Opening the Heart of Poetry: Writing as a Practice of Transformation & Discovery, ZMC 6/23–6/28

Teachers
Practice Center
Date / Time
Jun 23, 2026 / 4:00pm - Jun 28, 2026 / 11:00am
Event Type
Workshops and Retreats
Description

All welcome, beginning and experienced writers alike.

Mystery, generosity, observation, and invention are part of any genuinely creative act. So too is the ability to make of ourselves a passageway and conduit to the large and the shared, the intimate and the private, the joyous, the grievous, the unexpected. The energies of poem-making, like the energies of existence itself, are transforming and undomesticable forces. Yet they can be invited and welcomed. The cultivation of an open and permeable attention in many directions will be at the heart of this gathering. Along with invitations to write and brief talks touching on poetry and Zen as shared practices, there’ll be time for consideration of craft and for poems’ exchanging; time for reading, rest, and free writing; and time, as always, to experience Tassajara’s own teachings: the poems of meditation hall and creek, of birdsong, yucca, and steepness, of hot springs and clear-sky stars.

Participants should bring with them a selection of five or six poems written by others (no longer than one page, please) that they find transformative, revelatory, moving, consoling, awakening of depth; also writing materials, creativity’s intentions, and perhaps a few questions.

Fee Information
  • Benefactor Ticket Price: $550
  • General ticket price: $440
  • SFZC Member Ticket Price: $374

Please note that the retreat fee does not include accommodations. Retreats begin at 4 pm on the indicated start date and end by noon on the indicated end date. Visit the Rooms & Rates section and determine your preferred accommodations before making your reservations request online.

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