When it comes to a writing practice, one of the most repeated pieces of advice is to develop a regular writing routine – but what does that mean for the poet? In “Poetry in Practice: building a sustainable writing habit,” we’ll spend the weekend answering this question together.
Participants will attend four workshops that will explore what it means to build a poetry practice. We will discuss the difference between honing your craft, finding and developing your voice, and building the supporting scaffolding for the creative life. We’ll read what established poets have to say about the topic, and, by the end of the retreat, everyone will have a draft for their own poetry practice. There will be generative activities and optional time for sharing. This retreat is a good fit for writers of all types, those new to poetry, and experienced poets looking to refresh their writing practice.
Details:
- Place: Rockvale Writers’ Colony, 7020 Giles Hill Road, College Grove, TN 37046
- Time and Date: 4:30 p.m. Friday, November 6 to 10:30 am Sunday, November 8, 2026
- Cost: $450.00 PLUS TAX for a total of $511.88. A $300 non-refundable deposit is due upon registration. Balance of $211.88 is due by October 9, 2026. Once the balance is paid, it is not refundable.
- Includes: 2 nights in a private bedroom/bathroom suite, access to RWC common areas, gardens, and hiking trails, 5 meals, 4 workshops, and community with other writers.
The Schedule (tentative)
Friday, November 6, 2026:
4:00 to 6:00 p.m. – Check-in and settle in.
6:00 p.m. – Dinner
7:00 p.m. – Sandy’s Welcome and Overview of Retreat
7:15 p.m. – Workshop 1: What Gets in Your Way
In the first workshop, we will get to know each other. We’ll share our names, backgrounds, and what brings us to this retreat. Participants will be encouraged to share their current poetry practices as well as what they hope to get out of the weekend. We will begin our exploration of what it means to practice poetry, starting with exercises centered around identifying creative blocks and honing your unique poetic voice.
9:00 p.m. – Free Time / Bedtime
Saturday, November 7, 2026:
6:30 a.m. – Coffee Ready!
7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Breakfast is available. Come anytime you’re ready.
8:30 a.m. – Workshop 2 : The Craft Side of Practice
To practice poetry typically refers to working on your craft, a broad concept that includes reading about the elements of poems, studying the work of master poets, and drafting and revising countless poems of your own in an effort to develop and hone your voice. Poets typically work on their technical skills and develop their voice at the same time. In this workshop, we’ll learn how some well-known poets balance the these skills. We’ll read some poems and write (or start!) a few of our own.
10:30 a.m. – Free Time for Writing
12:00 p.m. – Lunch
1:00 p.m. – Optional One-on-one Meetings with Facilitator. Sign up at Check-in. Use this time to ask specific questions, share concerns, or ask for poetry practice advice. Meetings last 15 minutes.
1:00 p.m. Free Time for Writing
6:00 p.m. – Dinner
7:00 p.m. – Workshop 3: The Creative Well
You often hear people talk about “filling up your creative well” as a writer. This is critical to the other way to look at a poetry practice, which is not about improving technical skills but rather building a life that supports regular poetry writing. As part of building that life, we will look at two approaches: building your personal anthology and keeping a student mindset.
8:30 p.m. – Reading / Share your Writing – Sharing is optional; however, we ask that you attend whether you read or not, in order to support other writers.
10:00 p.m. – Free Time / Bedtime
Sunday, November 8, 2026:
6:30 a.m. – Coffee Ready!
7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Breakfast is available. Come anytime you’re ready.
8:15 a.m. – Workshop 4: Building Your Very Own Poetry Practice
In this workshop, we’ll bring it all together. If writing a poem a day or writing every day works for you – great! If you need something else, you’re not alone. When we talk about developing your unique poetry practice, we’re going to break it into components: how to schedule your writing time and how to support your creative well-being.
9:45 a.m. – Free Time and Packing Up
10:30 a.m. – Checkout and Goodbye
Facilitator: Lucie Brooks
Lucie Brooks is a writer, educator, and board member of Sarabande Books, an award-winning, independent literary publishing house founded in Louisville, Kentucky. She teaches classes about gender, race, and the legal system as a Guest lecturer at the University of Louisville. Her writing preoccupations are the strange and surreal, family, place, the natural world, whiteness, and the opioid epidemic. You can read her work in Salvation South, Swing, and Leon Review, amongst others. She is the 2022 Kentucky Poetry Society Chaffin/Kash poetry prize winner and a 2024 Grand Prix poetry prize finalist.