Join Whale Rock faculty for a week of writing and community

Join Whale Rock Workshops faculty for our first-ever writing retreat. Make lifelong writer friends with this six-day, five-night getaway. Faculty and writers will cook together, eat together, walk together, laugh together, and of course write together.

Our home away from home is the lovely Caboose Farm, a 200-acre event venue located in Sabillasville, Maryland, not far from Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg. The countryside property offers rustic charm, modern amenities, walking paths and yes, a caboose.

What To Expect

Our week includes:

Two optional writing exercises daily
Two one-on-one meetings, each with a different instructor
Daily writing time
Communal meals
Evening gatherings

This Retreat Is For You If

You are drafting or revising a novel OR working on a series of picture books
You need or want dedicated time to work on a project
You feel like you’ve been writing in a vacuum and you seek community
You are on a deadline and need to make progress on your project
You’ve lost momentum on a manuscript
You’ve only met Whale Rock friends and faculty online, and you’d love the opportunity to connect in person

*NOTE: There is no submission required for this event.

Faculty

Your faculty for our Maryland retreat depends on the number of participants.

For our first 12 students, Gary Schmidt and Kathryn Erskine will be your hosts.

If we reach 16 students Shelley Tanaka will join us. In other words, the more participants, the more faculty!

Important Details

Please Note: We are committed to keeping this retreat affordable for all. Please read the details below carefully.

Lodging

Students will share the multiple houses on the property for sleeping and writing. Each house is different, but comes with the usual bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, and kitchen.

There are three availabilities:

Shared rooms and bathrooms
Private rooms and shared bathrooms
Private rooms and private bathrooms.

**Contact us for an adjusted price if you would like to share a queen or king room with a friend or if you would like to take a full house with friends. (Sofa beds are an option for groups renting an entire home.)

Food

Breakfast: Students are responsible for their own breakfasts. There is a Wegmans grocery store 20 minutes by car from the retreat site, and we encourage students to stop on their way. We can also help with groceries for students flying in.

Lunch: We will provide the food, and students will take turns preparing the meal with faculty members.

Dinner: Dinner will be delivered by local restaurants and caterers each night.

Wine: Wine is welcome! (This retreat is BYOB.)

Refund & Payment Policies:

There is a $500 non-refundable deposit. Tuition must be paid in full by August 30, 2023. Students who register after August 30 must pay in full.
If we do not meet our minimum requirement of 12 students by September 1, 2023, refunds will be returned in full.
Students may only withdraw before September 1, 2023, on a case-by-case basis if we exceed the 12-student minimum. Refunds will be returned in full, minus deposit and administrative costs.
LAST MINUTE ILLNESS POLICY: As of 2023, there will be no exceptions to our refund policy for students who become ill at the last minute. Students will be given access to classes from our virtual library that they can watch at a later date. Students will also be able to schedule one-on-one meetings with faculty at a later date.

PLEASE NOTE: We continue to give tremendous thought to your health and safety as well as the health and safety of our staff and instructors. We have chosen a location with a great deal of outdoor space, but we recognize that it is November. For the safety of our instructors and attendees, everyone will be asked to exercise caution for two weeks prior to our workshop.

Model

We’ll have two, optional exercises each day (a prompt or an exploration) designed to inspire you and help you get started. We will come together for lunch and dinner and evenings will be spent together—gathering and chatting. Of course, meetings are optional if you’re in a writing groove. Each participant will have two, 30-minute one-on-one meetings, each with a different instructor, where participants can bring pages, discuss projects, etcetera. Writers will come away, we hope, with more pages written, editorial guidance and a community of writer friends.

Workshop Size

A minimum of 12 students

Maryland Retreat