Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Joyce Maynard Writing Workshops on a beautiful, unspoiled island off the New Hampshire seacoast.  From August 6-13, bestselling author Joyce will be hosting a weeklong writing workshop on Star Island, just ten miles by boat from beautiful, historic Portsmouth, NH. (Continued below)

You’ll spend your mornings talking about your fellow students’ writing with Joyce, (teaching memoir and personal narrative) along with two award-winning writing friends,  novelist Amanda Eyre Ward (fiction) and Hope Edelman (memoir and essay).  A workshop session will be dedicated to exploring the writing of each participating writer.

Afternoons, bring your laptop out on the front porch, or to any of a multitude of private magical spots on the island. Join Joyce, Hope and Amanda for late-afternoon craft talks on a broad variety of topics, followed by a glass of wine at sunset.  Eat a lobster dinner (and many other great meals) with your fellow writers and faculty at the long oak tables in the Oceanic dining room, and gather afterwards to share your work.  Study shore birds. Sit outside under the stars to talk or be alone. We’re even providing you with a full moon on our last night. 

In between workshop activities, you’ll be free to join a before-breakfast tai chi group on the dock, play tennis by the sea, paint in the Art Barn, visit the marine lab, row a boat to neighboring islands, take a brisk and invigorating ocean swim, attend a candle-lit evening chapel service, walk or run the path around the island, or read in one of the old wooden rocking chairs that line the front porch, looking out to the sea.

You’ll be housed in the historic, quintessentially New England-style Oceanic Hotel, where nearly every room looks out to the Atlantic Ocean--or in one of a dozen charming stone and clapboard cottages nearby.  (Accommodations are sunny, clean and simple. Please note: Most rooms share a bath. )

Understanding (as a parent of five children herself) the challenges for a writer in combining family life with a writing life, Joyce is particularly excited and happy to make available to her students the rare opportunity to combine a workshop week with a happy, old-fashioned family vacation.  A limited number of spaces will be reserved for the children and partners of students attending the workshop Children from age six through the teenage years may participate--along with Joyce’s own two youngest daughters--in the small, welcoming children’s program offered by the island (along with playground time, pickup softball and Frisbee tournaments, craft sessions, and the option to perform in the talent show.)  Word of warning: You may not see your children a whole lot during this week, if you bring them.  They will probably be having way too much fun with their friends.  

While Joyce’s workshop is by no means affiliated with any religious group, the UCC-run Family Camp that shares the island during this week has offered their programs to a limited number of children and partners of our students for a small registration fee (we will handle all the logistics, meaning you only need to register with us).  So that means you can have your week of a writing instruction and retreat without missing nightly tuck-ins or--if you bring your partner--romantic walks along the ocean.  

For those writers looking for a week away from distractions (as wonderful as they might be), don’t be alarmed. The workshop time is reserved solely for your writing. Family and friends are welcome at fireside readings and meals, but we keep the writing circle strictly private.

For costs and details visit Joyce Maynard’s Web site CLICK HERE

For the Star Island Web site CLICK HERE