Just beyond the noise there is a vastness - a never-ending source of creativity, magic and abundance. Our job as writers is to find our way there and allow our work to be guided by what we discover.
Three days and three nights in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
An intimate group of writers, three renowned guides - a study of the wordless womb where writing begins.
“Don’t try to comprehend with your mind. Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition. ”
WELCOME TO THE INNER SANCTUM.
OVER THE COURSE OF THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS WE WILL EXPLORE DOORWAYS INTO WORDLESSNESS SO WE CAN COME TO A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF OURSELVES AND OUR WORLDS. FROM THESE EXPERIENCES WE WILL REFRESH OUR WRITING BY CRAFTING NEW WAYS FOR THE READER TO EXPERIENCE THEIR WORLDS.
WE WILL FOCUS ON ENTERING INTO, AND WRITING ABOUT OUR INTERNAL WORLD, THE NATURAL WORLD, AND THE WORLD OF IMAGINATION.
Meet your guides:
STEPH JAGGER - our guide to the internal world:
Steph Jagger is author, speaker, coach, and world record smasher who happens to dabble in alchemy and mysticism. Her first book, Unbound: A Story of Snow and Self-Discovery (Harper Collins 2017), details her awe-inspiring journey around the world on skis.
Since then, Steph’s work has been focused on unlocking and accessing truths – physical and mental truths, deep wordless truths, ancestral truth, as well as archetypal and mythological truth. She is the mastermind and Chief Intuitive Officer behind coaching and development programs like The Great Big Journey, Read Like a Mother and Sacred Rebellion, as well as a sought after speaker and facilitator.
Her second memoir – a story of mothers and daughters – is set to be released by Flatiron Books in 2021.
MAIA TOLL - our guide to the natural world:
Award winning writer Maia Toll has been many things— a horseback riding teacher, a clinical herbalist, and (oddly) a university professor— but by far her favorite title is author. Her best-selling Wild Wisdom series (The Illustrated Herbiary, The Illustrated Bestiary, & The Illustrated Crystallary) offers a glimpse into the knowings of the natural world and the wilds within ourselves. Maia contemplated these insights during her yearlong apprenticeship to a traditional healer in Ireland. Though apprenticeship sounds terribly romantic, it was most often lonely, leaving Maia plenty of time to listen to the ravens, roses, and rocks. She quickly learned that the world was a whole lot bigger than her human-centric upbringing had led her to believe.
When not obsessively reading books and “talking” to trees, stones, and her two dogs, Maia drinks copious amounts of tea and helps run Herbiary, a multi-city natural wellness and sacred living store she owns with her partner Andrew. She teaches and blogs to an international following at maiatoll.com where she constantly reminds people that using critical thinking skills and talking to flowers are not mutually exclusive activities.
SARAH SELECKY - our guide to the imaginary world:
Sarah Selecky is the critically-acclaimed author of the novel Radiant Shimmering Light, which is soon to be adapted for television, and This Cake Is for the Party, which was a finalist for the Giller Prize, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize, and longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. She earned her MFA from the University of British Columbia. In 2011 she founded the Sarah Selecky Writing School, which has become a creative community for more than 13,000 writers from around the world.
When she’s not writing, Sarah is exploring nature in search of wonder. She helps writers bring insight and innovation to their work by writing and speaking about creativity, magic and mystery.
She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
The Details:
WHEN: 6:00pm on Sunday, May 31 - 8:00pm Wednesday, June 3, 2020
WHERE: Asheville, NC - Maia Toll’s Home & Private Woodland Retreat (when you’re not writing you can go for a hike or sit by the creek)
WHAT: Three days and three nights of deep immersion in creativity and community
PRICING: EARLYBIRD $3,950 until February 1, 2020 ($4,450 after February 1, 2020)
A $1,000 non-refundable deposit is required. The remaining balance is to be paid in full by May 15, 2020. Payment plans can be arranged for a fee of 7.5% - please email steph@stephjagger.com for more information.
INCLUDES:
a sumptuous welcome dinner in downtown Asheville;
shuttle transportation between Maia’s home and selected hotel or AirBnB accommodations;
three full-day writing workshops with hand-on, personal access to all three guides - Steph Jagger, Maia Toll, and Sarah Selecky;
private, chef-catered lunches;
evening readings and roundtables at bubble-filled cocktail hours; and
a closing dinner at Maia Toll’s home.
Pricing DOES NOT include travel to and from Asheville or accommodation. Additionally, breakfasts and dinner on Monday and Tuesday evenings will be on attendees own. A list of preferred accommodations as well as local restaurants at various price points will be provided closer to the date of the retreat.
“There is just you and the universe and this creative fire moving through your fingers in bold palettes of colour chasing the dark away until you emerge in the sure, calm light of morning and feel like a writer again.”
Join us for a deep commune with creativity.