Fahmidan Amsterdam Retreat 2025
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(Sign Up by March 31st 2025)
Join us for the Fahmidan 2025 Amsterdam Retreat – a unique literary getaway where creativity and culture converge in one of Europe's most inspiring cities. From July 27th to August 3rd, immerse yourself in workshops, excursions, and an enriching literary experience like no other! With three different packages ranging from Bare Bones to the Full Experience, we want to make this retreat accessible to all!
With talented international literary citizen facilitators A.R.Arthur, Cass Garison, Rashna Wadia Yasmine Dashti & Elizabeth M Castillo.
Fahmidan is committed to accessibility which means we have a tiered approach to this retreat to ensure all can attend. Fahmidan will not book hotels/flights but will provide a list of recommendations including support with reliable Travel Insurance and Internet access.
Tentative Workshop Titles include:
1. Writing with Purpose, finding the extraordinary in the Mundane
2. Becoming a Global Literary Citizen: Writing beyond our Society -A.R.Arthur
3. The Chapbook/Full Length Workshop (Simultaneously running depending on level) -A.R.Arthur
4. Writing the weather within: emotional forecasts - Elizabeth M Castillo
5. Ecopoetry & prose: writing the earth - Elizabeth M Castillo
6. Where Lyric & Image Meet: Exploring Intermedial Creation
7. On Desire & Destruction: Writing the Complex Love Poem - Cass Garison
“I’m in love, I’m not in love! I’m insane, I’m not insane!” — Anne Carson, Eros the Bittersweet: An Essay
This workshop invites participants to engage with the intoxicating tensions that exist within the impulse of love. We will explore poetic expressions of intimate tension, erotic contradiction, adoration-incited insanity, and the delicate threshold between desire and destruction. With generative prompts, curated readings, thought experiments, micro-lessons, and group discussions, we will read, analyze, and draft love poems that entangle and disentangle the complexities of human connection.
8. Where Lyric & Image Meet: Exploring Intermedial Creation- Cass Garison
This workshop delves into the intersection of written language and visual art, blurring the boundaries between mediums and inviting them to collaborate and transform each other. With visual poetry, hybrid forms, ekphrasis, and verbal-imagistic experimentation, we will explore, discuss, and create at the meeting point of lyric and image. Designed for participants expanding their practice to include visual elements as well as those with prior experience in hybrid creation. This workshop emphasizes play, hands-on exploration, and collaborative experimentation. Sessions will focus on intermedial possibilities while encouraging attuneness to individual creative instincts.
Note: A variety of other inclusions including Editorial Feedback/ Retreat Facilitator 1 on 1 sessions and more will be included depending on the tier.
Full Experience (7 Days - $1000):
· Indulge in two exquisite dinners, including the celebrated Sampurna and the renowned De Vijf Vlieghen’s 6-course tasting menu
· Enjoy three exciting excursions and explore the best of Amsterdam
· Receive a 5-day I Amsterdam Card for free entry to top attractions
· Access to all workshops, plus an Amsterdam Literary swag bag
· Four digital chapbooks of your choice
· Optional writing and critique sessions
· Editorial feedback and an exclusive Editor Walk
Craft Focus (5 Days - $800):
· Savor a delicious dinner at Sampurna.
· Explore Amsterdam with one exciting excursion
· Enjoy a 5-day I Amsterdam Card for unlimited access
· Full access to workshops and an Amsterdam Literary swag bag
· Three digital chapbooks of your choice
· Optional writing session and editorial feedback
Bare Bones (4 Days - $600):
· Delight in a dinner at Sampurna
· 4-day I Amsterdam Card included
· Access all workshops and receive two digital chapbooks of your choice
Don't miss this incredible opportunity to hone your craft, immerse in Dutch culture, and make lasting literary connections. Reserve your spot for the Fahmidan Amsterdam Retreat 2025 today!