Photo: Montréal in winter, on our street: Rue Ste Hélène (the Gault hotel is the lit doorway on the left)
Thank you for your interest in
Cross-Border Conversations: a Montréal Environmental Writing Retreat
Day Attendance Option (for Québec Residents Only): $325 CAD
Inspiration, Relaxation, Community
Québec residents close enough to commute are welcome to attend the activities at a fraction of the cost. Day attendance includes: Dinner together the first night, gourmet lunches and discussions, as well as a reading slot and the option to vend books, a drink and nibblies on the last night together during our reading. A proposed schedule is below, but feel free to do what will help you get the most out of a week away from it all…..
Montréal Environmental Optional Schedule—evolving and subject to change—-
Day 1: January 19, 2026 Monday
Arrival. 5:30pm Dinner together (included) at Les Pyrénnées, a local Catalan restaurant that focuses on Quebec ingredients with gourmet results. Meet one another, optionally form writing/conversation groups; start thinking with Lise Weil about dreams and visions for the future. Then settle in, or head out to explore—-up to you.
Day 2: January 20, 2026 Tuesday
12:30pm Continued Conversation with Lise Weil ; non-traditional ways of knowing over lunch at Chez Delmo
Free Time/ Optional Writing groups or activities; optional individual conversation/yoga focusing on embodying your writing with Anne Bergeron (not included)
Day 3: January 21, 2026 Wednesday
11:30am Lunch and Artivism and Writing the Land®: Montréal Poetry Map conversation with Lis McLoughlin at Holder
Free Time/ Optional Writing groups or activities; optional individual conversation focusing on embodying your writing with Anne Bergeron (not included)
Day 4: January 22, 2026 Thursday
11:30 Lunch and Conversation with Ian Thomas Shaw at Dorsia
Free Time/ Optional Writing groups or activities; optional individual conversation focusing on embodying your writing with Anne Bergeron (not included)
Day 5: January 23, 2026 Friday
Free day to pursue other activities, write, rejuvenate.
Day 6: January 24, 2026 Saturday
Writing and Preparation for our reading this evening
4pm to 8pm: nibblies with readings (included), 1 cocktail included
Notes about the Intent of our Gathering
No one is required to participate in any aspect of the retreat; but we hope you will enjoy the proffered conversations as ways to make connections across borders, and build community. As part of Nature, and as creatives, we are coming together to escape the chaos of the US for a week, and make space for our own writing again; to learn from one another and from this land. We hope for a gathering of fiercely pro-environment writers using our creativity and passion for the land to connect, and to gently offer support and rest. Whether you actively seek out deeper conversations that are offered, or feel motivated to write surrounded by like-minded others in quiet, beautiful surroundings, we hope that whatever goals you bring, it’s a generative and welcoming time for all.
Who may attend: You
If you write any environmental/nature genre, need a break from the fray, and want to make positive connections between Canadian and US environmental writing communities, then this retreat is for you. We are coming together in a small group (15 residents max, with Quebecois day visitors) in beautiful Old Montréal for rest and rejuvenation with our colleagues over the border. In winter the city is quiet, cold, and beautifully welcoming with world-class food, music, and activities on the banks of the St. Lawrence. Ice skate, visit the world-class spas, enjoy the lights, or stay holed up in our luxurious boutique hotel——rest, write, and most of all make meaningful connections with like-minded people working to make the world a better and greener place…..
Day attendance at week-long environmental writing retreat in Montréal:
$325 Canadian Dollars
A way for Montreal writers to join us. It is a time to recharge among like-minded writers.
Included in the package cost:
Welcome dinner first night at gourmet restaurant, Les Pyrénées
In-depth environmental conversations facilitated by Lise Weil, Ian Thomas Shaw and Lis McLoughlin
Optional public reading at the hotel on our final night. Included is your time slot, nibblies, and a drink; plus ability to sell books at the event if you wish through Librarie Bertrand (consignment or direct order)
Optional participation in the EcoPoetry Map of Montreal project
Not included in the package cost:
Meals except as indicated above
Transportation/parking
Alcohol and any drinks, except a drink at the reading along with nibblies
————————————————-
The Fine Print…. The Day attendance option is only available to Québec residents.
Details: All participants will need to sign a liability waiver.
Payment for day participants: Non-refundable (but transferable, before July 1, 2025) full payment of $325 CAD will reserve your space anytime before December 1, 2025.
If the retreat is cancelled a full refund will be given.