2009 Writers’ Retreat

Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico
“My Country is the Whole World”—Virginia Woolf
August 10-16, 2009

For the fourth biennial AROHO Writers’ Retreat, a group of sixty-five women writers will gather amid the stunning red canyons, high mesas and desert skies of Georgia O’Keeffe’s famous Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico. Over six days, workshop participants will discuss and practice the craft of writing with award-winning writers and professionals in the publishing field. Bring your fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, or poetry to share in intimate groups of seven women led by our esteemed faculty. Or attend as a free agent and spend your days wandering, writing, and living in a community of women who share a passion for the written word.

Photo by Miriam Berkley

Cloe Dugger, New York, reads in the afternoon shade. [Photo by Miriam Berkley]

Comments from 2007 retreat participants: “This is the first retreat I responded to on a soul level. It was an exhalation-as if I had finally given myself-the deepest level-a writer.” --Lynn Tryba (Northampton, MA) “Quite Simply: Off the charts. The location is unbelievable. The faculty were so generous and gifted. I felt like a Queen!” ---Patricia Loughrey (San Diego, CA) “The women I met here were not only supportive, warm, and interesting personally but they were writers at a much higher level than I expected.” -Sharon Locy (Santa Monica, CA)

• Workshop Members meet in groups of no more than eight participants, for ten hours of intense activity led by an expert member of the AROHO faculty. Each workshop member also meets privately with the workshop leader for a half-hour conference.
• "Free agents" do not participate in workshops and have more time to write and relax. "Free agents" participate in as many or as few of the retreat's other offerings as they choose. Free agents will also have a unique opportunity to sign up for a special three-hour workshop.