Queering the Retreat

Queering the Retreat: Writing and Yoga Practices for Queer, Trans, and Nonbinary Folks.

Writing:

In the writing component of this retreat, we will read short excerpts from contemporary queer authors including Melissa Febos, Justin Torres, Emme Lund, Saeed Jones, K.Iver, and other greats, and use creative prompts developed from their writing as inspiration for generating our own timely, new work. Open to writers of all genres and all experience levels, we will look at ways to queer the form in our writing, to write queer truths, and to experiment with voice, style and structure.

This workshop asks, How can we, more than ever, speak/write our most important stories, ones that give voice to essential and sometimes overlooked truths (even if writing fiction)? What does it mean to be a queer writer in these strange times we find ourselves inhabiting?

We will work together to create a safe and empowered space in which to explore queer writers, queer writing, and queer ideas. From a 1979 interview with James Baldwin in the New York times: “The bottom line is this: You write…knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way a person looks or people look at reality, then you can change it.”

Yoga:

The process of unfolding called Yoga provides some helpful structure as we dismantle heteronormative programming in our lives. The rich spiritual philosophies of Yoga do not adhere to gender norms or nuclear family frameworks but encompass the entire range of what is possible in our magical lives. Yoga is saying, “come as you are” and “start here, now”. Tantric philosophy posits the possibility that everything is holy, everything is sacred, and we are part of that always- an unrelenting truth.

Because this is not an easy life, we need to be keenly aware of ourselves and our capacities. From this knowing of our boundaries/capacity we can then reach out and be there for others the way that is best for all. Together we will journal, meditate, OM, move, rest, and breath. We will use our senses to learn to self-soothe and practice other simple but profound ways to shift states. Through readings and hearing what is shared in the stories and reflections of others we will fortify our queer identities as being very much a normal thing and also very sacred.