About Amherst Writers & Artists Trainings
Writing transforms lives, and this training
can transform yours! Learn the acclaimed, time-tested writing group
method pioneered by Amherst Writers & Artists. AWA has taught over
600 trainees how to help writers express themselves more deeply and
naturally. AWA's comprehensive training program provides leadership
skills, hands-on experience, and practical information on how to form
successful writing groups for writers at all levels and from diverse
backgrounds. Whether you want to start a business leading writing groups
for the general population or want to work with specific populations
such as women in prison, low-income youth, or people dealing with cancer,
this training will give you the skills and information you need.
Writing Group Leadership Training
- Post-Certificate Retreat and Training - Locations
Cost - Schedule - Trainers
- Download 2008 Application
Writing Group Leadership Training
The AWA Leadership training is a four-day intensive course
in the AWA method. The guidelines and practices that shape AWA writing
groups are quite specific, and the leader's in-depth understanding of
them is vitally important to the effectiveness of the group. This training
will prepare you to lead groups for the general population and for traditionally
silenced people in places such as public housing, shelters, hospitals
or prisons. In addition to the specific AWA practices, skills that will
be taught include:
- Creating and maintaining a safe and hospitable writing
environment.
- Choosing effective writing exercises and prompts.
- Being a clear, supportive leader.
- Running workshops as a business.
- Understanding the transformative power of the method.
- Structuring the writing group to accommodate the needs
of diverse people.
- Understanding essential differences between writing
for healing and therapy.
- Inviting experimentation and growth in participants'
writing.
AWA Leadership is taught through writing sessions, talks
by experienced leaders, group discussion, role playing, film, and guest
speakers, giving participants a full experience of the AWA method in action.
Upon completion of the training, participants will have a thorough understanding
of the AWA method, our practices and guidelines, and will be able to convey
them effectively to their workshop members.
For further information about the trainings and an application,
please write to info@amherstwriters.com.
You may also download an application here.
Post-Certificate Retreat
and Training
The Post-Certificate Retreat and Training is led by Pat
Schneider with Kate Hymes. This
event provides trained leaders with the opportunity to further their knowledge
of the AWA method. Each Post-Certificate Retreat and Training is built
around the individual concerns and questions of the attendees; topics
may include the teaching of craft, manuscript review, publicity, dealing
with emotionally charged writing, and many others. This is an extraordinary
opportunity for leaders who have taken the training to have their questions
answered by, and to write with, the founder and director emeritus of Amherst
Writers & Artists. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity
to have a private conference with Pat Schneider.
For further information about the training and an application,
please info@amherstwriters.com.
You may also download an application here.
Training Locations
AWA trainings are held in self-contained retreat locations
conducive to a good group experience, with quiet for writing and lots
of outdoors space for exploration and exercise. Please check the websites
listed below for this year's training sites. Most locations offer both
shared and single accommodations, and all have comfortable meeting space
and delicious food. Many offer silent space indoors and/or out, exercise
areas, and a walking labyrinth.
The Post-Certificate training is held in Pat Schneider’s
home, a hundred-year-old farmhouse near the center of Amherst, and a short
walk to Emily Dickinson's grave and homestead.
Cost
The cost for the AWA Writing Group LeadershipTraining in
the US is $2,050 for double accommodations and $2,200 for singles where
available. The cost for the Ireland Training is 1,250 Euro. The cost includes
tuition, training materials, accommodations for four nights, meals, and
a six-month membership in AWA's Affiliate program. A deposit of $200.00
is due with your application, which will be applied to your tuition upon
acceptance and returned to you if you are not accepted. Upon acceptance,
AWA will send you a complimentary copy of Pat Schneider's book Writing
Alone and With Others. The remainder of your tuition is due eight weeks
prior to your training. The cost for the Post-Certificate Retreat and Training
will be $850.00, which includes materials, training, private conference,
breakfast and lunch each day and one dinner. Schedule
of Trainings
Writing Group Leadership Training
2008
- Austin, TX, The Crossings April 23 –
27, 2008 (This training is now
full)
Don¹t let an old image of Texas fool you; the hill country during
bluebonnet season is spectacular, and Austin is a fabulous city! The
Crossings is a perfect blend of spa and retreat/conference center. For
more information on this site, see: www.thecrossingsaustin.com.
- Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, Glencomeragh
House June 10 – 14, 2008 (This
training is now full)
AWA is excited to offer its first international training. A unique opportunity
to train at a unique venue. Check out the website for this gorgeous
1820 manor house (now a monastery and retreat house) at: www.iol.ie/~senan/index.htm.
- Alamo, CA, Westminster Retreat July 16 –
20, 2008
Back by popular demand! Register early! Only 45 minutes from the Bay
area. Check it out at: www.uccr.org/westmin.htm.
- Marshall, NC, Bend of Ivy Lodge August 20 –
24, 2008
Just north of Asheville, Bend of Ivy is a 63 acre retreat in the heart
of the Blue Ridge Mountains overlooking the Ivy River. What peace! www.bendofivylodge.com.
- Longbranch, WA, Far Away Retreat House August
20 - 24, 2008
A perfect way to end the summer. Near both Seattle and Tacoma, this
training is located in a private retreat house on Puget Sound. Enjoy
a hot tub overlooking the water after a day of intensive training. www.seattlearch.org/FormationAndEducation/RetreatCenters/Faraway.
- Plainfield, VT, Goddard College, September
8 - 12, 2008
This training will be held just prior to The Power of Words
conference sponsored by the Transformative Language Arts program. Why
not do both? This training is offered for a special price of $1,500;
accommodations will be dorm style. Limited financial aid will also be
available. Please contact carol@amherstwriters.com
for details.
- Litchfield, CT, Wisdom House October 15 –
19, 2008
Think autumn in New England! Just west of Hartford, CT, Wisdom House
has been a favorite for AWA trainings since 2004; its beauty and serenity
make it a perfect learning and writing environment. www.wisdomhouse.org
Post Certificate Retreat and Training
- Fall 2008 (dates to be determined)
Trainers
The AWA Leadership Trainings are led by two or more trained
and experienced AWA writing group leaders including Patricia
Lee Lewis, Carol Booth, Chris
DeLorenzo, Celia Jeffries, and Maureen
Buchanan Jones. When her schedule allows for it, Pat
Schneider, founder of Amherst Writers & Artists will also take
part in the training.
Patricia Lee Lewis holds an MFA degree in Creative Writing
from Vermont College, is an Amherst Writers & Artists Affiliate, and
a member of the Berkshire Writers' Room, Writers League of Texas and the
American Poetry Society. Her poetry, fiction and feature articles have
appeared in journals & anthologies. She leads writing retreats and
workshops in her mountain cottage at Patchwork Farm in western Massachusetts,
throughout the United States, and at sacred sites around the world. (For
more about Patricia Lee Lewis, please go to www.writingretreats.org)
Pat Schneider is the founder of Amherst Writers &
Artists and the author of Writing Alone & with Others (Oxford
University Press, 2003) as well as books of poetry and prose. For over
20 years, Pat has led writing workshops and retreats in her home in Amherst,
MA and at other sites across the country and in Ireland. Along with the
members of her original Chicopee workshop for low-income women, she developed
the training to teach people how to lead workshops using the AWA method.
As of this date, more than six hundred people from all across the U.S.,
Canada, Ireland, Denmark, Japan and other countries have taken the training,
and many currently lead writing workshops in a wide range of settings.
(For more about Pat Schneider, please go to www.patschneider.com.)
The Post-Certificate Retreat and Training is led by Pat Schneider with
Kate Hymes,
a long time AWA writer and writing group leader. |
