invite self-discovery, and boost well-being. She is deeply inspired by the creative spirit we all share and fascinated by the power of artistic expression to transform and enhance lives.

http://joycecohen.ca

Prompts, Questions, and Backstory - Tools to Untangle a Writing Snag with Beverly Delidow

In this workshop, participants will be introduced to several techniques that can help move a written work from stuck to flowing again. Using prompts focusing on facets of the characters’ personalities, their backstory, or their landscape can be very useful in jogging loose motivations and movement in the story arc. Participants will be invited to work through some sample prompts and share insights in an interactive 90-minute session.

Beverly Delidow is an educator and writer in the Ohio Valley. Her published works include stories and poetry. She has worked with a number of writers’ groups over the years and finds that community can be a great asset to writing well.

Digging in the Compost of Memory with Kelsey Andrews

This workshop invites what’s growing in the compost pile of memory to peek up out of the mix and inspire new writing—poetry, fiction, memoir, essay… anything can grow from these tiny sprouts.

Kelsey Andrews is best known for her poetry, though she writes prose too. She loves generative workshops, and many of the poems in her book, Big Sky Falling, were written in them. She became an AWA certified facilitator to help writers find and shelter their voices in fun, encouraging workshops that bring the pleasure back into this thing we love to do. She lives on Vancouver Island in Canada, on W̱SÁNEĆ lands.

Beyond the First Draft: The Art of Revision

With panelists: Susan Wingert, Sue Reynolds, Caroline Maun, and Kimberly Lee

In this panel, you’ll learn about different revision processes and techniques from writers working in fiction, memoir, and poetry. You’ll leave ready to embark on the messy, wonderful process of revision.

Welcome Gathering

7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern | 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. Pacific | 12:00 to 1:30 a.m. Irish

A time to be together, write, and prepare for the retreat.

Saturday, September 26th

Keynote Address by Lisa Cooper Ellison

11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Eastern | 8:00 to 9:15 a.m. Pacific | 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Irish

The Nervous System Is the First Reader: Channeling Powerful Stories That Transform You and Move Your Readers

In this keynote, trauma-informed writing coach Lisa Cooper Ellison reveals how craft strategies and nervous system regulation are part of the same conversation. Point of view, pacing, sensory detail, summary, and scene aren’t just literary techniques; they’re trauma-informed tools that let writers choose how close to stand to their most charged material. And because regulation is contagious, this changes what it means to hold a writing circle and explains why grounded facilitators become the room’s anchor, making brave writing possible for everyone in it.

Lisa Cooper Ellison is an author, speaker, trauma-informed writing coach, and host of the Writing Your Resilience podcast. Working at the powerful intersection of storytelling and healing, she blends her writing expertise, clinical training, and soul-centered practices to help writers turn their hardest experiences into art. Her essays—on sibling loss, grief, trauma healing, and the craft of writing—have appeared in The New York Times, HuffPost, and The Loss of a Lifetime: Grieving Siblings Share Stories of Love, Loss, and Hope among others.

12:15 to 1:00 p.m. Eastern | 9:15 to 10:00 a.m. Pacific | 5:15 to 6:00 p.m. Irish

Break

Masterclass with Lisa Cooper Ellison

1:00 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern | 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pacific | 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Irish

Building A Nervous-System-Aware Writing Practice: Craft Tools for Writing Charged Material Without Reliving It

We’ll practice these in real time, through short, guided drafts that let writers feel the difference between writing a charged moment at arm’s length and at close range. Writers choose their material and the intensity; the workshop will demonstrate how to stop, veer, or switch topics based on what the nervous system needs. Writers who wish to share may do so through affirmative witnessing in the AWA tradition. Sharing is always voluntary.

