writing retreats at new queens haven

Every piece of writing is grounded somewhere. Setting the scene for writing may seem like background information, but in this weekend intensive on Writing about Place, we explore how place can be central to the structure of writing and its meaning, particularly in memoir, and learn how to engage elements of place more deliberately.

Psychologically, attachment and its impediments are not only about people, but also about place. Where were the key moments of your life located, and how do those contexts influence experience? How are places themselves a source of attachment? Some of the things we consider are the houses that feel alive; the landscapes that tell particular stories; and the cities, mountains, and seascapes that provide a sense of stability even when people shift. The non-human world is full of characters to include in the ways we think and write.

In terms of craft, Kathy Curto will guide us through flash writing exercises to foreground place in several key life experiences. We will engage with short readings to provide some context for how flexible the definition of place and home can be and how that translates into provocative literature.  This flexibility creates ripe opportunity to wonder on the page, to tell stories and craft narratives that have unexpected depth and power. Expect to engage deeply with others and the spaces of your own history; create new flash pieces; and have solo time to imbue your existing writing-in-process with a greater, more grounded sense of place. 

Maya Angelou reminds us: "You are only free when you realize you belong no place—you belong every place—no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great." We will consider this rich offering and allow it to guide our work, our exploration, our discoveries. 

The intensive writing weekend will be hosted by psychoanalytic psychologist Tracy Sidesinger and visiting writing instructor Kathy Curto. We meet in a special place: One of the Catskills’s oldest homes, a 1600’s farmhouse that is itself replete with centuries worth of stories. Each participant enjoys their own room with a private writing desk. Multiple fireplaces warm the house throughout, and there are five acres and a separated meditation studio for participants to enjoy when not in guided workshops. 

Details of the weekend:

• The intensive will be held in a private residence in Accord, NY, two hours north of NYC. 
• Arrive Friday afternoon and depart Sunday evening. 
• Number of participants is limited to five.
• Cost: $1,250 in single occupancy room. Upon acceptance, a non-refundable deposit of half ($625) is due to reserve your spot. The remaining $625 is due one week prior to arrival. Invoices will be sent separately to complete these payments.

About your hosts:

Kathy Curto teaches at Sarah Lawrence College/The Writing Institute, Montclair State University and The Writers Circle as well as several nonprofit organizations and community centers in the metropolitan area. She is the author of Not for Nothing-Glimpses into a Jersey Girlhood. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, on NPR, in the anthology Listen to Your Mother:  What She Said Then, What We’re Saying Now, and in Barrelhouse, Oh Reader, The Mom Egg Review, HerStry, Drift and Talking Writing among others. Kathy’s column Words on the Street, Revisited is featured biweekly in Write or Die Magazine. Her piece, “Still Cooking Side by Side” considered a “Modern Love in miniature” by The New York Times, was included in The Best of Tiny Love Stories in August 2021. Kathy lives with her family in the Hudson Valley.  

Tracy Sidesinger, PsyD is a private practice psychoanalytic psychologist in New York. She earned her doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary in California, studying the intersection of psychology, religion, and attachment; and she studied Jungian and Relational psychoanalysis in New York at the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association and The William Alanson White Institute, respectively. As a divorced mother, she uses personal experience along with thousands of hours with patients to bring a feminist lens back to psychotherapy. In her writing, Dr. Sidesinger works to reclaim the lineage of the feminine in individuals and in psychoanalysis. She is currently working on a collection of essays bridging psychoanalytic insight, interviews, and memoir to bear on the topic of feminine knowing.  

A virtual tour of New Queens Haven is available on AirBNB

To apply for this opportunity:

Please draft a 500-word letter to Tracy and Kathy. The letter should include why you feel drawn to this retreat and how it fits into your current writing life. Send your application letter to info@tracysidesingerpsyd.com and expect a reply within two business days. 

Getting here: 

The house is located two hours north of NYC. Complete directions will be provided upon registration. For those who choose not to use a car it is possible to take the train to Poughkeepsie and get a taxi to the property (about 40 minutes away from Metro North / Amtrak station).