Zapata Ranch
July 21 – 28, 2024
An immersive, weeklong retreat, highlighting writing and riding with acclaimed author, Joy Sullivan.
The Program
Every day will begin with a half-day horseback ride, taking in the epic landscape of the San Luis Valley. On these expansive rides, we’ll have room to spread out, roaming through bison herds and poeming in cottonwood groves. We’ll explore the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and Zapata Falls, breaking for a picnic lunch, writing, and discussion.
The afternoons will be dedicated to generative workshops, formative mentorship and writing time. Inspired by the lush landscape, craft workshops will focus on creating evocative imagery, writing the weird, risky, and wild, and learning to season a sentence with both flavor and texture.
Every evening, we’ll gather again under a star-studded sky and enjoy dinner designed with local ingredients, then circle around the fire pit to chat creativity and slow, chewy art.
All riding and writing levels welcome. This workshop is specifically intended for those desiring to reconnect to the sacredness of horses, wild spaces, and of the self.
About Joy Sullivan
Joy Sullivan is the author of Instructions for Traveling West (forthcoming from Dial Press, Penguin Random) and the founder of Sustenance, an online writing community that helps writers hone their craft and find connection. For years, she served as the poet-in-residence for the Wexner Center for the Arts and has guest-lectured in classrooms from Stanford to Florida International University.
Rates
$4270 includes all activities, instruction, and meals. Tax and gratuity not included.
All rooms are private with their own private bathroom
Zapata Ranch
Set back in a shady cotton woodgrove beneath the majestic 14,000-foot peaks of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains lies the historic Zapata Ranch headquarters and lodge, which was established in the late 1800’s. Elk, mule deer, migratory birds, eagles, and black bear also call this area home. The rooms are beautifully furnished and have an elegant southwestern decor that gives them the feel of home. All rooms have individual tiled bathrooms and views that are private, peaceful, and beautiful in any season.
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