Lisa Cooper Ellison is an author, speaker, trauma-informed writing coach, and host of the Writing Your Resilience podcast. Working at the powerful intersection of storytelling and healing, she blends her writing expertise, clinical training, and soul-centered practices to help writers turn their hardest experiences into art. Her essays—on sibling loss, grief, trauma healing, and the craft of writing—have appeared in The New York Times, HuffPost, and The Loss of a Lifetime: Grieving Siblings Share Stories of Love, Loss, and Hope among others.

3:30 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern | 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. Pacific | 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Irish

Break

Saturday Session Block

4:00 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern | 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. Pacific | 9:00 to 10:30 p.m. Irish

Blue Pencil Sessions ~ A Live Demonstration

Three facilitators offer constructive feedback “Blue Pencil” style on one page each of submitted fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

Participants will witness how a prepared piece of writing can benefit from:

• Recognizing the strengths already present in a piece of writing

• Revision opportunities that deepen clarity, impact, and reader engagement

• Constructive feedback that respects the writer’s unique voice and intentions.

• New strategies for approaching revision with specific actions and confidence

Blue Pencil Editors: Barbara Krasner, Kate Marshall Flaherty, and Susan Wadds

Susan Wadds’ debut novel, “What the Living Do,” won the 2024 Canadian Book Club Award for fiction, was a 2024 Indies finalist, and was shortlisted for the 2024 Fred Kerner Book Award. In 2016, her short fiction won the Writers’ Union of Canada’s Prose Contest. Susan’s work has appeared in various publications, including carteblanche, The Blood Pudding, Room, and Waterwheel Review. A graduate of the Humber School for Writers and a proud member of The Writers Union of Canada and The Canadian Authors Association, Susan is a certified Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) workshop facilitator. She lives on a quiet river on Williams Treaty land in traditional Anishinaabe territory with two humans and three cats.

Meeting Yourself With Kindness: Self-Compassion for Writers at Every Stage with Kimberly Lee

With reflective writing to several imaginative prompts, thoughtful conversation, and the opportunity to share and receive feedback in keeping with the AWA method, this 90-minute interactive session will invite you to meet yourself with the kindness you’d offer to another writer in your community, or a beloved character in a book.

Kimberly Lee JD is the author of the award-winning thriller Have You Seen Him. A versatile writer, editor, and facilitator, she has a passion for nurturing the imaginative spirit and helping others reveal their own inner wisdom, authentic voices, and singular stories. Kimberly is a graduate of Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law and has completed certifications and training with Amherst Writers & Artists, Guided Autobiography, SoulCollage®, The Path Meditation, The Center for Journal Therapy, The Center for Intentional Creativity, and The Groove Method. A teaching artist with several creative centers, she has led workshops at numerous retreats, conferences, nonprofit and corporate events. Recent collaborations include The Huntington, The Hammer, SAG-AFTRA, Esalen Institute, Omega Institute, Hollyhock Retreat Centre, and West LA Veterans Administration. Kimberly’s writing has appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies, and she has served on the staffs of Literary Mama, F(r)iction, and Carve Magazines. Kimberly trusts in the magic of miracles and synchronicity and believes everyone has something to say and the capacity to say it. She lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.

The Art of Witnessing in AWA Method Workshops: How to Deepen Your Feedback with Sue Reynolds

This workshop is for both facilitators and workshop participants

This presentation will help listeners/readers gain confidence and broaden their skills in offering feedback that is both generous and transformative.

In this highly interactive session, participants will be given practical strategies for listening more attentively to each other’s work. We’ll practice identifying different craft elements the new piece of writing already holds, including themes, motifs, voice, structure, and moments of resonance. This workshop will include short example segments, guided listening exercises, small-group discussion, and opportunities to practice responding to writing using the AWA method.

**From Single Workshop to Sustainable Practice: Mapping Your Offering Ecosystem with Kiala Givehand

Drawing on 25 years of building creative businesses ( including over 100 online courses, in-person retreats, mastermind groups, and community programs), Kiala Givehand walks facilitators through three interconnected conversations. First, how to map what you already have and identify the connections between your offerings. Second, how to design, if needed, new offerings that strengthen the whole. Third, how to price your offerings so that your pricing is clearer, more intentional, and easier to communicate to your community.

