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2025 Virtual Retreat Info Launches Dec 1st

Virtual Summer Retreat

Starting June 9th, workshops every Sunday in June 2024 from 12-3pm CST

Includes 1-2 weekly craft talks, lectures, and panels

Cost: $200 

Applications open from April 15th - April 30th

Acceptances will be sent in mid-May

An Affordable Virtual Writing Retreat

Starting June 9th, join Abode Press for our FIRST-EVER virtual retreat experience! We will have workshops available in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and attendees will also be able to attend 1-2 craft talks and lectures throughout the week. Most retreat experiences are costly, tending to be upwards to $2000. At Abode, we are working tirelessly to increase accessibility for writers to attend much needed spaces to work on their craft and build connections without compromising their livelihood. This is why the retreat will only cost $200 per attendee, but because of this low price, applicants will be selected based off the strength of their application and alignment with our press.

 

Applications will open via Submittable from April 15th to April 30th. It is FREE to apply (though we do appreciate donations!) and applicants will be notified of acceptance in early May. All funds will go towards helping Abode get to AWP in LA in 2025 and towards paying our presenters.

Faculty

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Diamond Braxton
Fiction Workshop Leader

Diamond Braxton (she/they) is a queer, mixed-race Black-Xicanx writer, editor, and educator based in Texas. They have work published or forthcoming in Best Microfiction 2023, Sundress Publication’s Best of the Net anthology, The Forge, Foglifter, Stanchion, Hellebore Press, ANMLY, and others. She is a 2023 Lambda Literary Retreat Fellow, a Tin House 2021 Workshop Alum, and will be attending Tin House in-person in 2024. She has a microchap with Belle Point Press (Series #9) and is the Founder and Director of Abode Press, the Prose Editor for Defunkt Magazine, and a Copy Editor for the Porter House Review. She is currently working on her first collection of short stories.

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SG Huerta
Poetry Workshop Leader

SG Huerta (they/he/el) is a queer Xicanx writer from Dallas. A 2023 Roots Wounds Words Fellow and 2024 Tin House Winter Workshop alum, they spend their time freelancing and working on the masthead of literary organizations such as Abode Press, ANMLY, just femme & dandy, and Split Lip Magazine. SG is the author of two poetry chapbooks, The Things We Bring with Us (Headmistress Press 2021) and Last Stop (Defunkt Magazine 2023), and the forthcoming nonfiction chapbook GOOD GRIEF (fifth wheel press 2025). Their work has appeared in Barrelhouse, Honey Literary, The Offing, Infrarrealista Review, and elsewhere. They also write a newsletter on all things trans &/or literary at transpoetica.substack.com. Find them at sghuertawriting.com, or in Texas with their partner and two cats

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aureleo sans
Nonfiction Workshop Leader

aureleo sans is a flamingo. She is also a Colombian-American, non-binary, queer poet and writer with a disability. 
She has been named a Tin House Scholar, a Periplus fellow, a Sewanee Writers Conference scholar, an American Short Fiction Summer Workshop fellow, and a Lambda Literary fellow. She is a flash fiction reader at Split Lip, and she has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction, and Best Small Fictions. Her work has appeared in Electric LiteratureShenandoahSalamander, the 2023 Best Microfiction Anthology, the Wigleaf Top 50, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a memoir in progress entitled NYMPH.

Retreat Programming

  • Sun, Jun 30
    Virtual Workshop
    Jun 30, 2024, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM CDT
    Virtual Workshop
    Come support and listen to the words of our virtual retreat attendees! Closed captions will be provided.
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  • Thu, Jun 27
    Virtual Workshop
    Jun 27, 2024, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM CDT
    Virtual Workshop
    In this generative craft talk taught by Diamond Braxton, we will invite the speculative into our real-life settings by looking at places we feel connected to, that exist in reality, and turn them into a haunting.
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  • Tue, Jun 25
    Virtual Event
    Jun 25, 2024, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM CDT
    Virtual Event
    Join Abode Press as they lead a panel to talk with Abode authors, Farrah Fang, Desiree McCray, and Angelica Davila, about their chapbooks, the process behind putting them together, the publication process, and the future for their books and careers. Closed captions will be provided.
    Share
  • Sun, Jun 23
    Virtual Workshop
    Jun 23, 2024, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM CDT
    Virtual Workshop
    Come support and listen to the words of our virtual retreat attendees! Closed captions will be provided.
    Share
  • Wed, Jun 19
    Virtual Workshop
    Jun 19, 2024, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM CDT
    Virtual Workshop
    In this primarily generative workshop taught by aureleo sans, we will look at our stories in a new way, from a different angle, diving into the “what ifs” of our futures and the “what could’ve beens” of our pasts.
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  • Mon, Jun 17
    Virtual Workshop
    Jun 17, 2024, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CDT
    Virtual Workshop
    In this workshop, intended for poets but open to writers in all genres, we will consider the plate as a portal, reaching through sensorium and memory to explore what food can offer to our practice.
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  • Membership Offer
    Sat, Jun 15
    Virtual Workshop
    Jun 15, 2024, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM CDT
    Virtual Workshop
    Taught by Najya Williams, this workshop will identify the boundaries we place upon ourselves, the boundaries society places upon us, and the ways in which we can work “outside those margins” in a manner that will elevate our thinking and overall ability as literary artists.
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  • Thu, Jun 13
    Virtual Workshop
    Jun 13, 2024, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
    Virtual Workshop
    Drawing from their own work as well as poems by Esteban Rodríguez, Wanda Coleman, and Naomi Shihab Nye, SG Huerta will talk about how writers evoke different cities, environments, and of course home in their poetry.
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The Workshop

Each workshop will begin with a craft lecture and a generative session so attendees can also begin new works at the Retreat. Workshops will be run through an anti-racist structure, which attendees will be required to sign a form acknowledging this in order to attend. Each attendee will receive a feedback letter from their instructor and all workshop attendees are expected to engage in the workshop to provide meaningful, insightful, and genuine feedback to their peers. 

Cost and Dates

At Abode Press, we work tirelessly to provide accessible and affordable opportunities to writers at all stages. This is why we are pricing our virtual retreat at a reasonable cost. Please note that this means that all applicants who apply should be able to pay the Retreat cost. One partial scholarship will be granted to one person from each cohort, but all applicants should only apply if they can attend the Retreat.

Application Fee: Free! (Though donations are appreciated.) 
Cost: $200 

 

Mandatory Workshop Dates from 12-3pm CST
Sunday, June 9th

Sunday, June 16th 

Sunday, June 23rd 

Sunday, June 30th

Please note, throughout the week attendees will have access to 1-2 weekly lectures, craft talks, and more from workshop leaders and renowned writers. A comprehensive guide will be provided to accepted attendees. 

Application and Scholarships

Since it is free to apply, we ask that applicants only apply to one genre to help lessen the reading load.

For fiction/nonfiction, only one story, 4,000 words or less.

For poetry, three to five poems, no more than 10 pages.

Once admitted, you can workshop a manuscript different from the one you applied with.

In addition to the writing sample, the application asks for an author bio.

Applicants must be 21 years of age by May 15th, 2024 to apply. 

 

International writers are welcome to apply as long as the dates/times for the workshops work for your schedule. 

 

Scholarships

One person from each cohort will be granted a partial scholarship. In order to apply for this, all you must do is click "Yes" to the scholarship question on the Submittable application. 

Apply

Applications for the Retreat will open on April 15th and close April 30th. 

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