ST. LEO, FL – The 2018 Sandhill Writers Retreat will take place Saturday, May 19, on the beautiful, serene campus of Saint Leo University, in rural St. Leo, FL, approximately 35 miles north of Tampa. The full-day retreat will feature 12 hands-on writing classes in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and writing for veterans. The formal schedule of activities begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 5:30 p.m.
A faculty of nationally-acclaimed writers/poets includes recent winner of the David Martinson-Meadowhawk Prize in Poetry and retreat favorite Michael Hettich (The Frozen Harbor, Systems of Vanishing, The Animals Among Us); fiction writer and editor John Henry Fleming (The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman, Songs for the Deaf, ed.); memoirist, novelist and PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award finalist Lisa Lanser Rose, (For the Love of a Dog, Body Sharers); poet and Zora Neale Hurston scholar Phyllis McEwen; and writer, poet and retired U.S. Army Major Matthew Mobley, whose work has appeared in O-Dark-Thirty Literary Review, Bridge Eight and F(r)iction Literary Journal, among others.
These renowned writers will be joined by Saint Leo writing faculty members John David Harding, Steve Kistulentz, Anne Barngrover and Gianna Russo to guide attendees through lessons in craft and imaginative exercises that lead to new works. The retreat will also include a faculty reading and book signing, a reception, and an optional lunch-time open reading for participants.
The Sandhill Writers Retreat is open to writers of all levels who wish to hone the craft and renew the joy of writing. Teachers, students, active and retired military and the general public are all invited to attend.
A very limited number of private one-on-one manuscript consultations are available on a first come, first served basis for an additional fee. Manuscripts of up to 15 pages of poetry, fiction and nonfiction must be submitted to Retreat Director Gianna Russo by May 1, 2018.
Retreat registration includes access to all activities. Both a box lunch and a one-on one-manuscript conference may be purchased for an additional charge. All participants must be pre-registered to attend. Early registration will close on at midnight May 15, 2018. Late registration from May 16-19, 2017, incurs an additional late fee of $15 per registrant.
For additional information contact Director Gianna Russo at gianna.russo@saintleo.edu
More About Saint Leo University
Saint Leo University (www.saintleo.edu) is a modern Catholic teaching university that is firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition and the timeless Benedictine wisdom that seeks balanced growth of mind, body, and spirit. The Saint Leo University of today is a private, nonprofit institution that creates hospitable learning communities wherever students want to be or need to be, whether that is a campus classroom, a web-based environment, an employer’s worksite, a military base, or an office park. Saint Leo welcomes people of all faiths and of no religious affiliation, and encourages learners of all generations. The university is committed to providing educational opportunities to the nation’s armed forces, veterans, and their families. Saint Leo is regionally accredited to award degrees ranging from the associate to the doctorate, and the faculty and staff guide all students to develop their capacities for critical thinking, moral reflection, and lifelong learning and leadership.
The university remains the faithful steward of the beautiful lakeside University Campus in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, where its founding monks created the first Catholic college in the state in 1889. Serving more than 13,000 students, Saint Leo has expanded to downtown Tampa, to other sites in Florida and beyond, and maintains a physical presence in seven states. The university provides highly respected online learning programs to students nationally and internationally. More than 90,000 alumni reside in all 50 states, in Washington, DC, in three U.S. territories, and in 76 countries.
Media contact: For more information, contact Jo-Ann Johnston, Saint Leo University media coordinator, (352) 588-8237 or jo-ann.johnston@saintleo.edu