Kiala Givehand

Virtual Book Fair

5:45 to 6:45 p.m. Eastern | 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Pacific | 10:45 to 11:45 p.m. Irish

A big hit last year, so we’re offering it again! Join us on Zoom to virtually browse the book tables of AWA authors and hear a bit from each of them about a book they are promoting.

Sunday, September 27th

Sunday First Session Block

11:00 to 12:30 p.m. Eastern | 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. Pacific | 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Irish

Storyquilting: Stitch the Patches of Your Writing into a Cohesive Fabric with Barbara Krasner

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to craft the core message of your work in progress, use proven storyboarding techniques to identify opportunities for expansion and deletion to shape your character’s emotional journey and the overarching story line, and build transitions from scene to scene.

Barbara Krasner holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has successfully used the methodology offered in Storyquilting to publish short stories in literary magazines, earning Pushcart Prize nominations. Based in New Jersey, she has been a certified AWA facilitator since 2013.

How to Research Where to Send Your Work with Cheryl MacLean

Knowing how to research the lit mag jungle is your biggest advantage on the way to publishing short fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. We will look at the tools and websites available that can help focus your search for publishing opportunities and then dive deeper into Duotrope and The Grinder (Submission Grinder), two comprehensive searchable online databases that, in addition to listing almost every market out there, provide submission analytics and tracking, that can help you not only discover new markets (paying and non-paying) but can help you find the perfect fit for your work.

Cheryl MacLean is an AWA facilitator and writer from Ontario, Canada. After many years of writing and attending writing retreats around the world, she retired young(ish) and opened Casa Mismac, a self-directed writing retreat in the mountains of Costa Rica. She writes fiction and nonfiction and is currently working on a memoir about her journey to the land of pura vida. You can find her at

http://www.casamismac.com

What Shape is your Poem? with Susan Wadds

Your poem might take the shape of a Haiku, a ghazal, a prose or ekphrastic poem, a pantoum or a villanelle, a blackout poem, or even a sonnet (not likely, but nothing’s off the table).

Join Susan Wadds for an hour and a half of poetry play, where we’ll look at two different styles of poems and craft our own. This workshop especially welcomes those who don’t fancy themselves a poet.

Breakout room facilitators will listen with a keen ear (and heart) to your freshly generated work - whatever shape it takes.

A graduate of the Humber School for Writers and a proud member of The Writers Union of Canada and The Canadian Authors Association, Susan Wadds (Deepam) is a certified Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) workshop facilitator, leading writing workshops and retreats online and internationally. Her debut novel, “What the Living Do,” won the 2024 Canadian Book Club Award for fiction, was a 2024 Indies finalist, and was shortlisted for the 2024 Fred Kerner Book Award. She is a guest on Williams Treaty land traditionally cared for by the Anishinaabe.

**Creating Safer Space for Trans and Non-Binary Participants with Alex Cafarelli

Misgendering trans and non-binary people tells them that their safety isn’t valued and their identity isn’t real. This breaks down trust, and trust is a central tenet in AWA workshops. In this workshop we will practice checking our assumptions about pronouns, with the intention to create more inclusive workshops for people of all genders and orientations.

Alex Cafarelli (they/she) is a mad neurodivergent post-menopausal genderqueer femme Jewish Witch based in Toronto. Their writing and performance has been featured at theatres, conferences, and universities across North America on themes of queer sexuality, chronic illness, ritual, and collective liberation. Alex has performed original work with the disability justice performance company, Sins Invalid, and they co-founded the Minneapolis-based performance troupe the Psycick Slutz (1993-2006). They are published in multiple chapbooks, Room Magazine and the Lambda award-winning anthology, Glitter & Grit: Queer Performance from the Heels on Wheels Femme Galaxy. Alex holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph.

