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You are here: Home / Writing Workshops / Participant Voices

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.

  • Flannery O’Connor’s Double Mind

    Susan Sink

    Flannery O'Connor's Double Mind
    "As a person socialized as white in a racist culture, O’Connor does not intuitively grasp the psychic damage done by slavery ... and this lack of understanding and experience shows up in the stories as well as in the letters."
  • The Spiritual Practice of Conversation

    Andrea Roske-Metcalfe

    The Spiritual Practice of Conversation
    A Lutheran pastor describes how certain kinds of conversations can be considered a spiritual practice, particularly when done across religious traditions.
  • Seeing with God’s Eyes

    Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew

    Seeing with God’s Eyes
    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

    Midday Prayer
    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

    Believing and Belonging
    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

    Finding My Introvert
    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
    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

    Suspended Sentences
    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

    Hopes and Fears from Collegeville Institute
    In this post, Adam Copeland addresses his fears at the start of a week-long writing workshop with 12 strangers.

More in this Section

  • Current Writing Workshops
  • Practical Information
  • Past Workshops
  • Participant Voices

Latest News

Job Announcement: Executive Director

January 8, 2021

Resident Scholars Conclude Program on Zoom

December 18, 2020

Lauren Winner Leads Final 2020 Writing Workshop Online

December 14, 2020

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