Writing Retreats

Writers love to get away...together!

Join us this spring at Rivendell Spiritual Center —formerly Rivendell Writers’ Colony—for a weekend of writerly communion and "a room of one’s own." Overlooking a cove in Sewanee, Tennessee, Rivendell is a place of uncommon beauty, with deep literary roots.

Now accepting applications for our six-day spring (April 21-26) and summer (June 16-21) Writers Retreats at Blue Spring Creek. Located just thirty minutes from Nashville, on five-acres secluded in lush nature, our mission is to provide an inspired environment that generates productivity, is conducive to forming lasting relationships, and leaves you recharged in your literary endeavors. Deadline for spring and summer applications is March 15th.

Not exactly workshop, not exactly lecture, Webinars are an opportunities for writers to explore elements of craft and the writing life. Conversations will be designed and facilitated by Porch instructors as well as experts in the publishing industry.

Rivendell Spring 2023 dates:

March 31 - April 2 

(Not long enough? New this spring, we’re introducing the optional add-on of a Thursday night stay.)

The Rivendell experience:

Quiet time for reflection and writing, inspiration, a comfortable desk, spectacular views, camaraderie and communion, enriching workshops, opportunities to share, relaxation, catered meals, libations. Optional activities include:

  • Craft workshop

  • Draft Chat: An opportunity to share work and receive feedback

  • Saturday evening participant reading

  • Group walk to Natural Bridge

  • Sunday morning discussion: “Writing and the Examined Life”

The setting:

A stone’s throw from University of the South, Rivendell offers charming, writerly accommodations, breathtaking views, and a myriad of lovely perches for reading, writing, and musing. Imbued with the rich literary heritage and spirit of the Cumberland Plateau, it is a campus of pleasant surprises, inspiring writers to explore and to create.

Rivendell adjoins the historic Brinkwood property, once owned by William Alexander Percy, uncle to novelist Walker Percy. Brinkwood provided a foundation for Walker’s vivid imagination and keen observation sensibility, as well as access to the colorful array of authors and artists who visited his uncle’s mountain retreat. 

 “It is… in the middle of the woods, on top of a bastion of mountains crenelated with blue coves. It is so beautiful that people who have once been there always, one way or another, come back. For such as can detect apple green in an evening sky, it is Arcadia—not the one that never used to be, but the one that many people always live in; only this one can be shared.” –William Alexander Percy

Registration fees include lodging, catered meals and libations, and programming. Variable pricing dependent on room selection.

Register Now
  • Manor House (5 rooms available) $650

  • Manor House Double Occupancy—two queen-sized beds in a spacious room (1 available) $800 

  • Pond View Cabin or Brinkwood: These are private properties located on the Rivendell property, located a short five-minute walk from the Manor House. Each additional property has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a comfortable living space, a full kitchen, and a peaceful screened-in porch. (4 rooms available) $450

  • Pond Carriage House: Single-occupancy apartment adjacent to Pond View Cabin (1 available) $300

  • Day Rate: Excludes accommodations. Includes all meals, programming, and access to the many common spaces (4 available) $250

  • Thursday night add-on (Meals not included): $125

Cancellation Policy: A nonrefundable deposit of $200 is included in the registration fee. Cancellation after March 15 will result in forfeiture of payment 

To learn more, please email Katie@porchtn.org

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