Snowbound Writers Retreat

The Snowbound Writers Retreat is an inspiring four-day, three-night weekend of workshops, readings, and writing, all online and open to anyone with a good internet connection.

The 2023 Snowbound Writers Retreat will be held from Thursday, March 2 through Sunday, March 5 online. We love our in-person workshops, conferences, and retreats, but what’s a writer to do during the winter in Maine? These online workshops offer a focused writing and workshop experience that will help push participants’ writing projects into new and unexpected places, all from the comfort of your own home.

Snowbound Writers Retreat attendees will spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings (8:30 AM to 12 PM) in workshops of no more than ten participants working with one instructor. Afternoons will be open for writing and/or an optional individual meeting with the instructor. There will be a Friday evening faculty reading and a Saturday evening open reading, giving attendees a chance to share their work with each other. All of these meetings will take place using Zoom videoconferencing–for more information about Zoom, please see below.

See below for more information, including registration for the Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Fiction Workshops. The cost of the retreat is $225 for MWPA Members and $275 for nonmembers. Scholarships, including the Dibner Fellowship, are available. Please see below.

Important Dates

2023 Information

The Snowbound Writers Retreat is held online, in the comfort of your own home.

The MWPA is proud to offer full scholarships for members to attend various workshops throughout the year. The scholarships are awarded on a mix of need and merit. To apply inquire with Executive Director Gibson Fay-Leblanc. The deadline for application is one month before the beginning of the workshop

+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur online via Zoom. Students do not need to create an account to participate, but should test out Zoom before their class if they are first-time users. On the Thursday evening right before the retreat begins, MWPA staff will offer a tech help session on Zoom. Participants are encouraged to attend the tech help session, which usually takes only 5-10 minutes, if they have any tech concerns, use Zoom infrequently, or simply would like to test their connection. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed a link that they may click to enter the test session and the class.

+ REQUIRED EQUIPMENT A reliable, fast internet connection (broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE), speakers & a microphone (built-in or USB plug-in), and a webcam (built-in or USB plug-in).

If you would like to quickly and easily test your internet connection and your computer’s compatibility with Zoom, click HERE. Full details on supported Operating Systems, internet browsers, and more can be found HERE. To download and familiarize yourself with Zoom, click HERE.

Payment
The MWPA is not able to accept installment payments. Workshop space will not be reserved until we receive full payment. If an agency, business, school, or other organization is paying student fees, payment is still due at the time of registration. Purchase orders or intent to pay are not accepted. The MWPA accepts checks, money orders, cash, and Visa or MasterCard through our PayPal account, printed registration forms, or over the phone. If you would prefer to pay with American Express or Discover, payment can be made through out PayPal account. If you are unfamiliar with PayPal, we will be happy to assist you. A $25 fee is assessed for bad checks.

Cancellations
A nonrefundable fee of 25% of the workshop cost is included in each registration. Partial refunds (75% of the workshop fee) will be granted for cancellations made at least one week before the writing retreat. Cancellations made less than one week in advance will not be refunded, no matter how compelling the reason. We cannot refund participants for missed workshops.

CEUs
The MWPA is proud to offer Continuing Education Units (CEU) for this workshop. The CEU is a nationally recognized method of quantifying the time spent in the classroom during non-credit learning. Ten hours of instruction equal one (1) CEU. (*Please note that by definition, CEUs are non-credit continuing education and therefore not transferrable as academic credit.)

Retreat Cancellation
Workshops that do not meet a minimum enrollment may be canceled up to two business days (48 hours) prior to the first class meeting. If a workshop is canceled by the MWPA for any reason, all registrants will receive a full refund.