Brief Notes From The McCormack Summer Workshop
What to expect at a writing workshop
Writing in a country with falling literacy rates, and rising temperatures ain’t easy work, but sometimes you get lucky and meet someone who reminds you how necessary and pleasurable artmaking can be. Tender souls who gush over pretty prose, folks with a passion for the written word so contagious it makes you want to pick up a pen again. I got lucky myself and met a couple dozen folks like this way out in the PNW at the McCormack Writing Center Oregon Summer Workshop.
Since I’ve been home from the workshop, the post summer camp glow has faded and I’ve been swept up by a relentless ennui because of how divine my time there was. Sure it was only a week, but it was a week of writing, laughing, dancing, gossiping and gallivanting alongside some of my favorite people. Writers.
Our days typically began with a workshop. We shared our work with one another, while remaining hopeful it would resonate with others the same way it did within ourselves. My cohort approached my work with both an open heart and open mind, giving me both the praise and criticism I needed to elevate my piece.
Workshops were typically followed by lectures, readings, then evening shenanigans. Late night ice cream walks. Group beach trips. Nature walks. No matter your interests or age, there’s always something to do and if you’re like me, then you’ll probably have to remind yourself to slow down and rest, and not go out for the fourth night in a row, because the human body isn’t supposed to function on four hours of sleep.
As a testament to how much I loved my workshop cohort, I spent most of my evenings alongside them, attached to the hip, getting ice cream and talking about their work, books, or what our plans were for the night. I can’t overstate how much I enjoyed their company. They poured into me until my cup runneth over.
My instructor, Denne Michele Norris, perhaps said it best when she told us that while there are other incredible workshops out there with brilliant instructors, this is one of the rare ones where you’ll find your ideal reader. The people who you write for, but also those you deeply identify with in more ways than one. So if you’re a writer who’s writing from the perspective of someone pushed to the margins, then you will find both solace and community at the McCormack Oregon Summer Workshop.
