In 2008/09, Pat will lead retreats and workshops in her home in Amherst, Massachusetts, as well as in Berkeley, California; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and others to be scheduled in the U.S. and possibly abroad. Upcoming events are listed on her calendar page.
View Pat's Complete Event Calendar
Year-round evening workshops:
Year-round weekly workshops in Amherst are suspended until January 1, 2009, for Pat to have a six-month sabbatical (the first in her life!) to work on her next book, which is on the subject of writing as a spiritual practice. For information on workshops after January 1, 2009, call Pat 413-253-6353.
Weekend Writing Retreats in Amherst, Massachusetts:
Pat will lead three Weekend Retreats at her home in Amherst. Each retreat will include: six meals; morning, afternoon and evening writing times; and an optional walk to Emily Dickinson's grave and homestead museum. Dates are listed on her calendar page.
Pat will be assisted in the May and October 2009 retreats by author, poet, and AWA workshop leader and trainer, Maureen Buchanan Jones. For further information contact Maureen, 413-256-8235 or send an application form to her at: Maureen Buchanan Jones, 338 Pelham Road, Amherst, MA 01002. Click here for application form (opens in separate window).
A third retreat, in November 2008 will be for persons who have completed a training the AWA workshop leadership method. In addition to meals etc. above, this retreat will focus on writing exercises to strengthen craft in both the leader and participants of workshops, with discussion, manuscript critique and/or private conferences to deal with writing problems or leadership issues. Pat will be assisted in this retreat by Kate Hymes, poet, educator, and AWA affiliated workshop leader. For information, call Pat at 413-253-6353. For registration, contact the AWA office, amherstwriters@gmail.com.
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Special Weekend Retreat:
IF WE ARE SISTERS:
BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN WRITE ACROSS RACE
with Kate Hymes and Pat Schneider
Amherst, Massachusetts in Pat Schneider's home.
Date to be set according to interest expressed.
 "the workshop was wonderful! . . . We wrote together, talked about tough issues, hugged, cried together, listened to each other and applauded the growth that each of us acquired . . ." more workshop responses
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Workshop Leadership Trainings:
Amherst Writers & Artists, the organization Pat founded and directed for twenty-five years, offers trainings in the AWA Writing Workshop Method. When possible, Pat spends one morning or evening with the participants in the training, speaking and answering questions. For information about AWA Trainings that include participation by Pat, call Joan Barberich, AWA program coordinator, at 413-253-3307.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE EVENTS?
All of the events use the writing workshop method described in Pat's book, Writing Alone and With Others, Oxford University Press, 2003 and in the companion DVD available from the author, from bookstores or Amazon.com.
In weekly workshops, where participants will be writing together for ten weeks, we write together in response to a suggestion offered by Pat, with the expectation that her suggestion will be ignored if the writer wants to work on an ongoing project or go in a direction different from the prompt. After a 20 to 30 minute writing time, those who wish to do so read aloud what they have written, and hear from others what is strong in the work. In this weekly setting there is encouragement to bring in manuscripts of work written at home for a serious and careful group response which includes both appreciation and critical suggestions for possible changes.
Writing retreats and week-long workshops are focused on time for personal writing with guidance and support by Pat. In the workshops, more time is given to exercises that help the writer develop new skills or strengthen the skills already present, while retreats are more focused on time to write, working on on-going projects or beginning new work in response to Pat's suggestions. In these brief, intense settings, there is not time for group response to manuscripts, but each participant is offered one optional thirty-minute meeting with Pat, in which she either responds to a manuscript that has been submitted to her before the event, or simply shares in a conversation with the participant.
Amherst Writers & Artists Trainings were originally led by Pat Schneider. Because the work grew beyond what Pat could do alone, the trainings are now led by leaders whom Pat has trained, and who have used her method for years. When possible, Pat comes to the training at some point and spends a morning or an evening with the participants. For information about trainings where Pat participates, go to the Amherst Writers & Artists website.
AWA Post-Training Retreat with Pat Schneider
At least once each year, Pat and her assistant leader, Kate Hymes, leads a retreat in her home in Amherst for persons who have been trained in the AWA method of workshop leadership. These include an optional manscript critique and/or a private conference with Pat, writing exercises that emphasize craft, and discussion of leadership issues as desired by the participants. (See additional description under "Weekend Writing Retreats," below. For further information, call Pat Schneider, 413-253-6353.
View Pat's Complete Event Calendar
Photo Credit: Barbara Berger
Write with Pat in her home, a hundred-year-old farmhouse near the center of Amherst, and a short walk to Emily Dickinson's grave and homestead. New England is always beautiful, with glorious color in the fall, green forests in summer, blossoms in spring and snow in winter. Amherst is a college and university town with a free bus system. Each retreat includes an optional walk with Pat to Emily Dickinson's grave and homestead, with stories about the Dickinsons told by Pat. Optional tours of the Dickinson Museum March 1 through December 15.
WSW Presents: Writing with Pat