Participant Voices

The following writing samples, composed by our summer writing workshop participants, will give you a small glimpse into the experience of being at the Collegeville Institute.

• Seeing with God’s Eyes

  Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew

  Karen González has written a "hermeneutics of immigration" in her new book The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong.

• Midday Prayer

  Jamie Howison

  Jamie Howison reflects on his experience praying with the monks at Saint John's Abbey Church, while on a writing retreat at the Collegeville Institute.

• Believing and Belonging

  Karissa Knox Sorrell

  I was unsure if Collegeville was the right place for me. But my time there gave me the hope that I can be a spiritual person.

• Finding My Introvert

  Chuck Appleby

  I cannot remember the exact moment of recognition, but I think it occurred early afternoon on the second full day of our writing workshop. I rediscovered time.

• Thimbleberries

  Taylor Brorby

  Thimbleberries were not on my mind when I applied for a writing workshop at the Collegeville Institute. I wanted time set apart from the busyness and business of everyday life. I wanted a view of a lake, fenced-in by maple trees. I wanted to be in a community where I felt the ease of saying, Yes, I am a writer.

• Suspended Sentences

  Ingrid Rasmussen

  Ingrid Rasmussen drafted this piece as an exercise in writing suspended sentences, while participating in the writing workshop Words that Sing II: Advanced Writing with Mary Nilsen.

• Hopes and Fears from Collegeville Institute

  Adam Copeland

  In this post, Adam Copeland addresses his fears at the start of a week-long writing workshop with 12 strangers.