Our 8th annual writing retreat in the New jersey PINELANDS
Leave your winter doldrums behind and join us as spring breaks through the sandy soil. Let this getaway revitalize and inspire you as you set some new writing into motion.
“I was surprised at how easily the writing came to me in this setting. I really enjoyed the unique writing prompts and the opportunity to share my work with my group.”
~ One Day Writing Getaway Participant
WORKSHOPS
Saturday, April 13, 2024
9:15 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EDT
Stockton University, Galloway, NJ
Our retreats are centered on the belief that when writers leave behind the distractions of their busy lives to gather in an encouraging community, they are able to make important breakthroughs in their writing. Each workshop will offer craft discussion, writing prompts, writing time, sharing and inspiration.
Spend the day writing in one of the following workshops.
Memoir + Creative nonfiction WorkshopS
Bitter and Sweet: A Memoir Workshop
Led by Peter E. Murphy
Turning lemons into lemonade might be a cliché, but nonetheless, life gives us plenty of opportunities to squeeze stories out of those challenges. Using carefully-curated essays as models and generative writing prompts, we will explore how the drama, trauma and tragedies of our lives have been portals to success, satisfaction and perhaps even joy. We will also experiment with how to add wit and humor to create a more nuanced narrative and to invoke a more complex response in our readers. Beginning and experienced writers are welcome.
Crafting Vulnerability in Creative Nonfiction
Led by Nancy Reddy
So many of us write because we want to share our stories, but often it can be tricky to decide just how personal to make a personal essay. In this workshop, we’ll explore the art and craft of vulnerability when writing memoir, practicing strategies for deciding what personal details to share and how to craft those disclosures. We’ll spend time with work by Melissa Febos, Ross Gay, Amanda Montei and Cathy Park Hong to explore the benefits of sharing our stories (or transforming our secrets into art, as Febos puts it) and drawing boundaries. Whether you’ve written lots of essays or are new to writing personal narrative, you’ll leave this workshop with fresh drafts and strategies for how to move forward with your work.
Poetry Workshops
The Intuitive Muse: A Poetry Workshop
Led by Luray Gross
To awaken your inner voice, this generative poetry workshop will invoke concerns of the world as muses. As Rena Priest describes, we will “burrow through layers of emotional sediment” that both separate us from and link us to the world around us. Together, we will explore a range of catalyst poems by authors like Franny Choi and Ilya Kamsinsky, and write in response to inspiring prompts, with the aim of inviting intuitive leaps in form and content. Beginning and experienced writers are welcome.
Lines in Motion: A Poetry Workshop
Led by Shawn R. Jones
Learn how to line dance without getting out of your chair! Through inspiring model poems and generative exercises, this workshop will focus on the movement and emotive possibility of your lines. Let the sound of your words meld with the rhythms that dominate music, nature and the physical body. In a supportive and encouraging environment, dance instructor and poet Shawn R. Jones will teach you how to yield poetic devices like repetition and alliteration, verbs and sensory details to put each line in motion. Writers of all levels are welcome to start something new or bring works-in-progress.
Fiction Workshops
Anatomy of a Scene: A Fiction Workshop
Led by Hugo dos Santos
Discover the secrets of well-crafted fiction by rethinking how place, character and dialogue can turn your scenes into unforgettable reading experiences. By examining evocative prose samples and engaging in innovative writing exercises, you will sharpen your scene-building skills and gain a deeper understanding of pacing, tension and resonance. As part of a supportive and joyful community that celebrates diverse voices, this workshop will empower new and more experienced writers alike to unlock their potential to take stories to the next level.
Fictional Ambassadors: Crafting Empathetic Characters
Led by Jade Jones
In fiction, the characters we create are the ambassadors of our work. They introduce the reader to the worlds we’ve built and can set the tone, direction and momentum of a novel or short story. So how do we create the underdog an audience cheers for, the villain whose motives aren’t simply black and white, or the accountant whose routine activities still manage to captivate our attention? In this workshop, we will discuss how to craft characters who are alive and thoroughly imagined on the page. In addition to prompts and supportive feedback, we will examine the vital roles that voice, point-of-view and language play in character development. You’re welcome to come with a blank page or a work-in-progress.
Space is limited. Register today!
