I knew my weeklong writing residency would provide me with a room of my own, but I couldn’t have imagined the creatively charged environment that Steve and Sarah have created at the Wellstone Center or what a profound effect it would have on my writing and my ability to write. Having the time and space to think, surrounded by a talented group of writers and a stunning Northern California rainforest, I had the clarity to delve into my novel in an entirely new way. I can honestly say I have never been more productive in my writing life.

– Bronwen Hruska, Novelist and Publisher, Soho Press

Residents often stay in the Glass House, looking out on a grove of redwoods, a serene and peaceful environment ideal to focus on writing. Residents take care of their own meals, with full access to our extensive kitchen, but on their first night we invite them to a welcome dinner, and during the week, Monday through Friday, writers usually cook for the group one night.

A visiting writer can enjoy many hours of solitude, either in the Glass House or on a walk on our private trails through the redwoods or elsewhere on our 4.7 acres of beautiful land, four miles up from the Pacific Ocean near Santa Cruz, California. Twice a week we have morning yoga and on Tuesday night visiting writers read from their writing project at OpenMic night.

APPLY: Write any time to Sarah@wellstoneredwoods.org. Please send us a short letter (200 to 300 words) explaining your interest and describing the writing project you wish to pursue, telling us about any published work you’d like to highlight – and include a sample of the work in progress (around 1,000 words, preferably).

NOTE: We updated our rates in 2022. Residencies run from Monday to Monday, and the updated fee to stay in the Glass House is $500, or for the larger Zen Suite or Pool House it’s $600. For the Library House, a beautiful stand-alone cabin with no running water or electricity, the rate is $450; for pictures, visit our Emerging Writer Residency page. Want to double your stay? The rate for a second week is $400—whether you’re in the Glass House, Zen Suite or Pool House. 

REFUND POLICY: As a small writers’ retreat center, we cannot offer refunds on booked residencies once writers have arrived, even in the case of family emergency. Up to two weeks before arrival, we can attempt to move the dates of a residency, or in some cases, offer a partial refund, to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

ABOUT THE WELLSTONE CENTER

Founded in 2012 by Sarah Ringler and Steve Kettmann, the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods is a small, low-key writers retreat center that brings people together in a tranquil and peaceful environment.

TESTIMONIALS

You know that quiet street you often drive to clear your head and gather your thoughts? Or that coffee shop that knows you well enough to know how you like your latte and how you like to be left alone to read or write? It’s like that one room in your home where the door shuts tight, the walls are insulated just enough, or the space warrants a level of privacy. I don’t know about you, but I have all of these places and they are sacred, nearly too sacred to share. To that list of sacred places, where there’s no time or space, I could easily add the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods. I’ve had a very turbulent year of passing; people, time and opportunities included. After searching far and wide for a place to retreat, I found WCR. And with great preparation, and patience from my clients, I became as selfish as possible for seven days and gave myself back to myself.  Maybe you will write, from sunup to sundown. Maybe you will read and run through the redwoods. Maybe you walk barefoot on the land and in your mind. Maybe you will lose connection to the outside world and strengthen connection to your creative spirit. Feel free, feel completely free to create like your life depends on it. Because it does.

–Shalishah Franklin