Writing workshop with Tret Fure!
August 19 - 21
Join us for a full weekend workshop as Women's Music Legend Tret Fure helps us explore the song within all of us!
Weekend includes:
Friday eve: Meet & Greet (for participants only)
Saturday : Full day of workshops and writing
* Discount on Saturday night concert tickets for participants*
Sunday : Morning workshops/presentations
Sunday Brunch : Public talk/performance by Tret
Workshop Description:
" The Heart of a Song"
Through guided exercises as a group and individually, we will explore the heart of the song and the song of your heart. We will work collaboratively and individually.
We will start by writing a song as a group after which we will each write the song we wish to share. You may bring a song you are working on or start a new song using s guided subject or a topic of your own choosing. No prior songwriting experience necessary. And you don't have to know music. Please bring your instrument, even if it is just your voice and a writing journal.
*space for this event is limited!*
To participate in the workshop register at:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/187813 Come jump start your imagination!
Our experienced staff of exciting women writers promises a fun and rich experience in which we can kick the cobwebs out of our brains, the critics off of our shoulders and get down to the deeply rewarding business of writing the pieces we feel called to write. And if you don't know what you want to write about they can help you figure that out, too. After many years as educators and published writers, they have an extensive tool kit from which to draw, that fits every size and shape
Our Teachers
For over twenty years, Joan Lipkin has specialized in jump starting the imagination with both amateurs, and seasoned professionals, to help them access their creativity. A playwright, director, essayist, librettist, poet, critic, journalist, and screenwriter, Joan has written and created work in many media. Her plays and performance pieces including “Small Domestic Acts,” “The Date,” “The Girl Who Lost Her Voice,” and “The Sage Cycle” have been produced and published internationally. Some of her publications include Mythic Women/Real Women, Best American Short Plays 2009-2010, Nice Girls: Growing Up Jewish in America and Upstaging Big Daddy: Directing Theater as If Race and Gender Matter and she will be featured in the upcoming anthology, Out & Allied.
Lisa Ebert is an Assistant Professor of English at Lewis and Clark Community College, resides in St. Louis with four sons and one rock-and-roll husband. Her poetry, fiction and non-fiction have appeared in River Styx, The Riverfront Times, St. Louis Magazine, Literal Chaos, Bad Shoe, and Flood Stage: An Anthology of St. Louis Poets. Her doomsday novel will be released later this summer.
At 19, Tret Fure moved to LA to pursue a songwriting and musical career. Within a year she was performing as guitarist and vocalist for Spencer Davis, touring with him and penning the single for his album “Mousetrap”. She went on to record her own album in 1973 on MCA/UNI Records, with the late Lowell George of Little Feat as her producer. With the success of that release, she opened for such bands as Yes, Poco, and the J Geils Band.
In the early 80s, Tret Fure left the mainstream music industry. Armed with a fierce desire to retain full artistic control, she began exploring the independent side of the industry and soon discovered the blossoming genre known as Women’s Music. She has been a major player in that field ever since, recording with and producing some of the best of women’s music including the legendary “Meg & Cris at Carnegie Hall”. She worked as a duo with Cris Williamson throughout the 90s releasing 3 CDs together during those years. After 4 acoustic releases on her own label, Tomboy girl Records, she has re-established herself in the folk world winning the 2004 South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter Competition in 2 out of 3 categories. 2004 also brought her recognition with the prestigious Jane Schliessman Award for Outstanding Contributions to Women’s Music. While not on the road, Tret teaches guitar and songwriting individually and in workshop settings. Along with bridging the marketing, production, and music worlds, Tret serves as Vice President of Local 1000, The Traveling Musicians Association--a union geared toward helping traveling musicians find security and longevity.
Catherine Rankovic is the author of Fierce Consent and Other Poems (2005) and a co-author of Guilty Pleasures: Indulgences, Addictions and Obsessions (2003). She has taught creative writing at Washington University day and night schools since 1989, and also in the Washington University Summer Writers Institute, the St. Louis Writers Workshop, the Poet-in-the-Schools program, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis graduate program. Her poems and essays have appeared in The Missouri Review, The Iowa Review, The Progressive, Natural Bridge, Delmar, Boulevard, 13th Moon and River Styx. Rankovic has an MFA in poetry writing from Washington University. In 2006 her poems were posted on Missouri public transit vehicles as part of the Poetry in Motion program, and she made the first poetry podcast recording for Lit-Cast.com. Past honors include the Missouri Biennial Award, the Washington University Teaching Fellowship, and an Academy of American Poets Award.
The Program
The first weekend focuses on story creation with discussions around clarifying your ideas and activities to get the creative juices flowing.
The second weekend explores the creative process of developing one's creativity and story telling skills through songwriting.
*Additional weekends are being developed! Stay tuned for details as we create further opportunites based on what YOU want!
Typical Weekend Schedule
Because our teachers are very experienced and the number of participants will be limited the program will be flexible enough to create an experience that meets the needs of participate right where they are. We want to make it an incredible opportunity for you to grow!