Schedule – Saturday, April 13
Galloway, NJ
| 9:15 a.m. | Arrive and sign in |
| 9:30 | Welcome and workshop |
| 12:15 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00 | Workshop |
| 3:40 | Closing |
| 4:00 | Head home |
faculty
Hugo dos Santos is the author of Then, there (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019), a collection of Newark stories, and the translator of A Child in Ruins (Writ Large Press, 2016), the collected poems of José Luís Peixoto, a staff pick at the Paris Review Daily. Hugo’s poetry and fiction shine a light on the beauty, complexity and pain of the immigrant experience and of life in the inner city. In his translations, Hugo has celebrated contemporary Portuguese literature by publishing the poetry and fiction of Peixoto, Matilde Campilho and João Tordo. Hugo lives in NJ with his wife and three children. Visit his website, and read a piece by Hugo.
Luray Gross, storyteller and writer, is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently With This Body from Ragged Sky Press. Her love of the spoken and written word began during her childhood on a busy dairy farm in Pennsylvania. She was the recipient of a Fellowship in Poetry from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and named one of their Distinguished Teaching Artists. She was the 2002 Poet Laureate of Bucks County, PA, and resident faculty at the Frost Place Festival and Conference on Poetry in Franconia, New Hampshire. Known for her engaging teaching style, she has worked with thousands of students ranging in age from three to eighty-three. Read a poem by Luray.
Jade Jones was born and raised in Southern New Jersey. A former Kimbilio Fiction Fellow, she is a graduate of Princeton University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Teaching-Writing Fellow. Both a writer and educator, Jade has taught all levels including elementary, college and adult learners. A winner of the 2019 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Catapult and more. She is currently the director of operations at Tailored Tutoring LLC. Read a story by Jade and learn more on her website.
Shawn R. Jones was born in Hartford, CT and grew up in Atlantic City, NJ. She is a 2023 Civitella Ranieri Fellow, and her poetry collection, Date of Birth, has won the 2022 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry. She is also the author of two poetry chapbooks, Womb Rain (2008) and A Hole to Breathe (2015). Her work has appeared in Tri-Quarterly, New Ohio Review, Cider Review, Passengers Journal, Rattle, Essence, Guesthouse, Typehouse, Peregrine Journal, The Journal of Baha’i Studies and elsewhere. Shawn is the co-owner of Tailored Tutoring LLC and Kumbaya Academy, Inc., a dance instructor at Halliday Dance and a member of the poetry performance troupe, No River Twice. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers-Camden. When she is not writing, dancing or teaching, she enjoys spending time with her family and her lucky pit bull, Ross. Learn more on her website.
Peter E. Murphy was born in Wales and grew up in New York City where he operated heavy equipment, managed a nightclub and drove a taxi. He is the author of eleven books and chapbooks of poetry and prose including two books of writing prompts. More than a dozen excerpts of his forthcoming memoir, Once Upon a Time You Lived in a Castle, have been published as standalone pieces in journals, including “Looking for Thelma,” winner of the 2018 Wilt Nonfiction Chapbook Prize and “Storming the Castle,” winner of the 2019 First Chapter Memoir Prize sponsored by Arch Street Press. The founder of Murphy Writing of Stockton University, Peter has received dozens of awards and fellowships and has led hundreds of workshops for writers and teachers. Listen to an interview with Peter and a piece from his memoir in Litro.
Nancy Reddy is the author of The Good Mother Myth, forthcoming with St. Martin’s Press in spring 2025. Her previous books include the poetry collections Pocket Universe and Double Jinx, a winner of the National Poetry Series. With Emily Pérez, she’s co-editor of The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood. Her essays have appeared in Slate, Poets & Writers, Romper, The Millions and elsewhere. The recipient of grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Sustainable Arts Foundation and a Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, she teaches writing at Stockton University. She writes the newsletter Write More, Be Less Careful. Visit her website and read some poems by Nancy.
“Murphy Writing workshops are dependably helpful, encouraging and welcoming. Short or long, always valuable.”
~ Zoe, Mays Landing, NJ
Location
Venue
Stockton University
101 Vera King Farris Drive
Galloway, NJ 08205
Writing in the Pines Getaway will take place at Stockton University’s Campus Center in the heart of the Pinelands National Reserve. Located near the intersection of the AC Expressway and the Garden State Parkway, Stockton is just 1 hour from Philadelphia, 95 minutes from Princeton and just over 2 hours from North Jersey and New York. See the Travel section below for directions and parking info.
Pricing + Registration
Tuition — Sliding Scale: $80-$180
Tuition for this program is based on a sliding scale. If you are able to pay at the higher end of the scale, you will help Murphy Writing offer affordable programming and scholarships for writers.
