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
Inspiration, Relaxation, Community
The retreat offers but never requires fellowship with other creatives. You can spend the whole time walking by the river, or participate in our group meals and activities. We are in the historic Gault Hotel (pictured above, the lit doorway). Accommodations, dinner together the first night, breakfast every day (except the first day when people are arriving) included in the price as well as 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 (check in 4pm). 5:30pm Dinner together (included) at Les Pyrennees, 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
Breakfast at the Gault Hotel
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
Breakfast at the Gault Hotel
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
Breakfast at the Gault Hotel
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
Breakfast at the Gault Hotel
Free day to pursue other activities, write, rejuvenate.
Day 6: January 24, 2026 Saturday
Breakfast at the Gault Hotel
Writing and Preparation for our reading this evening
4pm to 8pm: nibblies with readings (included), 1 cocktail included
Day 7: January 25, 2026 Sunday
Breakfast at the Gault Hotel and goodbye
Travel
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…..
Residential week-long environmental writing retreat in Montréal:
$2450 US Dollars
This conference is capped at 15 residential participants, with up to 5 Montreal writers joining us. It is a time to recharge among like-minded writers.
Included in the package cost:
Accommodations: we will be staying all together in the elegant, historic, boutique Gault Hotel
Welcome dinner first night at gourmet restaurant, Les Pyrenees
Breakfast every day at the hotel (except arrival day, dinner)
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:
Dinners, except the first night
Transportation/parking
Alcohol and any drinks, except there is juice and coffee or tea at breakfast, one drink at the reading along with nibblies
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The Fine Print….
Details: All participants will need to sign a liability waiver.
Payment for resident participants: We ask you to pay in stages (although you can always pay up front in 1 lump sum or sooner than requested)
Stage 1: A non-refundable (but transferable, before July 1, 2025) deposit of $400 will reserve your space when booking.
Stage 2: Full payment required December 1, 2025 (or upon reservation if added after this date), after which date no refunds or transfers will be given unless the retreat is cancelled. Insurance for a trip like this is recommended in case something happens and you can’t make it.
If the retreat is cancelled a full refund will be given.