SOULFOOD MEMOIR WRITING

Come join RIPE FRUIT School of Creative Writing for a week-end of writing & improvisation in the wine country.

Imagine this: Outside it is winter & dastardly cold. Inside we are hibernating like bears. We sit together around a blazing fire and write the stories of our lives, straight from the heart. Memory & imagination. Out in the country in winter there are few sounds. Perhaps rain against the roof, or wind rushing the windows. It is the dark time of the year, when humans have always come inside, a cave, a hut, a cabin, a condominium, and into themselves, to chew the nuts they have stored in their cheeks. With provocative exercises to guide us, we will re-enter our lives and locate the landscapes, the voices, the stories that must be told.

We will develop techniques for finding the heart of each of these stories and for shaping them into unforgettable tales.

Memory & movement. Improvisation teachers will teach us to use our intelligent bodies as tools, flinging into consciousness through movement, long forgotten images that circulate somewhere beneath the skin.We will unpack these, perform them, write them, hone them.

Memory & food. We will become a family of writers long around the comfort of the table, winter foods steaming. We will literally cook together and enjoy a writing workshop in the large kitchen. Those who wish will cook and share their own personal soul food to share at our Saturday meal.

* Soul food, a term coined in the 1960's by Afro-Americans in the South and referring to traditional home-cooked foods such as chitterlings, hamhocks, and collard greens, reminds all of us, regardless of our ethnic roots, of the the power of home, of feeling connected to our culture, and of the significance of passing down through family and friends over generations our wisdom and our stories: the soulful expressions of our people.

NEW! Read this blog entry from a recent participant in the 2007 SoulFood retreat!

February 8-10, 2008

Title: Winter Retreat:
Soulfood Memoir Writing
Fee: $385 (shared room) $455 (single room) includes lodging, meals, pool, jacuzzi, massage and all workshops
Early-bird fee: $365 (shared room) paid in full one month in advance.
Deposit:  $100
Time: Friday 6pm - Sunday 2pm
Location: Isis Oasis Retreat Center,
Geyserville (1 1/4 hr N of SF)
Swimming pool, hot tubs, exotic mini-zoo, fantastical setting.

SPACE IS LIMITED
 Special eating& lodging requests, transportation & carpools, map & directions will be coordinated one month in advance.

CALL (415) 337-4369 OR CLICK BELOW TO REGISTER

SPRING SUMMER FALL WINTER

Ripe to Write? Contact Us!
        Phone:415-337-4369
Mailing address: P.O. Box 460475, S.F., CA 94146

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