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Writing Retreat at Bloedel Reserve

We know finding writing time is hard. So we've found a partner to provide you with just such a space. Come write with us!

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Writing Retreat at Bloedel Reserve

Writing Retreat at Bloedel Reserve

We know finding writing time is hard. So we've found a partner to provide you with just such a space. Come write with us!

Pricing
Tuition Assistance and Policies
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Cancellation & Other Policies
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Registrations Closed

About

Picture this: You get to the Japanese Guest House at Bloedel Reserve and are surrounded by other authors eager to get creative and write. You grab a hot coffee or tea, find a cozy seat and then — silence. Bliss. Writing time.

Two volunteers will walk you through a few hours of writing sprints in the morning (25-minute chunks of writing, followed by a five-minute break).

Then, an optional walk around the grounds is followed by a roundtable discussion during a brown-bag lunch. After that, you get another hour or two of totally uninterrupted writing time. 

At the end of the day, you'll have the option to talk about your piece. Together, we’ll brainstorm any sticky scenes and drab dialogue (it happens to the best of us).

If you’re not a writer, but you know one, this is the ultimate Christmas or Valentine’s Day gift! Give your writer — or yourself — the gift of collaborative quiet time.

Details

  • This retreat occurs both Saturday and Sunday. You must register for each day. Find Sunday registration here.
  • Bring your laptop or whatever you use to write. 

Class Policies

Ages 14 and up are welcome.

Instructor
Emily Smiley

Emily, a writer from South Carolina who now calls Seattle home, crafts stories that reflect the world back to her readers, inviting them to explore deeper truths within themselves. Her novel, Treading Water, came in first in the horror category of the 2024 Pacific Northwest Writers' Association (PNWA) unpublished competition. She’s the programming coordinator for the Writer’s Studio at BARN. She’s also a member of the PNWA and the Seattle Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. Emily is a co-founder of Content Hospital, a speculative fiction writers marketing collective, and is represented by A.J. Van Belle at the Booker Albert Literary Agency. When she’s not giving her readers nightmares, she’s running, traveling, reading, or playing video games.

Instructor
Chelsea Kellogg

C.R. Kellogg writes science fiction, fantasy and horror. Her fiction uses speculative environments to explore human connection. Kellogg also writes essays about food, books and writing craft on her Substack. She is an alumnus of the Viable Paradise workshop and a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and Horror Writers of America. Her work has been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies and most recently the Creepy Podcast. Her dystopian romance manuscript won third place in the 2024 Pacific Northwest Writers Association unpublished novel contest in Speculative Fiction.

Instructor
Inez Ray

Inez is a Puget Sound-based, California-born science fiction writer. She earned a bachelors of arts degree in creative writing from San Francisco State then went on to tend bar for several years before meeting her beloved partner and becoming a parent. Experiencing the horrific state of perinatal care in America drew her to birth work and reproductive rights advocacy and then eventually back to writing. She is a member of BARN's Writer’s Studio, and an editor for their Annual Collection. She is a founding member of Content Hospital, a rowdy critique group of speculative fiction writers. Her stories are populated by characters who aren’t always heroes, often reckoning with systems of power and control, that mirror our own world. When she's not inviting readers to think acutely about the future of humanity, she is parenting her three children, or throwing a stick for her two dogs. Her debut novel, a feminist dystopian sci-fi, comes out fall 2026 with Left Unread and Bindery Books. She is represented by Brenna English-Loeb at Transatlantic Agency. Connect with her and her writing at Inezray.com.

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