Includes:
- Inspiring workshop of your choice
- Morning coffee/tea
- Lunch
- Contact list to keep in touch with new writer friends
- All fees and gratuities
If you have trouble registering online, or if you don’t receive an email confirming your online registration within 24 hours, call us at 609-626-3594 or email us at murphywriting@stockton.edu.
The Fine Print
- By registering for this program, you are agreeing to uphold our Code of Conduct.
- By registering for this program, you are agreeing to abide by our Health and Safety Acknowledgement.
Cancellation Policy
For cancellations that are COVID-specific or medical-related:
- If you need to cancel due to testing positive for COVID-19 within 11 days of the program start, we can offer a full credit on file. 100% of your payment will be good towards a future Murphy Writing program that you register for through October 1, 2024.
For those with verifiable medical conditions who cancel by April 1, 2024, we can offer a full credit on file. 100% of your payment will be good towards a future Murphy Writing program that you register for through October 1, 2024.
For all other cancellations:
- By April 1 — 50% credit on file toward one of our upcoming programs that you register for through October 1, 2024.
- After April 1 — No refund or credit.
SCHOLARSHIPS
We are offering 10 scholarship seats for writers aged 60+ living in Atlantic County (NJ) to attend Writing in the Pines at no cost, made possible by our Partner for this event: the Stockton Center on Successful Aging (SCOSA). Judges will review the submissions and make their selections. Deadline to apply for a scholarship: March 31, 2024, 11:59pm EST.
TRAVEL
VENUE ADDRESS
Stockton University
101 Vera King Farris Drive
Galloway, NJ 08205
Directions + Parking
Please follow these directions to Stockton: Stockton’s driving directions, which includes public transportation info, or view Google’s directions.
Stockton University offers free parking on weekends. Park in Lot 3 and enter the Campus Center through the center doors. Please look at this campus parking map for a visual. If you are new to the campus, please allow a few extra minutes to find the correct lot.
We’ll begin in the morning inside of the Campus Center’s Event Room. Inside the Campus Center, head toward the fireplace. The Event Room entrance is to the right of the fireplace.
Accommodations (Optional)
Seaview Hotel, a 4-star hotel with excellent reviews, is only a 10-minute drive. This Holiday Inn Express also has good reviews on TripAdvisor. If it’s tough to find a bargain, you can look into other hotels in Egg Harbor Township, Absecon and Galloway, all of which are within a 20-minute drive.
Although you may find a good deal at an independent motel, we suggest you stick with the major hotel chains and check reviews on a site such as TripAdvisor before you book.
“This was my first time attending and I truly grew. I loved the low-key, relaxed nature and appreciated the thoughtful assignments. Thanks for the great experience.”
~ Christine, Philadelphia, PA
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I’m new to writing workshops. Will I fit in?
Absolutely! Our experienced workshop leaders plan their sessions to benefit both beginning and experienced writers. We pride ourselves on building an encouraging community of writers where all feel welcome.
I’ve been to dozens of workshops. What will I get out of this one?
Our faculty challenge experienced writers to push beyond their usual limits. If you have been writing for decades, they will compel you to go deeper, take more risks and experiment with form and content. We know that experienced writers benefit from our programs based on the fact that hundreds of “re-PETERs” have attended three or more of our writing getaways.
Does the workshop take place indoors?
Yes, the program will take place inside Stockton’s Campus Center. The workshop will offer you some free time to write and if you wish to find a bench or table outside at that point, you may do so, but it is not required.
“I loved how welcoming the retreat was. I truly felt among a community of writers rather than people promoting themselves. The workshop was encouraging and informative. I’m really looking forward to the next one.”
~ Jenna, Lanoka Harbor, NJ
meet our community
View our full collection of Writing Getaway photos.
Partners
The Stockton Center on Successful Aging (SCOSA) has made it possible for us to offer 10 attendance scholarships for Writing in the Pines! We are so thankful.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CREDITS
Participants will receive a professional development certificate of participation. Stockton University is recognized by the New Jersey Department of Education to provide Professional Development credit hours, which many other states are willing to accept. You may check with your employer to see if it will work for you.
“There is so much positive energy, which creates a welcoming environment. Thank you for inspiring and cultivating a nurturing climate packed with creativity and free imagination.”
~ Ben, Allentown, PA
Questions?
Call 609-626-3594 or email murphywriting@stockton.edu.
Write with us.
