Come to the Garden: Writing Workshops in Nature

07/10/2025

Exciting class coming up on Sunday: Dream Work Journaling, hosted by psychotherapist Tom Undine.

When: Sunday, 7/13 from 11:00am-5:00pm
Level: All ages
Cost: $100

For more info & to register, contact Hope at [email protected]

05/28/2025

Come nurture your creative voice in one (or all) of these summer writing workshops: ✍️

Creative Play for Adults:
A one-day workshop aimed at freeing up our adult minds & aligning with our deepest intentions through a series of practices developed by musician/painter/dancer Yazmin Bowers. Connect with your inner creativity through writing prompts, breath
exercises, mindful movement, collage, & more.
When: Offered twice 6/21 & 7/26 (individually or as a series)
(10am-3pm)
Level: Ages 18+
Cost: $100 each

Keeping a Nature Journal with Images and Words:
Explore the beauty of the natural world through detailed illustration & careful observation. Illustrator/educator Lindsay Larson will teach students how to capture intricate details of flora, fauna, & fungi by combining artistic techniques with scientific curiosity.
When: 3 sessions 7/10, 7/17, & 7/24 (9am-12pm)
Level: Ages 16+
Cost: $125

What We Leave Behind:
Join freelance writer Hope McLeod for a daring deep-dive into the trunks, attics, & story-basements of your one precious life. Using artifacts (inherited, found, or created) as story starters, Hope will guide in-progress & beginning memoirists on a journey of self-discovery & story-craft development.
When: 3 sessions 7/14, 7/21, & 7/28 (9:30am-12:30pm)
Level: Ages 18+
Cost: $125

Lifecycle of a Poem:
Using various practices to connect with the natural world & our own intuitive voice, we'll forage words, images, textures & stories from varied sources to create layered, ever-evolving poems. Led by writing doula Steph Ament & visual artist Courtney Fishback. When: Offered 8/2, 8/9 & 8/16 (individually or as a series)
(10am -1pm)
Level: Ages 13+
Cost: $50 per session or $125 for all 3

Dream Work Journaling:
Use your dream life as a muse in this one-day workshop hosted by psychotherapist Tom Undine. Enjoy getting to know yourself by exploring your inner life and dreams through journal writing. This workshop offers humor and insight as you learn to access
your creativity and wisdom within.
When: 7/13 (9am-4pm)
Level: All ages
Cost: $100

Scholarships
available!!

Info/registration, contact Hope: (715) 373-5898 • [email protected]

05/28/2025

“Breath, you invisible poem!
Pure, continuous exchange
with all that is, flow & counterflow
where rhythmically I come to be.”

– Rainer Marie Rilke from The Book of Hours

Welcome everyone! The staff here at Come to the Garden: Writing Workshops in Nature invites you to join us for our 2nd year of dazzling, pen-moving, nature-inspired creativity workshops. Please take a gander over our garden gate below. We can’t wait to see you amongst the lilies!

Hope McLeod, manager & host

08/08/2024

To all the Come to the Garden: Writing Workshops in Nature fans and participants, if you want something to do Saturday night, come join me (a poetry guest along with Denise Sweet) and a host of other super talented and very funny folks, reserve your tickets now!!!. Hope to see you there. ❤️

06/13/2024

There's still time to grab a seat in the Words Run Wild workshop! For seasoned writers, "non-writers," and everyone in between.✍️🌱
𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟭-𝟮𝟯, Friday (6-8pm) & Sat/Sun (9-11:30am)

06/11/2024

Meet the garden facilitators!🌿✨

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁’s writing life is a pendulum between nitpicking syntax and releasing into creative flow. As a freelance translator and editor, her work traces the unexpected lines between academia, international development, and art. As a writing doula, she brings her experience alongside other writers in the intuitive birthing of words. Between it all, she walks her dog, moms her two kids, snuggles with her husband, and tries to find time to make poems.

Steph is hosting Words Run Wild, a mini-retreat where participants will squelch meddlesome editors to unleash their creative intuition, enliven their senses, and attune their pens to the more-than-human world.

𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟭-𝟮𝟯, Friday (6-8pm) & Sat/Sun (9-11:30am)

Learn more about Steph at www.root-words.com/creative-work and follow Come to the Garden: Writing Workshops in Nature for upcoming events this summer.