12:30 to 1:00 Eastern | 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. Pacific | 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. Irish

Long Break

Sunday Second Session Block

1:00 to 2:30 p.m. Eastern | 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Pacific | 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Irish

Crafting the Just-Right Ending: A Revision Workshop with Marian Calabro

A resonant and powerful ending to a story or essay can make the difference between acceptance and rejection, whether by ourselves as writers or by outside editors. In fact, crafting better endings can help us resurrect and publish pieces we felt we might never finish. We will examine seven techniques that make for great endings, using vivid examples from James Joyce and E. B. White to Toni Morrison, Jennifer Egan, and others. We’ll also touch on what not to do. Bring a few pieces you’d like to amp up. Or start from scratch. Either way, we’ll focus on endings that echo and sing. These tools will help you for the rest of your writing life!

Marian Calabro considers her AWA leadership training with Pat Schneider in 2004 as a turning point in her life. She leads workshops at public libraries and privately. Marian has published essays, poems, plays, and 24 nonfiction history books, including the award-winning Perilous Journey of the Donner Party: Updated Edition.

http://www.mariancalabro.com

From Generative Writing to Submission Ready: Let’s Go! with Isabella Moreno

You’ve written a piece in a generative workshop and received positive feedback. You believe in the piece and its potential to live beyond your closed notebook pages. You have your eye on some submission opportunities. What’s next? In this workshop we’ll discuss actionable steps to get a piece ready for submission that participants implemented immediately.

Isabella Moreno is a Nuyorican author, storyteller and workshop facilitator from The Bronx based in Cleveland, Ohio. She has curated creative workshops for People of Color/BIPOC communities since 2009. She is the founder of Illuminating Our Voices. Her writing, published and forthcoming, has been included in: storytelling events & festivals; print & online anthologies; print & online literary journals. She was a Breakthrough Writing Resident with Literary Cleveland. She is an Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) certified facilitator and affiliate. She has led workshops for: public libraries; conferences & festivals; colleges; and non-profit organizations. She has 30 years experience in education from K-12 teaching to non-profit management and college administration. She believes joy can always be found in collective spaces of shared creation.

Writing the Wave with Louise Bierig

Like a surfer riding a wave to shore, we will write from our subconscious first one wave, then another. We will explore the juncture where lived experience transitions into fiction. Join us to develop a character or draft a scene. Above all, join us to have fun exploring our fictional worlds.

Louise Bierig leads the Writing the Wave workshop in Pennsylvania using the AWA method. Her writing has appeared in Toho Publishing’s The Best Short Stories of Philadelphia 2021, Pure Slush, Mayday Magazine, shortédition, Schuylkill Valley Journal, Philadelphia Stories, Peregrine, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

**Beyond the Workshop: Building Partnerships with Healing Communities with TJ Parsell

This session explores how facilitators can identify potential partners, communicate the value of writing workshops, adapt offerings for specific populations, and build sustainable relationships while maintaining the integrity of the AWA method.

Drawing from his experience bringing trauma-informed writing workshops into clinical and recovery settings, T.J. Parsell will share lessons learned about collaboration, boundaries, program design, and transforming a passion for writing into meaningful community impact.

2:30 to 2:45 p.m. Eastern | 11:30 to 11:45 a.m. Pacific | 7:30 to 7:45 p.m. Irish

Break

Sunday Third Session Block

3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern | 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Pacific | 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. Irish

Lyric Poetics & Social Justice with Nzima Hutchings

Lyric poetry transforms emotion into language, inviting the heart, body, and imagination to speak through metaphor, imagery, voice, and the layered possibilities of poetic craft. Explore the pulse of language through sound, repetition, hyperbole, personification, onomatopoeia, and other lyrical choices that deepen resonance and reveal new dimensions of meaning.

What does social justice mean to you? Where does injustice live in the body, in memory, in community, in history, or in hope? Through lyric writing, participants will explore how personal stories, collective experiences, and imagined possibilities can become powerful forms of witness, connection, and understanding.

