I am thrilled to announce some exciting, new literary endeavors for 2023!
I am now available for freelance writing projects, editorial assistance, manuscript evaluations, and coaching, and will also be offering classes and workshops online and in person. I am so looking forward to participating in and building literary community in these varied ways! Since leaving the high school classroom at Phillips Exeter Academy at the end of the 2021 school year and subsequently returning to New Jersey, I have been focused on finishing my memoir and moving it along toward publication. But I have missed teaching and working with others trying to tell their true stories!
As my agent, Gail Hochman of Brandt & Hochman, shops around my memoir manuscript, the time is right to launch this new phase of my literary and teaching life. Although I am still getting my branding in order, with a writing retreat on the calendar for March 2023, I needed to share now that Word Garden Editing + Workshops (where nonfiction is always in season) is born!
The first Word Garden Writing Retreat for Women and Non-binary Creative Nonfiction Writers will take place from March 10-13, 2023 at Prospect Street Writers House, a newly renovated, state of the art residence in the heart of North Bennington, Vermont. Much gratitude to founder and director V. Hansmann for welcoming the workshop to this gorgeous space! Visit prospectstreet.org for photos and further information about where we will be meeting/working.
Some of you may notice that these dates overlap with the annual AWP conference taking place this year in Seattle. Well, I couldn’t make it to Seattle, and I thought there might be a few of you who also might be looking for an east coast/New England alternative to nurture your writing life.
Workshop details are below. If you are interested in joining what is sure to be a small but mighty literary community (7 writers + me), please use this contact form to get in touch. Once we’ve touched base, the application process will involve providing some basic information about yourself, a paragraph about why you’d like to dig in the Word Garden that weekend, and a 10-15 page writing sample or link to published work, all via email. There is no application fee.
Tuition of $690 includes:
- Check-in Friday, March 10, 3-5 pm
- Check-out Monday, March 13, 11 am
- Meals from Friday dinner through Monday breakfast
- Communal dinners each night
- Friday welcome reception
- Morning workshops (Sat./Sun./Mon.) for feedback on an essay or memoir chapter
- Afternoons free for writing or recharging on nearby hiking/cross-country ski trails
- Evening group readings (Sat. & Sun.)
- Sharing of resources & opportunities to advance/enhance your writing life
- Single room with bed, desk/chair, private bathroom/shower, welcome bag
- Communal sitting areas with kitchenettes
- Communal living and dining rooms
- Free parking on premises
- One ADA-accessible room available
- Retreat location: Prospect Street Writers House, 20 Prospect St., North Bennington, VT 05257
- Partial scholarships available. Please inquire.
Retreat organizer and workshop facilitator Sue Repko was the 2019 Maine Literary Award winner for Short Nonfiction. Her essays have been named notable in The Best American Essays three times, and her work has appeared in Hippocampus, The Southeast Review, Brevity Blog, The Common, and elsewhere. She received her MFA from Bennington and recently completed a memoir about her gunsmith father and an unintentional shooting that left a neighbor dead. She is represented by Gail Hochman of Brandt & Hochman. In addition to offering writing workshops, Sue is a freelance editor and writing coach. For more information, visit suerepko.com.