Last week, from June 14th-21st, I attended the 20th annual Ropewalk Writers' Retreat as one of 12 participants in Brigit Pegeen Kelly's poetry workshop. Brigit Pegeen Kelly's workshop was one of three poetry workshops; the other poetry staff members were Dave Smith and Steven Dobyns. Workshops were also held for fiction (led by Lee Martin and Elizabeth Stuckey-French) and creative nonfiction writers (led by Susan Neville).
The workshop was held in New Harmony, Indiana, which had recently been flooded; during the first half of the week, members of the National Guard kept us company while they measured the receding water levels.
New Harmony, referred to by residents and visitors as "Utopia," is spackled with various statues, artworks, and signs that included excerpts from poems and quotations from religious figures. I was impressed with the import that such a small town had placed upon aethetics and literature.
There were also several off-the-beaten-path walking trails that winded their ways to different points of interest: these trails provided workshop participants with front-row viewing of the local flora and fauna.
In addition to the scheduled workshops, craft lectures, round-table discussions, and readings throughout the days and evenings, we all managed to find time to relax at the local tavern to discuss important literary matters, as well as to engage in shenanigans and goings-on.
