RETREAT AND Explore your creativity 2022!
Want to meet and work with other writers, but in a more intimate setting than a writing conference? A writing retreat might be just the ticket. Vertikal Creative Ventures presents one of many retreats for creatives and this year it’s on the beautiful and mysterious country of Ireland. Sign up now for 2021!
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”
-George Bernard Shaw
We invite you to take time out to experience the landscape, art, people and story that has captivated so many. Retreat with a small group of writers & poets in Tullamore, County Offaly Ireland. This retreat is about more than sitting in a classroom its being among people seeking space, rest, challenge and clarity for the next steps in your writing life. This retreat will be facilitated by North Carolina, U.S.A. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton-Green. Embrace this journey and go on an inner person experience that might last a lifetime.
Discover Unlimited Beauty
Retreat facilitator
Jaki Shelton-Green, Poet Laureate of North Carolina
Jaki Shelton Green is the first African American and third woman to be appointed as the North Carolina Poet Laureate. Governor Copper stated that “Jaki Shelton Green brings a deep appreciation of our state’s diverse communities to her role as an ambassador of North Carolina literature. Jaki’s appointment is a wonderful new chapter in North Carolina’s rich literary history.”
Her collegiate and professional experiences include currently teaching Documentary Poetry at the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies, Visiting Professor for the Carlow University MFA Program, Lenoir-Rhyne University Writer-in-Residence, Duke University Teaching for Equity Fellow, Taller Portobelo Artist Colony in Portobelo Panama, University of Panama, Department of Cultural Resources for Brazil, North Carolina Turkish Association, Alhambra Cultural Center in Marrakech Morocco, NC Symphony, NC African America Cultural Heritage Commission.
She is the owner of SistaWRITE and co-partner with Dream Yourself Awake and Vertikal Creative Ventures providing writing retreats and travel excursions for women writers in Sedona Arizona, Ocracoke North Carolina, Agadir Morocco, and Tullamore Ireland.
Awards include Orange County Baha’i 2019 Light of Unity Award, 2019 NC Humanities Council Caldwell Award, 2019 American Academy of Poets Laureate Fellowship, 2018 Tar Heel of the Year Finalist, 2018 Indies Arts Award, 2018 NC Literary and Historical Association R. Hunt Parker Award, 2018 Phi Beta Kappa Award, 2017-2018 Duke University Faculty Travel Grants, 2017 Certification of Teacher Excellence presented by the Kingdom of Morocco Ministry of National Education, 2016 Kathryn H. Wallace Award for Artists in Community Service, 2014 NC Literary Hall of Fame Inductee, 2014 Pushcart Prize Nominee, 2010 Fine Arts Emerald Award (Raleigh LINKS), 2009 NC Piedmont Laureate appointment, 2007 Sam Ragan Award for Contributions to the Fine Arts of North Carolina, 2003 recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature (the highest award the state can bestow for significant contributions in science, literature, fine arts, and public service), 2003 North Caroliniana Society induction. Jaki Shelton Green is the recipient of two NC Emerging Artist Grants, the African American Writer’s Collective Distinction Award, NC Writers Network Blumenthal Award, 2002 Omega Iota Finer Womanhood Award (Zeta Phi Beta Sorority) Delta Arts Award (Delta Sigma Theta Sorority)
Jaki Shelton Green is the author of eight collections of poetry: Dead on Arrival, Dead on Arrival and New Poems, Masks, Conjure Blues, singing a tree into dance, breath of the song, published by Carolina Wren Press and Blair Publishers. Her other publications; Feeding the Light, I Want to Undie You are published by Jacar Press. Her poetry has been published in over eighty national and international anthologies and featured in magazines such as Essence and Ms. Magazine.
PRICE INCLUDES:
ACCOMMONDATIONS
TRANSPORTATION & DAY TRIPS
WORKSHOPS
SHAKEFEST FESTIVAL & CHARLEVILLE CASTLE
RT AIRFARE NOT INCLUDED
SIGN UP QUICKLY SEATS ARE LIMITED
accommodation
Itinerary
Workshop at Charleville Castle
Fortis ~ Cadere ~ Cedere ~ Non ~ Portis
Charleville Castle which grew from paper doodles in early 1798 to grandiose plans by the end of that very eventful year in Ireland. Will be just one of our retreat workshop locations. It was built by Charles William Bury, Earl of Charleville and was designed by Francis Johnston, one of the leading architects of the day. Charleville Castle is said to be the finest example of gothic-revival architecture in the country. This is a veritable gothic castle of grand proportions. It owes its “Tin Soldier Fortress” look to the celebration of victory over the third French revolutionary expedition to Ireland. Tour the land and find places to embrace your writing journey.
What are you waiting for?
A Look AT possible day trips around irelAND!
Cozy pubs, welcoming locals and green landscapes as far as the eye can see—experience everything the Emerald Isle has to offer on a tour of Ireland.
Ireland is beloved worldwide as an enchanting land where legend and reality mingle. At one point voted by Frommers Guide readers as their favorite holiday destination in the world, it’s now your turn to discover the mystique and charm of the Emerald Isle.
2022 Retreat Sponsors
Award-Winning Book Public Relations
Vertikal Alliance International
A Global Media & Communications