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Writers in the Mountains

The Catskills - Upstate New York
Imagination Unbound 
Est. 1992

Imagination Unbound

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est. 1992

Writers in the Mountains (WIM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the literary arts in the Catskill Mountains (Upstate New York) and beyond. The organization serves a diverse community of writers and readers, from native-born residents to the summer visitors who migrate to the region from all over the world. In addition to offering a variety of creative writing workshops, WIM hosts numerous literary events and partners with other organizations in the community for the enjoyment of the written word.  

WRITERS IN THE MOUNTAINS
LITERARY RETREAT
NOV. 3 - 5, 2023 

READINGS














 

This project is partly funded by the A. Lindsay and Olive B. O’Connor Foundation.

WiM Spotlight Logo - Copy.jpeg

COLLECTED WORKS FROM THE RETREAT


WIM Spotlight on Student Writing is an online literary journal published by Writers in the Mountains. Launched in August 2022 to mark the organization's 30th anniversary, WIM Spotlight showcases excellent student work in a range of genres from poetry to fiction to creative nonfiction and micro-memoir. Our mission is to share superlative examples of previously unpublished writing that has emerged from one of our classes or workshops. WIM Spotlight does not accept direct submissions at this time. Each piece published has been hand-selected by a WIM instructor, pending student consent, then submitted to WIM’s Publications Committee for final consideration. WIM Spotlight holds first publication rights for all submissions chosen for publication. Upon publication, the rights revert to the author. We reserve the right to reprint, both in print and digital forms, in the future. Payment will be two copies of any printed form of the author’s work and a course credit of $25 towards a future WIM class.

Our Story

Writers in the Mountains (WIM) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a nurturing environment for the practice, appreciation and sharing of creative writing.

 

Founded in 1992 by Shelley A. Barre, the organization serves the entire Catskill region and Hudson Valley area, and offers a variety of creative writing workshops and other events year-round. The quality of our workshops and their affordability attract a wide range of participants from native-born residents to the summer visitors who migrate to the Catskills from all over the world. Our writers come from all backgrounds and levels of experience, and write in various genres and styles. Some are New York Times bestselling authors, and others have never written before.

LISTEN TO THE KAATSCAST LITERARY PODCAST TO LEARN MORE

ABOUT WRITERS IN THE MOUNTAINS

Kaatscast is produced by Silver Hollow Audio and promotes the culture of the Catskills  

Hear more in this WIM episode from Kaatscast,

a Catskills podcast from Silver Hollow Audio.

Our Story.

What People Are Saying

Creative Nonfiction Workshop with Anique Taylor

“I’m excited to take this course. Anique provides interesting reading assignments, meditations, writing exercises, and examples that can be applied to your work in progress. The class also offers an opportunity to share your writings and gain valuable feedback from Anique and fellow classmates. It’s a warm and supportive environment. I highly recommend this course.”

 

- Heather Marsten, Woodstock

Take a class.

Melisse Seleck, Phoenicia

Take A Class

Our workshops are geared toward all styles, genres, and experience. All that is required is a love of language and the desire to tell a story. Those who take our workshops are assured a supportive environment, providing a better understanding of the pleasure of creative writing process. All of us are capable of intellectual and imaginative things, and WIM offers a variety of programs to help you to express your creativity.

 

In addition to creative writing workshops, WIM hosts the popular Writers Unbound Annual Literary Festival, and the informal Random Context Quarterly Literary Salon, which offers writers in every genre the opportunity to read their work to a welcoming audience in a cozy setting, and network with fellow publishing professionals.

Classes

MODERN LOVE I Winter with Elizabeth Koster 

January 9 - February 20, 2024 (skipping February 6)

Tuesdays

(six sessions)

4 - 6 ET

ONLINE 

In this class, you will have the opportunity to complete an essay that you can submit for consideration in The New York Times Modern Love column. Through prompts and exercises, supportive feedback, a study of published essays, and discussions on tips and pitfalls, you will be able to sculpt and hone the story that you need to tell and the world needs to read. 

Students who have taken this class in the past have found this instructor's gentle feedback and encouragement tremendously helpful in their work.

Class limited to ten students. 
 

