Writing Through the Tides of Life:
A Restorative Writing Retreat.
April 30th- May 3rd, 2026
Sou’wester Lodge, Seaview, Washington
With Oregon Book Award winner Erica Berry
Join us for a restorative writing retreat on the Washington coast at the historic Sou’wester Lodge, where the land, sea, and seasonal rhythms invite us to slow down and listen. Together we’ll explore what it means to write through the changing tides of our lives—honoring transitions, embracing uncertainty, and discovering new clarity in the movement between ebb and flow.
Guided writing practices will help us reconnect with our creative spirit and open our senses to the world around us. Mornings will be spent walking, reading, and writing with prompts designed to surface insight and nurture courage; afternoons offer spacious time to rest, write, or wander; evenings are reserved for sharing, reflection, and gentle community.
Small-group sessions will explore tending a sustainable writing life; making space for your creative practice amid shifting demands; writing from your whole, resilient self; and moving through fears and doubts to fully claim your voice.
All levels and genres are welcome.
Retreat Leaders
Writing Through the Tides of Life will be led by award-winning author Erica Berry, with support from Guild Executive Director Marianne Monson.
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Erica Berry is a writer based in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Her essays, which are often about the intersection of inner worlds and outer environments, appear or are forthcoming in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, Emergence, The Yale Review, and Orion, where she is a contributing editor. She is the author of Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear (Flatiron/Macmillan, 2023), which won the 2024 Oregon Book Award, and Bodies In Heat: Love in a Changing Climate, forthcoming from Flatiron (US) and Faber (UK). Winner of a 2025 Oregon Career Fellowship, she is a 2025 Visiting Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington and a 2026 Teppola Presidential Distinguished Visiting Professor at Willamette University.
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Marianne (she/her) is the founder and Executive Director of The Writers Guild. She is the author of twelve books for children and adults with an emphasis on women's history. Her book Frontier Grit, released in 2016, was nominated for an Amelia Bloomer award by the American Library Association. Marianne holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has taught writing at a number of colleges and universities.
2025 Retreat Highlights:
Spring Retreat:
Writing at the Edge of the Sea
Sou’wester Lodge, Seaview, Washington, April 10-13, 2025 with Tele Aadsen and Marianne Monson
During this writing retreat on the Oregon coast at the historic Sou’wester Lodge, we’ll reconnect with our creative spirit and the land and sea that sustain and inspire us.
Guided writing practices offer an opportunity to connect deeply, open our senses, and allow thoughts to flow freely. In the mornings, we’ll walk, read, and write together with engaging prompts to prime the creative well; afternoons offer free time to write, rest, or explore on your own; evening will be for sharing writing, discussion and reflection.
All writing levels and genres welcome.
**Early bird pricing ends December 31st, 2024
Give yourself the gift of time, space, and guidance.
Whether you're working on your first story or your fifth novel, whether you write poetry or prose, memoir or fiction—this retreat offers a sanctuary for your words to take flight.
Space is limited to ensure an intimate experience. Reserve your place today and step into the story that's waiting to be told.
Your Registration fee includes:
All group sessions and instruction held in the conference spaces at Sou’wester lodge. Group sessions will begin Thursday evening and conclude Sunday morning.
Endless coffee and tea
Catered box lunch on Friday and Saturday
Not included:
Lodging (on your own or at Sou’wester Lodge)—after registering for the conference, please book your room directly with the Sou’wester Lodge. You can choose a variety of accommodations. Let the resort know you’re with our retreat and receive 20% off your stay.
Additional meals. Every Sou’wester room includes a kitchen with cooking facilities. There is a grocery store and restaurant options within walking distance of the Lodge.
Your Retreat Leaders:
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Tele Aadsen is a commercial fisherman, an essayist and creative nonfiction writer, and a lapsed social worker. She is the author of What Water Holds, an award-winning memoir of lyrical essays and performs annually with Astoria's FisherPoets Gathering.
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Marianne is a poet, novelist, editor, and author who focuses on women’s stories from history. The author of twelve books, she is the founder of The Writers Guild and co-host of KMUN’s River Writers. She’s been teaching creative writing for more than two decades.