Announcing Fall Workshops and a Retreat!

"I would prefer to Write with Spike," Bartleby the Scrivener

I’m taking a wee sabbatical in August to collect my thoughts, recover from watching five seasons of Big Love in five weeks, and check out knitting shops in Montreal. (OMD-- Oh mon dieu!) Then, poor me, it’s time for my annual, back-to-back West Coast/East Coast retreats. And then, hooray! Back to workshops and retreats! Here’s the schedule for Fall. Please email me soon if you’d like to hold a space—newcomers who reserve by August 15, 2012 get a discount (details below). Oh, and if you’re sitting on the fence about whether or not workshop is for you, please check out the testimonials to see what folks are saying about their experience.

Fall Writing Workshops & Retreats with Spike Gillespie

These are memoir-writing workshops delivered two ways—in six-week series and intensive weekends. Everyone has a story to tell, and writing yours down and sharing it aloud (optional) offers freedom, healing, amusement and all sorts of other feelings you might not initially associate with the act of committing your life adventures to the page. This workshop has morphed over the years, shaped very much by participant input and requests, and forgive me for saying so myself, but damn, it is a thing of beauty!

You can expect a lot of sharing/workshopping, some in class writing time, and a few words each week from yours truly about the state of the art. Sign up and you also receive one-on-one coaching over the course of the six weeks on projects you’re tackling in class. (Sorry—I cannot read full length manuscripts as part of this coaching. For that, consider hiring me as a private coach.) Our emphasis is on positive feedback—no one rips anyone a new one, ever.

You’ll also have an opportunity to participate in a public reading—I host these a few times per year for students who wish to share their stories with a larger audience. And this year we’re adding in an option to have your work appear in an e-anthology, sold at Amazon. (I’m in the process of editing the first one now, which should be available soon.)

Dates

Tuesday Series

Six consecutive Tuesdays, September 25^th – October 30^th inclusive. 7- 9 pm. Cost: $300. Sign up before August 15th and it’s $250. Returning attendees from previous workshops get the usual discount. $50 non-refundable deposit holds your space. We meet at 3400 Kerbey Lane in SOL Studio. Email me to reserve your spot.

Thursday Series

Six consecutive Thursdays, September 27^th –Nov. 1^st inclusive. 7-9 pm, except October 4^th class which meets 8 – 10 pm. Cost: $300. Sign up before August 15th and it’s $250. Returning attendees from previous workshops get the usual discount. $50 non-refundable deposit holds your space. We meet at 3400 Kerbey Lane in SOL Studio. Email me to reserve your spot.

December Weekend Retreat

December 14, 15, 16. Don’t tell me that December is too busy with holiday plans. That’s exactly my point—take time for YOURSELF and forget the holiday pressure to do shit you don’t want to do in the first place. This retreat is an excellent way to get ready for the New Year, to make an early commitment to yourself to take care of you. We meet on Friday, December 14^th from 7 – 9 pm for a dinner to discuss our weekend goals. Saturday we meet from 10 – 4:30 for lots of writing and some sharing. Sunday we meet from 11 – 3 for more of the same. Cost is $125. All meals included (meals are vegetarian and I will honor  your dietary restrictions). $50 non-refundable deposit holds your space. Location TBA but it will be central. Email me to reserve your spot.