April 11 - April 14
Highlights Foundation Campus
$1199Join this 3-night/4-day writing retreat designed for authors who are crafting books for kids and teens that center their lived experiences in areas of trauma, mental health, grief, and beyond.
About the Program
We believe there is hope in harnessing the transformative power of storytelling. Explore therapeutic writing techniques that enable you to create narratives that empower and uplift, offering young audiences valuable insights and resilience in the face of adversity.
The program includes:
- Presentations from authors Amy King, Padma Venkatraman, Heather Demetrios, and author & mental health professional Bethany Walker.
- Opportunities for group discussion and peer-to-peer connections.
- Introductory activities to establish safety protocols, provide story/sharing content warnings, and details about connecting with our on-site support staff.
How It’s Structured
This is a lightly scheduled program with optional/informal group activities (like meditation, stretching, and fireside chats). There will be one keynote presentation each day. There will be an abundance of writing and retreat time; please bring your stories.
Upon registration you will be asked to provide your goals and a brief bio for the program. Both items will only be shared with your faculty and staff. The questions are an effort, pre-retreat, to ensure that your goals and needs can be well-served by the content that will be offered during the workshop in a non-clinical setting.
Related Resources
- A Collection of Support from the Faculty of Writing Stories to Empower Through Trauma
- #HFGather: Writing About Trauma and Grief for Kids
- Conveying and Understanding Emotions Through Powerful Poetry: A Verse Novel Example
- Highlights Foundation Receives a $50K Grant from Hawthornden Foundation to Support In-Community Retreaets
- Rebecca Dykes Writers
Tentative Agenda: April 11 - 14, 2024
Writing Through Trauma to Empower Readers:
A Working In-Community Retreat for Storytellers
Please bring projects at any stage in the writing process that you wish (idea, draft, revision, etc.)
Approximately one week prior to the retreat you will receive an invitation into the course classroom where you can introduce yourself and engage with our community standards. We’ll also be in communication via our retreat team to assist with your lodging, travel, and meal needs.
Thursday, April 11, 2024
- 3 – 5pm Eastern: Arrival
- 5:30pm: Appetizers followed by dinner
- 7:15pm: Opening remarks: HF Community Guidelines with Alison Green Myers
Welcome Heather Demetrios, RAIN meditation and Fireside chat with Jane Houng, founder of Rebecca Dykes Writers
Friday, April 12, 2024
- 8 – 8:45am: Breakfast
- 9:00 – 10am: Dreams, Memories, Automatism: You are a Universe with A.S. King
- 10-10:30am: Q&A
- 10:30am – 12pm: Optional: Narrative Group Therapy Circle with Bethany Walker
- 12pm – 12:45pm: Lunch
- 1:15 – 4pm: Free writing time and informal activities
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- Optional: Peer-to-peer discussion
- Optional: Quiet Writing Together with Azra and Yvonne
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- 5:30 – 7pm: Appetizers & Dinner
- After Dinner Fireside Chat: Sufi Breathing with Azra Rahim
Saturday, April 13, 2024
- 8 – 8:45am: Breakfast
- 9:00 – 10am: (Tentative title) Historical, Familial, and Generational Truth in Fiction with Padma Venkatraman
- 10-10:30am: Q&A
- 10:30am – 12pm: Optional: Narrative Group Therapy Circle with Bethany Walker
- 12pm – 12:45pm: Lunch
- 1:15 – 4pm: Free writing time and informal activities
-
- Optional: peer-to-peer discussion
- Optional: Quiet Writing Together with Azra and Yvonne
-
- 5:30–7pm: Appetizers & Dinner
- After Dinner: Open Mic Readings on Patio (weather permitting)
Sunday, April 14, 2024
- 8 – 8:45am: Breakfast
- 8:45–9:30am: Meditation with Heather
- 9:30–10:30am: Presentation #3 Heather Demetrios
- 11:45am–12:45pm: Lunch & Departures
Thank you to Rebecca Dykes Writers for providing one full scholarship and travel to this important program. To learn more about Rebecca Dykes Writers, please visit: rebeccadykeswriters.org.
Hope Through Storytelling
Authors who craft books for young people dealing with themes of trauma, mental health, grief, and beyond, do so to give kids a gift—the gift of transformative authenticity, representation, hope, empowerment, and inspiration through difficulties.
