Autumn Rhythms, Rituals, & Writing: Nourishment for Creative Souls with Charlotte Donlon (a 3-part virtual workshop series)

Each monthly virtual session is scheduled from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm, EASTERN TIME.

The contemplative writer Thomas Merton reminds us that “there is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy.” What if the season of Autumn itself became our instructor? How can falling leaves, cooling afternoons, the longer evenings form our creative practices?

This three-session virtual workshop will meet once in September, October, and November and is open to all levels of writers who are pastors, spiritual directors, therapists, professors, and other caregivers of souls. Participants will move through the season of autumn with rhythms that sustain rather than deplete, rituals that cultivate meaning rather than mere habit, and retreat practices that make space for the creative work you long to do.

Each virtual session blends craft teaching, close reading of writers who have given attention to seasons and interiority, conversations about how to have a sustainable creative practice during autumn, and guided contemplative practices. We will read writers who have written beautifully about time and rest and the creative life and let their work open new possibilities for our own. All participants will have an opportunity to meet with Charlotte 1:1 during the course of this offering.

September—Setting the Rhythm: In a 2021 interview about his writing and work, Ross Gay said paying attention increases our capacity to notice and acknowledge. In this first session, we discover gentle structures and seasonal intentions for noticing the world around us and acknowledging what we receive during this time of year to support our writing practice as autumn begins.

October—Deepening the Ritual: The poet Lucille Clifton writes, “won’t you celebrate with me / what i have shaped into / a kind of life?” October invites us to establish personal and creative rituals that mark the season and shape our lives. Incorporating things like intentional time in a favorite chair by a window, a poem whispered before a writing session, a morning walk to see what you notice will help you explore how ritual creates the conditions for meaning and continuity in the creative life.

November—Retreating and Releasing: Toward the end of Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, John Ames says, “I love the prairie! So often I have seen the dawn come and the light flood over the land and everything turn radiant at once, that word ‘good’ so profoundly affirmed in my soul that I am amazed I should be allowed to witness such a thing.” November asks us to pause before the year turns and honor the beauty of creation, reflect on the creative work we’ve done, recognize spiritual insights we’ve received, release what didn’t come, and prepare ourselves for winter’s darkness and traditions.

Charlotte Donlon is a writer, spiritual director, and gatherer whose work centers on helping people explore themes of belonging, artful encounters, and spiritual growth–even when life is full, busy, or chaotic. Her work has woven together themes of belonging, art, and soul exploration for more than 25 years. With a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and a certificate in spiritual direction, Charlotte guides writers and other creative souls in developing sanctuaries of acceptance and connection.

In 2020, Broadleaf Books published Charlotte’s first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life is slated for release by Here Below Books in September 2026. Three volumes of Charlotte’s “Guidebooks for the Soul”—Take More Retreats, The Great Belonging Project, and Belonging Through Art—will also be published in 2026.

Her essays have been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, and The Millions, among others. A new essay about art conservation, Joan Mitchell, and mystery is forthcoming with Image journal.

Application deadline: Wednesday, July 1, 2026.  Apply Here.