Events & Workshops

Do you need a little time away from the pressures of daily life to focus on your writing while at home? Join us for the Virtual Facilitated Retreat! This retreat is perfect for all writers—beginner, emerging, or established—who would like to dive deeply into their writing for a few days.

We are hosting our Virtual Facilitated Retreat via Zoom from February 4-7, 2027. Similar to SWG in-person facilitated retreats, at this Virtual Facilitated Retreat, a Virtual Writer-In-Residence will give an introductory talk on an aspect of writing, provide 45 minutes of one-on-one discussion and feedback on your writing and/or answers to your writing-related questions, and provide free-writes (or other writing-related activities) each morning before focused writing periods. Retreatants will also enjoy focused, goal-oriented writing times, ample screen breaks, and connection between other retreatants during coffee breaks, a Social on the Friday night, and a Retreatant Reading on the Sunday of the retreat. 

The Virtual Facilitated Retreat is designed as a time for you to focus on the writing you would like to do and to gain encouragement and motivation by interacting with the Virtual Writer-In-Residence while fostering a community online. The retreat is structured with flexibility and accessibility in mind: participants are not required to attend every single writing time if they are unable. Retreatants can come and go with check-ins and breaks as opportunities to join in or leave. Please refer to the full schedule here: https://skwriter.com/retreats/virtual-writing-retreat

The cost is $250.00 and includes access to the full retreat, including a 45-minute consultation with the Virtual Writer-In-Residence. Payment is due upon acceptance.

As the SWG values human expression and creativity, we only accept human-generated work that is not written, developed, or assisted by Generative AI (GenAI) tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, etc.), to protect authors, literacy, critical thinking, ethical practices, new ideas, education, professional development and craft, community and against misinformation. Participants are expected to NOT use any GenAI tools for any aspect of the retreat (for example, manuscript submission with application). 

Application Guidelines

Applicants must be 19 years of age or older, and the application must include:

1.    The completed application form.
2.    A cover letter that states: 

• Your name, mailing address and phone number;
• 1-2 sentence summary of the writing project you are working on during the retreat
• Please note any content notes or trigger warnings that might be in your work
• A paragraph or two describing your writing experience;
• A paragraph about why you wish to attend the Virtual Facilitated Retreat;
• Acknowledgement that NO GenAI tools have been used in the submitted manuscript and application;

3.    Writing sample, no more than 10 pages long, on which you wish to consult the Writer-in-Residence during the retreat. This work will be forwarded to the VWIR for your meeting. Please ensure it is formatted following SWG guidelines:

• Submissions must be in English;
• All material must be typed in body-text fonts like Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial;
• Font size should be 12 pt;
• Pages must include 1" margins;
• Pages should be numbered sequentially;
• Title and your name included in either header or footer;
• Double-space prose (entire sample), but poetry may be single-spaced; 
• If you are submitting poetry, please make sure each new poem starts on a new page;
• Word documents are preferred, but we can accept PDFs. No Google Drive links or Pages files, please.  

The application deadline is January 11, 2027 (by 11:59 pm).

Preference will be given to beginning and emerging writers who are SWG members. A maximum of ten participants will be accepted from anywhere in the country.

Please contact the Program Coordinator at swgpr@skwriter.com with any questions.

Our Facilitator for the Virtual Facilitated Retreat is Annette Lapointe!

Annette Lapointe (she/her) is originally from Saskatchewan, and now lives in Treaty 8 territory in northern Alberta, where she teaches at Northwestern Polytechnic, watches the wildlife, and awaits the collapse of human civilization.  She is the author of five acclaimed books. Her website is www.annettelapointe.com.

The Thursday evening talk with Annette Lapointe: “Writing Time and Writing Space”

Writing is time-intensive. Writers must carve out protected time and sacred territory in which to work. Artist mentors modelled for me making writing daily work in a space I can guard without breaking connections. What I’ve learned is mine to share: home, family, work, space, and time.

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