Reaping the Harvest: Generative Poetry Retreat

Begins Saturday, September 19, 2026

Live Seminar via Zoom from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PDT): 6:00 AM – 2:00 PM / Chicago (CDT): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM / New York (EDT): 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM / London (BST): 2:00 PM – 10:00 PM / Berlin (CEST): 3:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Now Enrolling! Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor Bios

Instructor Sarah Carson's poetry and other writing have appeared in The Rumpus, The Slowdown, Guernica, The Missouri Review, and The Christian Century, among others. She is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, including How to Baptize a Child in Flint, Michigan (Persea Books, 2022). She has been a recipient of, and a finalist for, grants and fellowships from Tin House, the Poetry Foundation, the Martha's Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing, and the Michigan and Illinois Arts Councils. Born in Flint, Michigan, she now lives in East Lansing, where she is at work on a memoir about single motherhood, work, and the rules that govern the universe.

Instructor Catharine H. Murray is a writing instructor, author, and poet. Murray earned her BA from Harvard University and completed her MFA in creative writing at the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast Writing program, where she served as Creative Non-fiction Editor for The Stonecoast Review. Murray teaches online writing classes on the art of memoir. She lectures and leads workshops on healing through writing, listening, and trauma resolution. Her experience as an editor, Traumatic Incident Resolution facilitator, and longtime peer counselor informs a warm, attentive teaching practice that helps writers feel safe enough to do their deepest, most honest work. Venues for her lectures and workshops have included Harvard University, Seattle Children's Hospital, Hasbro Children's Hospital, Maine State Prison, and the University of New England. Her memoir, Now You See the Sky, was selected to launch Akashic Books' Gracie Belle imprint, curated by Ann Hood in 2018, and topped Portland's best-seller list in 2019.

Who is this online retreat for?

This retreat is for poets at any level who want a grounded, supportive space to generate new work and begin revising slowly and with intention. Whether you're just beginning or have been writing for years, you'll be welcome here. This is an all-levels online writing class built around community, creative safety, and the pleasure of making something new.

What to expect:

As summer turns to fall, this online poetry workshop offers a space to harvest the fruits of your imagination and experiences. We'll begin with a meditative practice meant to ground you and cultivate imagination, then launch into writing prompts that help you generate poems that draw imagery, metaphor, and meaning from deep within your own rich, inner creative soil. By lunch, you'll have one or two new drafts, depending on the prompts you choose.

In the afternoon, we'll turn to revision, teaching you craft strategies you can apply to brand-new work or to poems you've been carrying for a while. The day closes with practical guidance on where to go next — including how to think about getting your work into the world in a way that fits your own life and sanity.

What makes this retreat distinctive is the environment itself. Catharine's experience facilitating healing-centered writing workshops and Sarah's craft and publishing acumen combine to create a creative writing workshop where you can feel genuinely safe and supported while still producing publishable work. This retreat includes generous opportunities to share, though it is a generative retreat rather than a critique-based workshop.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will generate one to two new poem drafts and have the opportunity to intentionally revise one new draft or one work-in-progress brought to the retreat. Writers will leave with fresh material, a set of revision strategies they can reuse, and a personal writing and publication plan tailored to their own goals. This retreat offers space to share work in a supportive setting; it does not include a formal workshop critique component.

Readings

Readings will be provided in class and may include excerpts from Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones and Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, as well as poems by Ellen Bass, Ada Limón, Carrie Fountain, and Andrea Gibson.

COURSE OUTLINE

Saturday, September 19, 2026

9:00 – 11:00 AM: Introductions, Intention Setting, and Cultivating a Sense of Creative Safety

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Close reading of sample poems and generative writing prompts

12:00 – 2:00 PM: Lunch and Writing Time

2:00 – 4:00 PM: Revision strategies and exercises

4:00 – 5:00 PM: What's Next? Creating a writing and publication plan unique to you

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• One to two new poem drafts generated during the retreat
• A revised version of one new or existing poem
• A toolkit of generative prompts and revision strategies you can return to
• Practical guidance on sharing your work and planning for publication
• A personal writing and publication plan suited to your own life and goals

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $199 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructors: Sarah Carson & Catharine H. Murray
• Begins Saturday, September 19, 2026
• Class will meet for one live session via Zoom on Saturday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $199 USD.