2012 Women’s Creative Collective Skillshare Retreat “Re.generation”
Muhu Tasen* Ojai Valley
June 8 – 10

Our 2012 skillshare will honor collective re.generation, a process of renewal, restoration, and growth. On ceremonial land in Ojai, we will co-create workshops and creative practices to strengthen our relationships to our roots, ourselves, each other, and the earth. Coming together at this year’s skillshare we will work toward building more resilient communities, transforming ourselves, and increasing our capacity for radical imagination.

WHO: The skillshare is a women and trans safe space.

WHEN: JUNE 8-10. Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.

WHERE: Muhu Tasen, a Native American ceremonial space in the Ojai Valley.
We are helping to coordinate and provide transportation for anyone who needs it.

COST: $20 suggested donation covers the cost of all meals and accommodations.
No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Ready to sign up? Please fill out a retreat registration form! If you can register by June 1 it will help us get an accurate count for food.
http://tinyurl.com/skillshare2012

We are also looking for workshop leaders! If you have something you want to share, we would love to have you bring your knowledge to the group. Fill out the Workshop Facilitator Form by May 27: http://tinyurl.com/skillshare-workshop2012

It’s the last short week, and the last prompt is available here. Thank you so much to all who participated. WCC will be in touch in the coming weeks to ask for submissions to this years zine. I hope some of you will consider submitting writing. Happy writing!

Prompts for week three are at long last available here! Don’t forget to also visit your fellow bloggers’ pages and comment; this week each blogger is partnered off with one other:

Ivana, Narinda
Desi, Joanna
Miki, Guadalupe
Emily-Hella, Ariana
Jade, Hannah
Tavia, Shade
Alexa, Sanele
Lisa, Sophia
Kali, Zahra
Kristen, Laila
Allison, M
Melisa, Vonni
Josh, Jean
Alice, Vicky
Ella, Jane

Hi friends! Loved reading your writing this first short week of the workshop, and can’t wait to read more in the days to come! I encourage you to visit each others’ blogs and leave comments! Since we have over 30 people participating this year, start by visiting the blogs of those in your group, listed below (links to blogs are here, as is this week’s prompt)! Happy writing and commenting!

Group 1: Ivana, Desi, Miki, Emily-Hella, Jade

Group 2:Narinda, Joanna, Guadalupe, Ariana, Hannah

Group 3: Tavia, Alexa, Lisa, Kali, Kristen

Group 4: Shade, Sanele, Sophia, Zahra, Laila

Group 5: Allison, Melisa, Josh, Alice, Ella

Group 6: M, Vonni, Jean, Vicky, Jane, Angie

Week One

“Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I would rather speak Spanglish, and as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate. I will no longer be made to feel ashamed of existing. I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white. I will have my serpent’s tongue – my woman’s voice, my sexual voice, my poet’s voice. I will overcome the tradition of silence.”
― Gloria E. Anzaldúa

What is your voice? What are your voices? Where do you hear your voice? When do you raise your voice? What are its frequencies and resonations? How do you find your voice?

What narratives do you draw on from your history, your culture, your life, to tell your stories? What codes do you speak in and around?

What silences do you observe, which do you break? How do you overcome silence?

Want to get back into your writing practice this year, or share your poems, stories, and essays with a group of bad ass writers? Check out the 2012 February Writers’ Workshop, where you can join a group of amazing folks in an exercise to write daily! At the end of the workshop, you’ll be part of a new supportive and creative community, have a stash of amazing writing, and get a chance to submit some of it for publication in the WCC February Writers’ Workshop zine. Follow the link above to learn more.

Healing Recipes Project

Check out the Zine from our February 2011 Writers’ Workshop: