About the Retreat
The Big Sable River Writers' Retreat is an annual cooperative endeavor between West Shore Community College's writing faculty and area high school ELA teachers. Its purpose is to provide young creative writers an opportunity to pursue their artistry in the context of Michigan's inspiring natural beauty and at no cost. Participation is limited to 24 students, selected by their respective ELA teachers or College English faculty.
Whereas the Big Sable Retreat normally takes place at an outdoor camp, our 2021 retreat will take place via Zoom video conferencing in recognition of the on-going coronavirus pandemic. It will, nevertheless, combine independent outdoor activities with live video conferencing workshops in genre-based cohorts. Student participants will also have an opportunity for one-on-one conferencing with esteemed lead faculty Fleda Brown (poetry), Jerry Dennis (Creative Non-Fiction), and Lisa Lenzo (fiction). The full May 20-22, 2021 agenda appears below.
2019 Participants' Comments
"I just wanted to say thank you. It was a lot of fun, and I wish I could do it again. Best weekend I've had in a long time."
"The staff involved at this camp completely knocked it out of the park! I loved my time there and would love to return as long as it goes on."
"I really liked having ample time to work on my writing, consulting with faculty about my writing, and getting to know the other participants."
"The outdoor excursions, getting to meet new people, and the evening campfire and readings were the best."
For Teachers
If you are a high school ELA teacher working within the service area of West Shore Community College, please contact Professor John Wolff about selecting students for participation. High school students must have a parent or guardian sign permission forms as provided by the College. The College will provide each student with one copy of a book by each of the lead faculty. Inquiries may be directed to Prof. John Wolff.
Email: jbwolff@westshore.edu
Phone: 231-843-5979
For Students
If you are a student attending a high school within the service area of West Shore Community College (including dual-enrolled students), please discuss your potential participation with your high school ELA teacher(s). If you are a student of West Shore Community College, please discuss your potential participation with one of the Coordinating Faculty:
Sean Henne | swhenne@westshore.edu
Natalie Joynton | njoynton@westshore.edu
John Wolff | jbwolff@westshore.edu
General Retreat Agenda
This year, the retreat will combine independent outdoor activities with live video conferencing workshops in small groups. Students will also have an opportunity for individual conferencing with esteemed lead faculty Fleda Brown (poetry), and Jerry Dennis (Creative Non-Fiction).
Schedule
Lead Faculty
Thursday PM, May 20
- Meet-and-greet and orientation with Coordinating Faculty Sean Henne, Natalie Joynton, and John Wolff.
- Small-Group Workshops.
Thursday Evening, May 20
- Reading/talk by Lead Faculty, followed by Q&A.
Friday AM, May 21
- “Directed” outdoor experience (as circumstances allow for each student).
Friday PM, May 21
- Free time for participants to write on their own.
- One-on-one Zoom consultations with Lead Faculty.
Friday Evening, May 21
- Digital campfire
Saturday AM, May 22
- "Directed” outdoor experience (as circumstances allow for each student),
Saturday PM, May 23
- Free time for participants to write on their own.
- One-on-one Zoom consultations with Lead Faculty.
Saturday Evening, May 23
- Capstone reading by the students (5 minutes each, max).
Fleda Brown earned her Ph.D. in English from the University of Arkansas and in 1978 joined the faculty of the University of Delaware. There she founded the Poets in the Schools Program, which she directed for more than 12 years. Her books, essays, and individual poems have won many awards. Her tenth collection of poems, The Woods Are On Fire: New and Selected Poems, was chosen by Ted Kooser for his Contemporary Poetry Series from the University of Nebraska Press in 2017. Her collection of memoir-essays, Driving With Dvorak, was published in 2010 by the University of Nebraska Press. Fleda served as Poet Laureate of Delaware from 2001 until 2007, when she retired and moved to Traverse City, Michigan. Fleda writes a monthly column on poetry for the Record-Eagle newspaper, and she has a monthly commentary on poetry on Interlochen Public Radio. She teaches in the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.
Jerry Dennis is a native of northern Michigan and has earned his living as an independent writer since 1986. His essays, poems, and short fiction have appeared in more than 100 publications, including The New York Times, Smithsonian, Audubon, American Way, Gray’s Sporting Journal, PANK, and Michigan Quarterly Review. His books, many of them illustrated by artist Glenn Wolff, are widely acclaimed, have won numerous awards, and have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, German, Portuguese, Czech, and Korean. Jerry is the recipient of the Michigan Author of the Year Award, the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of Louisville’s School of Arts and Sciences, the Great Lakes Culture Award from Michigan State University, and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. He is a frequent guest speaker at universities and conferences and is on the permanent faculty of the University of Michigan’s Bear River Writers Conference, where he teaches creative non-fiction and the sense of place.
Kelly Fordon’s latest book is a short story collection called I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020). Her novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP, 2015) is a 2016 Michigan Notable Book, a 2016 Foreword Reviews’ INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist in the short story category. She is also the author of three poetry chapbooks. On the Street Where We Live won the 2012 Standing Rock Chapbook Award and the latest one, The Witness, won the 2016 Eric Hoffer Award for the Chapbook and was shortlisted for the Grand Prize. Her work has been published widely in literary journals and has received a Best of the Net Award, as well as Pushcart Prize nominations in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she also runs a monthly poetry and fiction blog.
