fifth Annual lost in place

Intensive Writing Workshop

September 18-21, 2025

the lodge at summer lake

summer lake, oregon

For the fifth year, the Writing Ranch and the High Desert Museum are joining forces to offer a unique long-weekend writing intensive based out of The Lodge at Summer Lake, Summer Lake, Oregon. Daily generative writing workshops will be informed and complemented by morning field trips and evening discussions led by guest faculty. Prompts will focus on returning established and emerging poetry and prose writers to the page with renewed commitment and inspiration.

Here’s what you can expect:

daily writing workshops
multi-genre explorations
outstanding lineup of guest faculty
All meals served at The Flyway Restaurant at the Lodge
guided field trips

Schedule (Schedule subject to change)

Thursday, September 18:
4:00 - 6:00 pm: Check-in and shown to lodging
6:00 - 8:30 pm: Welcome dinner, invocation by Ellen Waterston,
instructor at OSU Cascades’ Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing

Friday, September 19:
8:30 - 9:00 a.m.: Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Nature expedition led by Jon Nelson
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.: Lunch
1:30 - 3:30 p.m.: Writing workshop with Ellen Waterston
3:30 - 5:30 p.m.: Free time
6:00 - 8:30 p.m.: Dinner and presentation by Dennis Jenkins

Saturday, September 20:
8:30 - 9:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:00 p.m.: Exploration of archaeological sites with Dennis Jenkins
12:30 - 1:30 pm: Lunch
1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Writing workshop with Ellen Waterston
3:30 - 5:30 p.m.: Free time
6:00 - 8:30 pm: Lodge dinner. Participant reading.

Sunday, September 21:
8:30 - 9:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 – 11:00 a.m.: Finale
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm: To-go lunch preparation
1:30 – 4:30 pm: One-on-ones and writing time
12 noon - 12:30 pm: Cabin cleanup
12:30 p.m. - Depart

Venue

The Lodge at Summer Lake offers you quiet, comfortable, and clean hotel rooms and private cabins that overlook our own fully stocked three acre Trophy Bass fish pond. Our newly built cabins are cozy and decorated with a bit of Northwest woodsy flair that include full kitchens, a comfortable living room, and your own private porch on the pond. Bring your fishing pole and you can actually fish right off the back porch of your cabin. With a bit of luck you might catch one of our trophy sized bass.

Workshop Size

Limited to 12.

About the Faculty
Jon Nelson is curator of wildlife at the High Desert Museum. He is a biologist experienced in captive wildlife management, conservation field science, public engagement, and natural resources conservation.

Dennis Jenkins is Senior Research Archaeologist for the Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon. He has taught and directed the UO’s Northern Great Basin archaeological field school since 1989. Dennis is the author of seven books and numerous articles.

Award winning author and poet Ellen Waterston has published four poetry and four literary nonfiction titles, including, most recently, We Could Die Doing This (2024) and Walking the High Desert (2020). She is founder of the Writing Ranch which, since 2000, has conducted workshops for established and emerging writers, and of the annual Waterston Desert Writing Prize, established in 2015 and adopted in 2019 as a program of the High Desert Museum. In 2024 she was appointed to a two year term as the eleventh Oregon Poet Laureate and awarded both the Literary Arts of Portland’s Stewart H. Holbrook and Soapstone Bread and Roses awards recognizing her work as an author and advocate for the literary arts. Based in central Oregon, she serves on the faculty of OSU-Cascades’ MFA in Creative Writing. Ellen is completing a fifth collection of poetry.

Rates

All inclusive rate: $1,200.

Don’t forget to bring:
Favorite poem or collection of poems
BYOB
Binoculars
Bug spray
Sunblock
Walking shoes
Walking sticks or poles
Swimsuit
Writing tablet and/or laptop (Wi-fi and internet available in the Lodge)
Snacks

To reserve a spot for the all-inclusive retreat experience, contact the High Desert Museum.