Class Fee: $140 | REGISTER HERE

MODERN LOVE II with Elizabeth Koster 

January 10 - February 21, 2024 (skipping February 7) 

Wednesdays

(six sessions)

12 - 2 ET

ONLINE 

Modern Love II is open to students who have completed a Modern Love course. In this class, students will continue to study published essays and work weekly on sculpting and refining work to submit to The New York Times Modern Love column, as well as other publications. 

 

Class limited to ten students. 


 

Class Fee: $110 | REGISTER HERE

TRAVEL WRITING 101 with Rachel Dickinson 

January 24 - February 28, 2024 

Wednesdays

(six sessions)

6 - 8 ET

ONLINE 

Have you ever met a travel writer and thought "I wish I could do that?" Well, you can. In this course we'll read a variety of travel pieces, and talk about what makes them good (or not so good). We will look at different kinds of travel writing - roundups, essays, hotel/spa reviews. Then we will write a couple of travel pieces - one that features something where you live (you don't have to travel to do good travel writing) and another about some place you have visited. These pieces will be critiqued by the class. 

Class limited to ten students

Class Fee: $140 | REGISTER HERE

OPENING THE POET'S TOOLBOX with Jane Seitel 

February 13 - March 19, 2024 

Tuesdays

(six sessions)

11 am - 1 pm ET

ONLINE 

As poets, we have many craft tools and skills available to us. Some of these tools may not come immediately to mind when writing a poem. Each week we will look at some different skills that can be used to enhance our poems. We will look at form, music, composition, rhetoric and style. Your mission will be to study one or two skills from the list—ones you feel drawn to, and use that skill in writing a new poem. Each week, you will receive a letter describing various craft tools. Links to descriptions of the skills and poems demonstrating them will be provided. Students may send the instructor their weekly poem. She will then collect poems into one document to be sent to the participants. We will discuss each poem in class, and you will be able to share your insights. The instructor, in addition will send short observational notes to each student. By being aware and practicing the elements from the toolbox, we explore an array of craft skills that can be used in the future to create dynamic and varied poems.

Class limited to nine students. Registration deadline is February 3. 

Class Fee: $140 | REGISTER HERE

FOCUSING THE MEMOIR with Melissa Holbrook Pierson 

Saturday, March 9 and 16, 2024 

Weekend Intensive 

2 to 4 pm ET

ONLINE 

Understandably, memoir is one of the most seductive forms to a writer. After all, what does each of us know more intimately than the great drama of our own lives? But it’s also a daunting project to undertake: How to hone the huge collection of events? Identify themes that the reader will understand as universal? Write from the private to the public? Ascertain the best way to proceed—chronologically or thematically? Determining what to leave out is as important as what to leave in.

This class will be aimed at sorting issues of conceptualization, focus, narrowing, managing detail in the memoir, whether book-length or extended personal essay. We will workshop up to 10 pages of autobiography/memoir/first-person essay in the first session, and the second will be devoted to helping formulate a plan (not necessarily an outline) for proceeding to completion.

A key goal of this class is to incorporate feedback on two of the most important, but often difficult, decisions the memoir writer must make: where to begin, and whether the work should be narrative- or theme-based. To this end the class will operate as a conversation, with the aim of collecting impressions from a breadth of readership. Each student can then use this guidance to determine the best way to focus their selection from a lifetime of material.

Class Fee: $45 | REGISTER HERE

Just Hit Send: Submitting to Literary Journals 
with Sally Simon

April 16 - May 21, 2024 

Tuesdays

(six sessions)

10 am - 12 pm ET

ONLINE 

So you’ve written some stories and / or poems and have revised them until you can no longer look at them. What now? How do you get your words into the world? In this six-week workshop, you’ll learn the ins and outs of submitting your fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction to literary journals for publication. 

 

We’ll explore: How to know when your work is ready to submit; how to research prospective journals; how to write a cover letter and bio; how to format your submissions; what the readers/editors look for (and their biggest pet peeve); how to keep track of your submissions; and how to handle acceptance and rejection. During each online Zoom session, the instructor will share best practices and answer questions. Assignments will be given over the course of the workshop so that each participant will be ready to submit one story by the end of week 5. The goal of the workshop is to have each participant submit at least one piece of writing to a literary journal, and have the knowledge to submit in the future on their own. This workshop is open to all writers who wish to begin submitting their work for publication.

