Poets and Scholars Summer Writing Retreat
About the Retreat
"We are not asking for seats at the table. We are building tables." —Gregory Pardlo
The Poets and Scholars Summer Writing Retreat is a Directors' Signature Research Project out of ISGRJ-Camden, led by Institute Codirector Gregory Pardlo, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–Camden.
This radical experiment in reimagining the traditional writing workshop invites writers of all disciplines, genres, and backgrounds who are committed to anti-racist writing practices to apply. Intent on creating an open forum of mutual accountability, the retreat features 10 days of presentations and talk-backs, writing worktables, and an opportunity for auditors to learn also from the experience. The Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice seeks to create spaces for scholars and creative writers to be in conversation as both an aspect of their work and for the mutual exchange of knowledge within and throughout the university and its surrounding communities.
Retreats in this series:
The third annual Poets and Scholars Summer Writing Retreat took place virtually from July 11-21, 2023, bridging gaps of geography and granting accessibility to those unable to travel.
By maintaining a community of care, we sought to affirm all kinds of creators and provide a space for the mutual support of individual projects and practices. Visual artists, performers, musicians, storytellers, theorists, dancers, filmmakers, photographers, playwrights, and non-traditional students were especially encouraged to apply this year.
Like previous years, this workshop did away with genre distinctions, encouraged mutual exchange and transdisciplinarity, and acknowledged the truth that everyone who is engaged in crafting language is concerned with the language of craft. This model was designed to be inclusive, and we hoped to bring creators at all stages of artistic development together.
Click here for the full Retreat webpage.
Past Retreats
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About the Retreat:
The Poets and Scholars Summer Writing Retreat is a radical experiment and ongoing ISGRJ-Camden signature project that reimagines the traditional writing workshop. Writers of all disciplines, genres, and backgrounds who are committed to equitable writing practices through a social justice lens participated in this year's retreat. Intended to create an open forum of mutual accountability, the retreat featured 10 days of presentations and talk-backs, writing worktables, and was also an opportunity for auditors to learn from the experience. Our themes for the retreat were medical justice, narrative medicine, anti-ableism, and the discourses around self-image and self-care.
The 2022 retreat took place in person from July 11 - July 21, 2022 at Rutgers University-Camden.
Click here to learn more.
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About the Retreat:
The inaugural retreat, which ran from July 13 to July 23, 2021, featured 10 days of presentations, talk-backs, and a radical reimagining of traditional writing workshops that allowed for the participation of auditors who may or may not consider themselves writers, but want nonetheless to contribute to the mission of the retreat. Participants included writers of all disciplines, genres, and backgrounds who are committed to anti-racist writing practices. The Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice seeks to create spaces for scholars and creative writers to be in conversation as both an aspect of their work and for the mutual exchange of knowledge within and throughout the university and its surrounding communities.
Click here to learn more.
