Since 2014
Upcoming: May 23-29, 2021 (full); May 22-28, 2022 (full)
Host: Jordan Hartt
Location: Tahiti Village, Las Vegas, Nevada
Capacity: So that each person gets a full, one-hour workshop on their written piece, each retreat is limited to 4-6 people.
Registration: contact writing@kahini.org.

 

The Retreat

Very short fictions are nearly always experimental, exquisitely calibrated, reminiscent of Frost’s definition of a poem—a structure of words that consumes itself as it unfolds, like ice melting on a stove. ~Joyce Carol Oates

Happening the last full week of each May, the Desert Writers’ Retreat is a blend of generative writing time, workshop time, and private retreat time, with a specific focus on the short-short story.

[W]here the poem and story meet. Maybe brevity—on sight—alerts a reader’s expectancy […] But the form costs—it sacrifices most of itself. Experience borders perilously on nothing. ~H.E. Francis

Whether you’re writing fiction, poetry, nonfiction, cross-genre, or un-genre work, short work is one of the most technically involved forms in our literature. To that end, we spend a week studying and writing the form.

Our goal is to complete one new written work of 1,000 words or fewer. Then, each participant gets a full, one-hour workshop on your newly written piece!

You’ll leave with a new piece ready for advanced revision or submission, with new community and memories, and with new inspiration in the writing life.

 

Daily Schedule

Sunday
4 pm-onward: arrivals, getting settled, initial writing session.
Monday
10 am-noon: craft discussion and generative writing session
Tuesday
10 am-noon: craft discussion and generative writing session
Wednesday
Writing day
Thursday
10 am-noon: workshop sessions
Friday
10 am-noon: workshop sessions
7 pm to 9 pm: celebratory final gathering
Saturday
Departure by 10 am

 

Our Purpose

Since our inaugural session in 2014, the Desert Writers’ Retreat has served as a restorative way to indulge in a writing retreat–and get your tan on–before the summer months begin. 

Perfectly centered twenty minutes from the gorgeous isolation of the Mojave Desert and twenty minutes from the beautiful hustle of the Las Vegas Strip, the Desert Writers’ Retreat provides access to an equal blend of natural and human-built beauty and energy, all set amidst the tranquil and vibrant immediate setting of our resort location at Tahiti Village.