I took part in the second Mining the Story: Writers’ Retreat at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts last weekend. Mineral Point is an old mining town in Wisconsin, now metamorphosed into a vibrant artist community. The place hums with ideas and creativity. Some great stories started to germinate and grow in my generative workshop in writing for young people. Thank you to all those enthusiastic participants who put away their adult selves for a while and delved back into the world of their childhoods. I have to confess, I loved introducing you to British classics, like The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, and new American classics, such as I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson.
I also learned about the relationship between art and storytelling in Philip Hartigan’s playful mark-making workshop — it is surprisingly helpful to deepen a sense of story — and about literary magazines with the founder of Hypertext Magazine, Christine Maul Rice, and artistic director Patricia McNair. Participants also took in-depth classes on the Short Story (Christine Maul Rice), Memoir (Patricia McNair) and the Novel (Shawn Shiflett). There was the option to create candy box books with Judith Sutcliffe and Philip Hartigan, and receive individual feedback on writing in one-to-one manuscript consultations.
A sense of community and fun was fostered over the weekend at the readings by both faculty and participants. The retreat will run again next year. It is something of a hidden gem.
See a clip of the opening of the retreat below (thanks Philip, for the video and photos).
Are you a budding young writer? Could you be the next J. K. Rowling or J. R. R. Tolkien? Come along to my Story-Builder Workshop at the 
I loved this book by Jason Reynolds, a middle grade story about African American brothers who spend the summer with their estranged grandparents. Here’s my review (click 
