Mark your calendar: the 2023 retreat will be held August 17-20, and registration is now live! You can check out this year's offerings by visiting the links below.
Join us for days specifically designed to welcome, celebrate, and amplify the voices of writers of color. Whether working on a novel, memoir, short fiction, poetry, or hybrid/interdisciplinary forms, our experienced faculty and guest instructors will work closely with you to support your writing process. The workshops will focus on the creation of new works, connecting writers and their work to social movements and larger audiences, and amplifying narratives of often unheard and marginalized voices to build more equitable, just, and sustainable communities. Writers will have the opportunity to study and create with our faculty, guest instructors, and a community of peers. Writers identifying as people of color are welcome to join the retreat.
Make sure that you sign up for our mailing list—select the Writing in Color box—to stay informed about all Writing in Color programming. Stay connected by attending our monthly Writing in Color mixers which are free, but registration is required.
Retreat Catalog
Check out all of the info for this year's retreat including class and evening event descriptions, pass breakdowns, and an interview with our 2023 Writing in Color fellow!
Intensives
The August 2023 retreat will feature virtual and in person, four and two-day intensives focused on hybrid forms, dramatic writing, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. These intensives will be taught by Diana Khoi Nguyen, Jonathan Marcantoni, Dino Enrique Piacentini, Emilly Prado, Suzi Q. Smith, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden. Instructors will often incorporate literary examples and writing prompts to support developing your writing skills and knowledge. These retreat classes are open to any BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) creatives.
Craft Classes
Craft classes are one time workshops that will focus on developing and learning about a specific skill or particular element of a genre or writing technique. This year's craft classes will be taught by R. Alan Brooks, Franklin Cruz, Jamie Figueroa, Andrew Hernández, Kerrie Joy, Juan Morales, Angelique Stevens, Nafeesa Syeed, and Rachel Werner. Virtual and in person class options will be available. These retreat classes are open to any BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) creatives.
Evening Events
The 2023 Writing in Color retreat will include a variety of evening events focused on building community and finding creative inspiration. Join us for a "Meet Your Writing Group" happy hour, a community dinner and keynote from Suzi Q. Smith, a panel co-hosted by The Word featuring BIPOC authors talking about their publishing journeys, a film screening of Everything Everywhere All At Once, a closing party and more! These events will be free to attend and open to any BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) creatives. You can attend any evening events even if you do not participate in the retreat class offerings (intensives or craft seminars).
Passes
For the 2023 Writing in Color Retreat we'll be introducing pass options. Passes are a great fit for writers who want to take a two or four-day intensive and afternoon craft seminars each day or multiple craft seminars. Signing up for a Gold, Silver, or Bronze pass will allow you to get the full experience of the retreat at a discounted rate. While tuition assistance is not available for passes, we do encourage you to look at our payment plan options which you can find on our Financial Assistance page.