Institute Retreat | Crafting Poems of Beauty & Power
An invitation to return to the page—and to the presence of God.
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.
If you’d like to join the waitlist, please provide your info here and we will reach out should any spots open up!
Join us for a two-day retreat at a beautiful lodge set on the edge of a lake just outside Spokane, WA. This gathering isn’t only for poets, but for anyone longing to awaken or rekindle their own creativity. Whether you’ve written for years, dabbled in journaling, or never thought of yourself as a “creative person,” this retreat is a welcoming space to explore the creativity inherent in all people.
Led by acclaimed poet and professor Shann Ray, this space and time will allow us to explore how language can hold what is often unspeakable: awe, sorrow, memory, and the nearness of the sacred. Rooted in the belief that we are God’s poema (Ephesians 2:10), this retreat blends creative exploration with spiritual attentiveness. And in an age increasingly shaped by AI, the call to nurture human creativity has never been more vital. Drawing inspiration from Emily Dickinson, who turned the everyday into the eternal, you’ll be challenged to take what you see and feel and craft lines alive with meaning. Through guided sessions around the fireplace and spacious time to reflect and write, you can expect to create 2–4 original pieces while learning to listen more deeply to your surroundings, to yourself, and to God.
Come not to perform, but to be present to your own unfolding words, to the voices of others, and to the God who meets us in metaphor, memory, and mystery. Space is limited, reserve your spot today!
Details:
Dates: March 20-22, 2025 | Starts Friday at 6pm with a welcome dinner and ends Sunday by 12pm after breakfast and a closing session.
Location: Clearwater Lodge, Newport, WA (45 minutes north of Spokane, WA)
Cost: Choose your Tier – A Pricing Model Rooted in Generosity & Relationship
At Goldenwood, we believe in a gift economy—where our work and giving is not transactional but part of a relational and generative system. Like a root network, where some trees bear more fruit in one season and others in another, this pricing approach allows for a shared ecosystem of flourishing—some contribute more so that others may receive, and all are sustained together.
Our tiered pricing model reflects this, allowing participants to contribute at a level that aligns with their capacity while supporting the mission to see work revived by love. We invite you to participate in a way that reflects your own season and capacity.
1. Full Value (Sustainable Tier) – $620 + choice of accommodations
Reflects the true cost and value while balancing affordability, including the unseen work that makes this a meaningful and transformative experience. Includes all retreat sessions, materials, meals, and accommodations (to select your type of room, see info below). Includes access to optional snowshoeing and hiking at the lodge, weather permitting. Does not include travel or transportation.
2. Covering Costs (Supported Tier) – $520 + choice of accommodations
Covers only the essentials—venues, facilitators, meals, materials—ensuring the program is financially viable. Includes all retreat sessions, materials, meals, and accommodations (to select your type of room, see info below). Includes access to optional snowshoeing and hiking at the lodge, weather permitting. Does not include travel or transportation.
3. Generative Giving – $720+ (or choose amount) + choice of accommodations
Goes beyond covering costs, helping make our programs accessible to others and investing in the long-term flourishing of this work. Includes all retreat sessions, materials, meals, and accommodations (to select your type of room, see info below). Includes access to optional snowshoeing and hiking at the lodge, weather permitting. Does not include travel or transportation.
Accommodations: When registering on the next page, choose your preferred accommodations. All rooms have a private bathroom and lake view, and linens & towels are provided.
- Single occupancy room: +$80
- Double: +$40 per person (2 x twins or 1 x king bed)
- Quad: +$10 per person (4 x twin beds)
Travel: Please arrange for your own travel to and from Clearwater Lodge.
If financial support would make participation possible in this season, please email info@goldenwoodnyc.org to learn about scholarships.
Registration has closed for this retreat. Please join the waitlist to be informed of any spots that open up.
About your Guide:
Shann Ray, Czech American artist and American Book Award winner, teaches leadership and forgiveness studies at Gonzaga University and poetry at Stanford. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, through his research in forgiveness and genocide Shann has served as a visiting scholar in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and as a poetry mentor for the PEN America Prison and Justice Writers Program. He has delivered poetry engagements at Cambridge and the Center for Contemplative Leadership at Princeton Theological Seminary, and values mutual work involving art, leadership, and the reconciliation of people and nations. Having collaborated as a visiting poet with painter Makoto Fujimura on a United Nations grant entitled Intercultural Dialogues through Beauty as a Language of Peace, Ray is also an International Book Award winner, a three-time High Plains Book Award winner, Bread Loaf Fellow, Bakeless Prize winner, and winner of the Foreword Book of the Year Readers’ Choice Award. His work comprises a libretto and 17 books, of which 12 are poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction including Atomic Theory 7, The Garment of Praise, Forgiveness and Power in the Age of Atrocity, Balefire, American Masculine, Sweetclover, Blood Fire Vapor Smoke, American Copper, The Souls of Others, and Transparent in the Backlight. His poems and prose have been featured in Poetry, Esquire, Narrative, McSweeney’s, Prairie Schooner, Poetry International, Big Sky Journal, and the American Journal of Poetry.