06/10/2024

Meet the garden facilitators!🌿✨

𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲 “𝗗𝗲𝗲” 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 (Anishinaabe, White Earth) is an award-winning poet and community organizer who traces the crossroads between advocacy and art. As former manager for Wisconsin Conservation Voices and WI Native Vote, she has fostered civic engagement among both rural and urban tribal communities. In a public information capacity, she helped build awareness about the environmental issues that tribal citizens in Wisconsin and the broader Great Lakes region feel most profoundly about—those that not only affect their homelands and livelihoods but their cultural and spiritual practices as well.

As Professor Emeritus, Dee has taught courses in Creative Writing, Humanistic Studies, and First Nations Studies in the UW system. Her poetry collections include 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘢 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺, and others. Her work has appeared in publications such as 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘈𝘬𝘸𝘦𝘬ó𝘯, 𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘥𝘶𝘦𝘥, and 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. Among other distinctions, Dee has been honored as Poet Laureate of Wisconsin, named Indian Elder of the Year by the Wisconsin Indian Education Association, and commended by Governor Tony Evers for her “profound commitment to Native voices and cultures.”

In 2021, Sweet embarked on a multi-media collaboration with nationally renowned artist Christopher Sweet. They create murals featuring fine art and poetry as public installations, with the next slated for this year.

Learn more about Dee at www.facebook.com/denise.sweet3

Contact us to learn more about Dee's upcoming workshop!

06/02/2024

Meet the garden facilitators! 🌿✨

𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗠𝗰𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗱 is an award-winning journalist, poet, and singer-songwriter. She has penned two books: 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘎𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘰𝘶 (2018), a collection of feature stories published in two Wisconsin newspapers (2012-2018); 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘞𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 (2012), a poetry chapbook; and two music CDs: 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 (1990) & 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 (1998). Since 2010, she’s been a contributing writer to over a dozen magazines. As a reporter, she garnered four Wisconsin Newspaper Association awards. Currently, Hope is busy working on a new poetry book, a memoir, and an historic fiction that takes place in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland during the 17th century.

Learn more about her work at http://hopemcleod.com

Some words from Hope:

"I can’t wait for June 12th to open my garden gate to start sharing three fabulous writing workshops with you! First on the roster is mine: The Stories We Carry. We have very limited seating, so register right away to guarantee a front row seat in this emerald green, every-day-a-new-blossom setting where stories just about write themselves.

Also keep in mind that we have a few scholarships available for each class, so reach out if you want to claim one!

Hope to see you in the garden soon." 🌱

05/29/2024

"...𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻,
𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭
𝓲𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓭𝓲𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓭𝓸 𝓲𝓽."
- Carlos Fuentes

Don't miss this opportunity to gather with Poet Laureate and community organizer, 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲 “𝗗𝗲𝗲” 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 (Anishinaabe, White Earth) for Poetry of Protest, Poetry of Witness: Writing for Social Change. In this workshop, participants will examine and discuss poems driven by social issues and draft new poems of their own. Whether historical, cultural, or social, the hard truths of contemporary society will "kickstart" the workshop experience – exploring poetry and its potential for social change.

Dee’s sessions will center around themes such as Percey Shelley’s notion of poets as “legislators of the world, and how we might “write the wrongs” by viewing poetry as a powerful tool for social change. Exercises will range from exploring E.M. Foster’s provocative question, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?,” to more structured activities like the “cut & paste” poem.
Throughout the workshop, participants will have an opportunity to powerfully engage with and gain inspiration from poetry crafted by the passionately outspoken writers of our time, including Wendy Rose, Duane Big Eagle, Taylor Mali, Seku Sundiata, Niel Hilborn, Michael Ondaatje, Bruce Dethlefsen, and others.

Reflective of the solidarity and empathy needed to witness, protest, and spark social change with and for our human and more-than-human world, the workshop will have a strong communal component. Dee will open and close the space with opportunities for participants to share about themselves, their passions, their writing, or whatever else comes up along the way.

𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚
In a final session, the group will play a formative role in “From the Page to the Stage,” a culminating evening event in which participants from all Come to the Garden workshops are invited to share their writing. Gathered around a smokeless fire, the facilitators will offer tips on how to relax and open to the flow of generosity, giving back to others the words that came to them as awakened moments of inspiration in the garden.

𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨
6/17, 6/24, 7/1 (Mon 10:30am – 12:30pm) & 7/15 (6:30-9pm)

𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙩: $150
(If finances are a barrier, please reach out; we have a little community nest egg to help offset the cost.)

To register reach out here or contact [email protected].

05/28/2024

05/23/2024

Thanks to support from our generous Washburn community, we have a growing nest of funds for those who want to participate in our workshops but feel restricted by the cost.

Reach out to learn more! 🌿✨