Class Fee: $140 | REGISTER HERE

FICTION WRITING with Thaddeus Rutkowski 

Saturday and Sunday, April 20 and 21, 2024 

Weekend Intensive 

1 to 4 pm ET

ONLINE 

Everyone has a story to tell. Your story may be true or it may be fictional, but you can tell it in a compelling way. You can make your story come alive by using dramatic elements of the writer’s craft. Whether you’re a journeyman polishing a piece or a beginner learning the craft, this workshop has something for you. We will focus on elements of prose writing—plot, character, setting, voice, and beginnings and endings—through prompts and detailed critiques. Exercises and works in progress will be reviewed in class, in a friendly supportive atmosphere. Each writer will receive one-to-one attention. The class is open to everyone. No manuscript submission is required.

Class limited to ten students

Class Fee: $100 | REGISTER HERE

MODERN LOVE I Spring with Elizabeth Koster 

April 25 - June 6, 2024 (skipping May 9)

Thursdays

(six sessions)

2 - 4 pm ET

ONLINE 

In this class, you will have the opportunity to complete an essay that you can submit for consideration in The New York Times Modern Love column. Through prompts and exercises, supportive feedback, a study of published essays, and discussions on tips and pitfalls, you will be able to sculpt and hone the story that you need to tell and the world needs to read. 

Students who have taken this class in the past have found this instructor's gentle feedback and encouragement tremendously helpful in their work.

Class limited to ten students. 
 

Class Fee: $140 | REGISTER HERE

The Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) Method

 
A Generative Workshop with Poet Sharon Israel
The Last Friday of the Month  
3 - 5 pm ET
Roxbury Library
53742 State Hwy 30, Roxbury, NY
“Always make room for that singing thing inside you” 
                                    -- Sharon Israel, Voice Lesson

Never written before?  Know you have a writer’s soul but haven’t yet been able to put words to paper and reach your creative core?  Are you already a writer but need to access your authentic voice and develop your style?

Poet Sharon Israel will conduct ongoing generative workshops using the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) Method that will help you dive deep through exciting visual, musical and tactile prompts as well as compelling word-based prompts and exercises.  Be in the moment, find the space between thought and feeling, access what may be just below the surface…  Your voice will reveal itself and your craft will grow in an environment where you can nourish what you unleash.  Receive and give positive commentary on newly created work.  Once you revise, bring your work in for further review and discussion, again in a safe and supportive environment.  This workshop will make you want to write more and more, not less and less.

The first session will be held on March 29. Advance registration is recommended. Class Fee is $12. 

CLICK TO REGISTER 

PREVIOUS CLASSES 



MINI-ESSAY AND SHORT STORIES with Jane Seitel
OPENING THE POET's TOOLBOX with Jane Seitel
MODERN LOVE I with Elizabeth Koster
MODERN LOVE II with Elizabeth Koster
MICRO: THE DIVINE DETAIL with Elizabeth Koster 
MICRO-MEMOIR with Linda Lowen
AMPLIFY AND MAGNIFY - BRAIDED ESSAY with Melissa Holbrook Pierson
THE ZEN OF REVISION with Melissa Holbrook Pierson 
PUBLICATION NUTS AND BOLTS with Melissa Holbrook Pierson
FICTION WRITING with Thaddeus Rutkowski
HISTORICAL FICTION WRITING with Sheila Myers
PUBLISHING AND THE WRITER’S LIFE with Anique Sara Taylor
CREATIVE NONFICTION with Anique Sara Taylor
POETRY with Lynn Domina 
POETRY FORMS with William Duke
WHEN SPACE SPEAKS with Sarah Blakley-Cartwright 
JAZZ-POETRY AND PICTURE POEMS with Stephanie Nikolopoulos 
EKPHRASTIC POETRY with Sharon Ruetenik 
SPEECHWRITING AND STORYTELLING with Felicity H. Barber 
TRAVEL WRITING 101 with Rachel Dickinson
 
Write to us.

 

For WIM Instructors and Students: 

If you have a new book release, a new article published, a reading or a literary event you'd like to share, please contact us and we will do our best to spread the word. 

Write To Us

Thanks for Writing!

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