With
Sean Murphy
When
May 11 - 14, 2020
Category
Writers Lab
Tuition
1495.00
Registration Info
In this contemplative writing retreat, we explore how meditation and mindfulness practices can stimulate the creative process and open the mind to new possibilities, with special emphasis on freeing the natural flow of the creative process and finding or deepening our most natural writing voices. We alternate meditation, mindfulness, and sensory awareness practices with writing practice and other exercises to stimulate creativity and encourage fresh ideas, and explore a variety of techniques for freeing our natural flow of expression, bypassing the inner critic, and accessing our true source of creativity. Close observation exercises, walking meditation, and mindfulness practices enhance awareness of the sensory details that supply the raw materials of our writing.
Our emphasis is on the creative process and on encouraging all participants, whether beginning or experienced, to develop their own writing styles within a supportive and inspiring environment. Some periods are spent outside. Most importantly, we rediscover the freedom, playfulness, and joy that made us want to write in the first place.
As a process-oriented rather than critically-oriented workshop, this is open to everyone from beginners to experienced writers, meditators, and mindfulness practitioners. Suitable for writers in any field, from fiction to creative non-fiction, journaling, screenplay, drama or poetry, or anyone who simply wishes to explore the contemplative side of the creative process.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
This program is open to writers of all levels.
ACCOMMODATIONS:
Add on-campus housing Sunday through Thursday nights! A single room with private bath is $415 (twin bed) or $465 (queen bed) for five nights. Or share a double room with private bath with a friend who is also taking the workshop for $315 per person for five nights. Rooms are limited so we recommend that you reserve early.
TUITION INFO:
Tuition includes a meal plan of breakfast and lunch, Monday-Thursday, May 11-14, and a closing dinner on Thursday evening.
Sean W. Murphy is a 2018 National Endowment of the Arts Creative Writing Fellow and an authorized Zen teacher (Sensei) in the American White Plum Lineage. One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories (Hampton Roads 2013), won the 2014 International Book Award in the Eastern Religions category. He is the award-winning author of three novels with Bantam Dell Books, receiving the Hemingway Award for a First Novel for The Hope Valley Hubcap King, the 2009 National Press Women's Communication Award for best novel for The Time of New Weather, and the 2017 William Faulkner Wisdom Award for novel-in-progress for his current project, Wilson’s Way. He is the founder of the nonprofit Sage Institute for Creativity & Consciousness, which hosts an innovative meditation leader training program. He teaches writing and meditation at the University of New Mexico-Taos.
Website: www.murphyzen.com