Nzima Hutchings is an award-winning poet, bestselling author, literary artist, advocate, and AWA-certified facilitator. She serves as the Enfield Connecticut Poet Laureate (2023–2027) and is the creator and host of Nzima’s Poetry Café Show, on Cox North Central Community TV, recipient of a 2025 Hometown Media Award for About Access & Empowerment.

Get Your Words Published with Désirée Penner

This workshop is all about publication! We will cover: 1) how to find places to submit, 2) how to use online submission portals like Submittable, 3) how to set up an Excel spreadsheet to track your submissions, 4) how to navigate submission fees, 5) how to vet literary journals for fit and avoid predatory journals, and 6) how to understand submission guidelines.

Désirée Penner (she/her) is a queer Canadian prairie poet and painter, currently studying for her Master of Social Work degree. She lives in a 150-year-old farmhouse, once belonging to her grandparents. Désirée loves sunflowers and has vowed to plant more with every passing year. She is an Al Eurithe Purdy Residency Recipient for June 2026 with published or forthcoming poems in Swim Press, wildscape. literary journal, Prosetrics, The Hemlock Journal, toothcut journal, The Poetry Lighthouse, Dunes Review and multiple anthologies. Her poems have placed in provincial poetry contests and you can learn more about her poetry by visiting

http://www.desireepennerart.com

(M)Other Tongues & Beloved Languages: Finding Voice in Many Languages with Arlene Rodriguez

Acclaimed author Sandra Cisneros states, “I write in two languages because I want to feel like I’m giving a voice to something that often goes unheard.” In this spirit, our workshop will focus on reflecting the richness of our multilingual experiences, using the practices and affirmations of the Amherst Writers and Authors method. You will engage with writing prompts that prompt reflection on our linguistic identities and the multilingual worlds in which we live.

Currently a Massachusetts resident, Arlene Rodriguez grew up in New York City, spending most of her summers in Aibonito, Puerto Rico, a rural mountain town where her family roots grow deep. Life in New York taught her an appreciation for the expansive, fast-paced city life with all peoples, cultures, and languages, while Aibonito showed her the importance of family, neighbors, and their stories.

**Making Sense of Marketing Your Workshops: Where to Start with Diane Douiyssi

You have an idea for a writing workshop you want to offer. You know you need to start marketing, but where do you even begin?

In this session, we’ll begin with you and your workshop idea, giving you a good foundation to build on. Then, I’ll share four key insights into your potential participants and one crucial decision needed to make your marketing more effective. We’ll go through what needs to be done before, during, and after your workshop so you can make promotion easier over time.

We’ll touch on the bigger picture, so the tactics make sense and you’ll know what other areas need attention to serve your bigger goals. You’ll leave with a better understanding of marketing overall as well as a concrete list of actions for promoting your next workshop.

Diane Roberson Douiyssi is an Author, AWA Workshop Facilitator, Certified Wayfinding Coach, and Intuitive Energy Guide. Her first poetry collection, Desert Heart, was recently published by Shanti Arts. She is also the founder of Inner Wisdom Wayfinding— a space where women gather to write, discover, and remember who they truly are.

https://www.innerwisdomwayfinding.com

4:30 to 5:00 p.m. Eastern | 1:30 to 2:00 p.m. Pacific | 9:30 to 10:00 p.m. Irish

Break

AWA Town Hall

5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Eastern | 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Pacific | 10:00 to 11:30 p.m. Irish

AWA’s Board of Directors will present updates about AWA’s current status as well as take questions from our community.

The Early Bird price remains just $99 for Affiliates and Writer Members (you can join for just $5/month) and $149 for everyone else. After September 7, prices increase to $149 for members and $199 for general admission.

We have a huge Canadian contingent, and we know the US dollar can be a barrier to attending events like this. If you are living and working in Canada, please feel free to use the discount code “awacanada“ when registering to bring the price on par with $99 CAD.

RETREAT REGISTRATION

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