AWA News: Retreat Report

Update: We are hosting another retreat in 2019! Please join us in Las Vegas, NV from October 4–7.

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Sue Reynolds, organizer of AWA’s Professional Development and Writing Retreat in Albuquerque, NM from October 12 – 15, 2018, shares her reflection on the event:

We lodged at the beautiful Bosque Retreat Center in the river valley that runs through that city. Purely by happenstance (it was the only weekend available by the time we booked) the International Balloon Festival coincided with our retreat, so our mornings were visited by the otherworldly grace of balloons floating overhead.

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My heart is very full.

It was so inspiring to be with so many other retreat attendees – all of us doing this AWA work – to learn from and celebrate with them.

There were enlivening sessions:

• from presenters focusing on specific kinds of writing workshops and editing (poetry, writing from the body and manuscript feedback),
• from presenters working with special populations (breast cancer survivors and incarcerated women),
• on business offerings (best practices and growing your facilitation practice),
• on how to ensure we continue to nourish our own creativity,
• with Katie Frank helping attendees get their profiles on the AWA website, or update them with specialized workshops they’re offering,
• with writing time facilitated by AWA leaders that let us both relax and be facilitated, and also learn from each other.

Both Pat Schneider and Maureen Buchanan Jones dropped in via GoToMeeting to answer questions and offer thoughtful reflection on this work we’re doing.

And we had a final session to collaborate with the retreat participants on what this organization is offering and where it needs to go.

As Board Members, we sometimes feel a bit isolated in this work we’re doing. The discussion that final morning reminded us of the wide-ranging resources that already exist in our membership.  We’re happy to say that some of those resourceful people expressed interest in becoming more involved in the organization at either the board level or in doing special projects, and we’re hopeful that even more will follow.

It was also heartening to hear that the changes we’ve made and continue to make in the organization – changes that are focused on supporting our affiliates and helping to get the word out about this revolutionary work we do in the world of writing – have been noticed and appreciated by our members.

This retreat was such a terrific success in achieving our goals that we’re already talking about next year.  We’re looking for a West Coast location for the 2019 Professional Development retreat – preferably easily reachable from Sacramento where we have a wide base of affiliates. If you know of a convivial location, please drop me a note: sue@amherstwriters.org.

We want to get the space (and date) booked ASAP so that as many of you as possible can save the date.  We don’t want you to miss the next one!

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Pat Schneider, founder of AWA, shares her experience video-conferencing in to speak to the assembled workshop leaders:

I had the privilege of talking to twenty-five workshop leaders who are trained and certified in the Amherst Writers & Artists workshop method.

They were attending the Professional Development and Writing Retreat in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I was in front of my computer in my living room. What an amazing world this is!

I told stories and responded to questions. My overwhelming feeling was the joyful recognition that I was face to face, almost across a continent, with the strength and power of our fellowship in many places around the world.

There are now more than 1500 trained and certified leaders of workshops using the Amherst Writers & Artists method, and wherever we are, voices are being welcomed, strengthened, and liberated. We are truly changing the world for the better, one voice at a time.