PLANET EARTH POETRY’S fourth ANNUAL RETREAT (2019)
Planet Earth Poetry is delighted to present its fifth annual writing retreat, led by Sandra Ridley.
Ottawa poet Sandra Ridley, award-winning author of four poetry books, was a finalist for the 2017 Griffin Poetry Prize, the KM Hunter award for Mid-Career Writers, the Archibald Lampman Award for Poetry, the Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry award, the ReLit Poetry Prize, the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry and others listed on her website.
Sandra has been a judge in many major Canadian poetry contests, and a much-sought guest at writers’ festivals. She has facilitated numerous workshops, taught poetry at Carleton University and Sage Hill Writing Experience, and been a writing mentor in programs for people living with mental illness . She offers comprehensive editing and mentoring services through her Poetry Lab, sandraridley.com
Photos from our earlier retreats. See you soon!
untether your poems
“Editing can feel like a heartbreaking process,” says poet Sandra Ridley, “Especially when we’re tied to our original intentions and feelings about our work. But writers in this retreat will find ways to untether their poems, allowing them to become the beings of heightened intensity they need to be.”
In this two-day retreat, Sandra will facilitate conversations on the craft of editing, and consider how silence, sound, and line work together to build emotive atmosphere. There will be writing prompts to nourish and deepen new and previous drafts; there will be discussions on the submission process and on methods to ‘construct’ a full-length manuscript; and there will be opportunities to work one-on-one. Experimentation and curiosity will be encouraged as we untether our work, and explore the delicate and powerful balancing of risk, feeling, and form.
WHEN? Saturday, May 25, 10:00-5:00; and Sunday, May 26, 9:00-3:00. These times allow up-island poets to arrive on time, and to drive back before dark.
WHERE? A comfortable private Victoria home in the Gorge area. Directions will be given upon registration. Please arrive in time to park, settle in, and have coffee/tea. Bring your own cup and bag lunch.
ATTENTION Up-island participants: a comfortable B&B suite is available at the retreat site, special rate $70 per night. Contact Rhona McAdam.
TO REGISTER: $245. Please contact Barbara Pelman, subject line: 2019 PEP Retreat.
Make out cheques to Planet Earth Poetry, e-transfers to pepoetry2 “at” gmail.com