Cross-Border: A Montréal Environmental Writers’ Retreat
January 19th-25th, 2026 (7 days, 6 nights); $2450 USD
Click here for day attendance for Québec residents.
Published Environmental Writers in all genres are welcome
Are you feeling exhausted by the onslaught of attacks on the environment and on environmentalists in the United States? Do you crave community and connection with like-minded authors? Take a week to relax in a community of Canadian and US environmental writers, and leave refreshed and inspired to continue our work. This intimate conference (capped at 15 resident participants) is a time to rest, reset, and return ready to continue the essential work we do. It will culminate with a public reading (with book vending) to help us transition smoothly into facing our audiences again.
Elements of the Gathering: Conversations and Collaborations; Reading, Writing, and Relaxation
Included in the cost of the retreat:
Conversations and Collaborations
Lise Weil of Dark Matter: Women Witnessing will facilitate a conversation around nontraditional ways of knowing and responses to the climate disaster
Ian Thomas Shaw, author and editor of Green to Grey will facilitate a conversation around various writing genres as calls to action
Lis McLoughlin, founder and director of the Writing the Land® project and NatureCulture® Publishing will facilitate a discussion about environmental artivism (activism through our literary arts)
Food
Breakfast every morning at the hotel (Tuesday-Saturday)
A welcome dinner at the gourmet Catalan restaurant Les Pyranees (Monday)
Lunchtime discussions at gourmet restaurants with many locally-sourced ingredients (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
Nibbles and a drink at the reading (Saturday)
Reading
Those who wish may read at our culminating public reading January 24th at Hôtel Gault, with the opportunity to vend books via our partner bookstore Librarie Bertrand (a drink and nibblies also included)
Not Included in the cost of the retreat:
Travel, Drinks, and Relaxation Options
Add on a visit to a spa (10 and 15 % discounts available)
A private or small group yoga/writing embodiment session with Dark Matter Women Witnessing editor and yoga instructor Anne Bergeron
Free add-ons: a quiet walk along the St. Lawrence or at Mt. Royal (an Olmstead-designed park in the center of the city) or just wander through the picturesque streets of Old Montreal.
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Recommit to yourself, your writing, our cause, and emerge rested and inspired.
