The Method The Amherst Writers and Artists Philosophy Workshop Events Calendar, in-person, online, worldwide Find a workshop in your area Pat Schneider, founder of AWA Pat Schneider on Wikipedia Pat Schneider bio on the Poetry Foundation website A really good poem: Pat’s “Instructions for the Journey” Pat Schneider: “We send the children of the poor to fight the children of the poor.” (In...
Hey there! Curious about the writing workshops? You can join at any time by clicking on the lovely picture of me below: [email protected] email write “Workshops” in the subject line. WhatsApp is better: +39 334 725 8715. Maybe try the U.S. number: 415 340-9108. The best time to call me from America is when you wake up in the morning. Because I live in Italy. The background: I...
we sold our house and came to Italy I almost tossed the laptop but changed my mind went to see Sy in North Carolina came back and kept writing did a workshop in the Mission District came back and kept writing laughed with Pat Schneider in Connecticut came back and kept writing spent time in a French chateau came back and kept writing Now taking reservations for the May 16-23, 2026 “How To...
Residence le Santucce, Castiglion Fiorentino May 11-19, 2024 Cary Tennis’ Writing Workshop and Retreat at Residence Le Santucce BALM FOR THE WRITER’S SPIRIT TOOLS FOR THE WRITER’S CRAFT YOU WILL BE heard respected encouraged AND WILL EMERGE Energized Motivated Trusting your own voice Eager to finish your project ALL WHILE … Sleeping in a beautiful Tuscan inn Eating great...
Quickly sign up for one session $42 US Worldwide. Via Zoom. Scheduled Times: Sundays: 9am–11am PST–West Coast 10am-12 noon MST–Mountain 11am-1pm CST–Central 12 noon-2pm EST–Eastern 17.00-19.00 GMT–UK, Ireland 18.00-20.00 CET–Italy, Europe Powered by Or take it one month at a time at $149.00 USD Or try a drop-in session to see how you like...
I have learned a lot in the last seven years about caring for the writing self and the creative soul. Some of the things I have learned have helped other people, too. Doing the Amherst Writers and Artists method has become a way of life. Many people I have met while doing this have become dear friends whose occasional appearances are now cherished events in the week. The role of teacher is one I...
Come to Castiglion Fiorentino May 12-22, 2022 for TEN! days of writing, thinking, eating, drinking, walking, talking, relaxing, exploring! I’ll be there at beautiful Residence Le Santucce offering daily Amherst Writers and Artists workshops in this charming and ancient Tuscan hill town. Why Italy? Why Le Santucce? My wife, Norma, and I looked long and hard before settling on Residence Le...
[Note: This is pretty much a literal transcription of the podcast.]–ct Good morning, or evening, this is Cary Tennis, it’s Thursday, April 29, 2021, and today I’m going to do things slightly differently because this is the story behind the workshops and the book, that is, the Finishing School workshops. So how it really began is like this: In 2004 I was finishing up an article...
This story is all in the comments below.–CT
Standing in the living room of the house we’d just renovated at considerable expense, the magnitude of what I’d done, debt-wise, was crashing in and I just thought, This is a beautiful space! People ought to come in here and create in this space! Then began this life-changing endeavor, the workshops. The thing is, it was a dream, it was a gesture of solidarity with other writers, and...
Kids are beautiful in cities. They ain’t been ground up yet. There’s harmonicas. After grueling San Francisco-Paris-Florence flight we ride the tiny Pensione Crocini elevator to the tall windows on the courtyard, wash, nap, then espresso at the cafe and luxuriating in the beautiful visual rhythm of the Italianate style, the beautiful rhythm of spring on the Arno, which is rushing past...
But writing in a magnificent French château surrounded by 300 acres of topiary, formal gardens, parks, woodland trails and vineyards can’t hurt. Maybe you’re perfectly content writing by yourself day after day in your kitchen on that old table, or at your cramped desk in the spare bedroom. Fine. À chacun son goût. You can find us this September at Le Château du Pin, a private French...
Happy New Year! After slowing down for the holidays, Cary and I are back working at full speed. The “Featured Person of the Week” is back, as are more columns and creative writing from Cary. A note: because many commenters have mentioned that they would like the ability to edit their comments after they post them, we’ve changed our method of posting comments. You now need to log in to our...
Books I checked out of the library and read and enjoyed in 2013: Lisa Cron’s Wired for Story. Vivian Gornick’s The Situation and the Story. Rober Olen Butler’s From Where You Dream. and Patricia Highsmith’s Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction. Kind of an end-of-the-year thing. I read lots more books than that, but these stood out. (The below is verbatim from my San...
To begin without knowing how to do it: That has been my approach, and I have agonized like a man sitting in a field with many ingredients of a house laid out before him and a panicked feeling that he has begun before he is ready. He has begun without a plan. He has no blueprint. He simply got it into his head that he could dredge up many interesting things from the well and the lake and the river...
Cary first met Michele Crockett at his Amherst Writers and Artists-style online workshop and since that time Michele has gone on to receive her own AWA certification. In May 2013 Michele was certified by the fabulous Maureen Buchanan Jones, Executive Director, AWA. Although Michele is currently working as Graduate Faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she is also working to...
Kathy Dolbow Doran was ‘present at the creation’ at Cary’s first Creative Getaway and attended two others which she claims to be among the best times of her life. She has a full-time writing position, but is in the midst of starting a movement for displaced Baby Boomers called 50 Plus Reinvented. Kathy was horrified to learn about the 50% increase in Baby Boomer suicides from...
Dear Reader, Well, I’m in Monterey this morning, here to help some writers. Also here to write on my own. When I was writing the Since You Asked column for Salon.com, which I did for nearly 12 years, every day I wrote it I wanted to be proud. It was an extraordinary opportunity for a writer, for someone who really doesn’t know how to do much else and so has had to find jobs writing...
Dear Cary, What a delight that you are continuing. Bravo! The quality of the world dipped there for a moment, but now it is leveled up again, thank, goodness. I’ll be sure to do my part to spread the word so that everyone I know can enjoy your column. On another note, I do want to ask you a few related questions about my writing. Some background: On a deep and sweet level, I am an...
Our featured person for this week is Amy Souza. Not only is Amy a talented writer, but she is a visual artist as well. In 2008 Amy founded Spark, a quarterly call-and-response project in which artists, writers, and musicians have ten days to create something new using another person’s art or writing as inspiration. Here’s what Amy has to say about herself and the Spark project: I have...
Over the six years Cary’s been leading writing retreats and workshops, we have gotten to know an impressive number of people working on some truly intriguing projects. Many of these projects are creative, some just simply improve life on this planet. This wonderful community has grown so large that we’ve decided to feature a person each week to highlight their creative or other...
The June 2012 issue of The Sun features a generous excerpt of Citizens of the Dream, my book about creativity. It runs after a fascinating interview with painter Ran Ortner and a lovely poem by Alison Luterman, and right before a poem by Tony Hoagland! What humbling and awe-inspiring company! It says quite a lot that The Sun saw fit to showcase the book. After you read the excerpt, I suggest you...