Fri night
Registration, room assignment & "Meet and Greet"
Sat
Continental breakfast and informal discussion
Morning workshops around weekend's theme
Lunch
Quiet/meet with teachers/personal writing time
Afternoon workshops continuing weekend's there
Quiet/meet with teachers/personal writing time
Dinner
Bonfire/featured performances
Sun
Continental breakfast and informal discussion
Morning workshops continuing weekend's theme/participant readings
Brunch
Keynote presentation
Participant readings/teacher wrap up
ParticipantsWomen writers who want to take time away to concentrate on the creative work of writing, no matter their skill, place in the writing process, or experience.
CostVaries with each workshop.
Follow event links for pricing details or call 314/772-1010 *Sponsorships are available for those who qualify. Contact us for details.
Our experienced staff of exciting women writers promises a fun and rich experience in which we can kick the cobwebs out of our brains, the critics off of our shoulders and get down to the deeply rewarding business of writing the pieces we feel called to write. And if you don't know what you want to write about they can help you figure that out, too. After many years as educators and published writers, they have an extensive tool kit from which to draw, that fits every size and shape
For over twenty years, Joan Lipkin has specialized in jump starting the imagination with both amateurs, and seasoned professionals, to help them access their creativity. A playwright, director, essayist, librettist, poet, critic, journalist, and screenwriter, Joan has written and created work in many media. Her plays and performance pieces including “Small Domestic Acts,” “The Date,” “The Girl Who Lost Her Voice,” and “The Sage Cycle” have been produced and published internationally. Some of her publications include Mythic Women/Real Women, Best American Short Plays 2009-2010, Nice Girls: Growing Up Jewish in America and Upstaging Big Daddy: Directing Theater as If Race and Gender Matter and she will be featured in the upcoming anthology, Out & Allied. 
At 19, Tret Fure moved to LA to pursue a songwriting and musical career. Within a year she was performing as guitarist and vocalist for Spencer Davis, touring with him and penning the single for his album “Mousetrap”. She went on to record her own album in 1973 on MCA/UNI Records, with the late Lowell George of Little Feat as her producer. With the success of that release, she opened for such bands as Yes, Poco, and the J Geils Band.
In the early 80s, Tret Fure left the mainstream music industry. Armed with a fierce desire to retain full artistic control, she began exploring the independent side of the industry and soon discovered the blossoming genre known as Women’s Music. She has been a major player in that field ever since, recording with and producing some of the best of women’s music including the legendary “Meg & Cris at Carnegie Hall”. She worked as a duo with Cris Williamson throughout the 90s releasing 3 CDs together during those years. After 4 acoustic releases on her own label, Tomboy girl Records, she has re-established herself in the folk world winning the 2004 South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter Competition in 2 out of 3 categories. 2004 also brought her recognition with the prestigious Jane Schliessman Award for Outstanding Contributions to Women’s Music. While not on the road, Tret teaches guitar and songwriting individually and in workshop settings. Along with bridging the marketing, production, and music worlds, Tret serves as Vice President of Local 1000, The Traveling Musicians Association--a union geared toward helping traveling musicians find security and longevity.
In the early 80s, Tret Fure left the mainstream music industry. Armed with a fierce desire to retain full artistic control, she began exploring the independent side of the industry and soon discovered the blossoming genre known as Women’s Music. She has been a major player in that field ever since, recording with and producing some of the best of women’s music including the legendary “Meg & Cris at Carnegie Hall”. She worked as a duo with Cris Williamson throughout the 90s releasing 3 CDs together during those years. After 4 acoustic releases on her own label, Tomboy girl Records, she has re-established herself in the folk world winning the 2004 South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter Competition in 2 out of 3 categories. 2004 also brought her recognition with the prestigious Jane Schliessman Award for Outstanding Contributions to Women’s Music. While not on the road, Tret teaches guitar and songwriting individually and in workshop settings. Along with bridging the marketing, production, and music worlds, Tret serves as Vice President of Local 1000, The Traveling Musicians Association--a union geared toward helping traveling musicians find security and longevity.
Catherine Rankovic is the author of Fierce Consent and Other Poems (2005) and a co-author of Guilty Pleasures: Indulgences, Addictions and Obsessions (2003). She has taught creative writing at Washington University day and night schools since 1989, and also in the Washington University Summer Writers Institute, the St. Louis Writers Workshop, the Poet-in-the-Schools program, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis graduate program. Her poems and essays have appeared in The Missouri Review, The Iowa Review, The Progressive, Natural Bridge, Delmar, Boulevard, 13th Moon and River Styx. Rankovic has an MFA in poetry writing from Washington University. In 2006 her poems were posted on Missouri public transit vehicles as part of the Poetry in Motion program, and she made the first poetry podcast recording for Lit-Cast.com. Past honors include the Missouri Biennial Award, the Washington University Teaching Fellowship, and an Academy of American Poets Award. The first weekend focuses on story creation with discussions around clarifying your ideas and activities to get the creative juices flowing.
The second weekend explores the creative process of developing one's creativity and story telling skills through songwriting.
*Additional weekends are being developed! Stay tuned for details as we create further opportunites based on what YOU want!
