Ellen Waterston

Lost in Place
Intensive Writing Workshop

September 18-21, 2025

Presented by

High Desert Museum Literary Series and the Writing Ranch

The Lodge at Summer Lake

Summer Lake, Oregon

Calling all writers and nature enthusiasts! For the fifth year, the Writing Ranch and the High Desert Museum are collaborating to offer a unique long weekend This will be a weekend of exploration and creativity inspired by the breathtaking landscapes of the High Desert.

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of High Desert flora and fauna as well as the region’s rich archaeological heritage, thanks to morning field trips led by guest faculty.

Daily generative writing workshops will be informed and complemented by these excursions as well as by evening presentations. Writing prompts will focus on returning established and emerging poetry and prose writers to the page with renewed commitment and inspiration.

2025 Faculty:
Jon Nelson, High Desert Museum Curator of Wildlife
Dennis Jenkins, Senior Research Archaeologist for the Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon
Ellen Waterston, Oregon Poet Laureate and author, founder of the Writing Ranch, and guest faculty at OSU Cascades Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing.

Fee: $1,200 all inclusive (field trips, writing workshops, evening presentations, all meals and lodging at The Lodge at Summer Lake, Summer Lake, Oregon.

Please register (click here) at the High Desert Museum Website.

Fifteenth Annual

Writing Down the Baja

February 14-22, 2026

serendipity hotel

Todos Santos, BCS, Mexico

Designed for both emerging and established writers, the fifteenth annual Writing Down the Baja promises to be an exciting, fun and, above all, productive week. Drawing inspiration from generative prompts, supplementary readings, and explorations of the Baja itself, the focus of the daily writing sessions will be to improve craft in both poetry and prose. Writing Ranch founder, Oregon Poet Laureate and author, Ellen Waterston, along with guest faculty, author and poet John Calderazzo, and environmental writer SueEllen Campbell will lead this year’s workshops. See Learn More button below for additional information.