interrogation retreat 2025

Unearth writing retreats are hosted by Ari B. Cofer (@ari.b.cofer), author of Unfold and Paper Girl And The Knives That Made Her, and Caitlin Conlon (@cgcpoems), author of Burning The Ghost Light and The Surrender Theory.

The retreat is being held from Friday, August 15th, through Sunday, August 17th. Class will begin at 10AM on Friday, and the last workshop will end at 5PM on Sunday.

Your tuition costs $350, which includes three days worth of workshops, class discussions, writing exercises, and optional feedback from Ari & Caitlin. In addition, your tuition goes toward the use of our shared workshop space, and breakfast and lunch for each day of workshops. Lodging and transportation costs are not included. If you wish to explore the surrounding cities during or outside of retreat time, or if you’d like to buy additional food/drinks/souvenirs, we encourage you to bring extra funds to cover that cost.

Anyone flying to this retreat should fly into the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Please consider these costs when submitting your application to attend.

This retreat is different from others we’ve done in the past, where all participants have stayed in the same shared living space. For this retreat, we will maintain separate living spaces then come together for workshops. We have reserved a hotel block with the Holiday Inn Express on Grand Island, New York, with a rate of $210 a night (which can be split between other attendees if you are comfortable sharing a room). There are also cabins and yurts for rent through HRT Niagara, which is within walking distance of the retreat space. Additionally, participants may choose to commute if they are local, rent an AirBNB or equivalent living space, or choose another nearby hotel or motel. Please note, we may be able to help transport you between your living space and the workshop space if you are staying in the 14072 zip code. Uber and Lyft are available in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls area.

You may apply to attend with a friend, but you both still need to fill out separate applications. Please note the first and last name of the person you are hoping to be accepted with in the appropriate spot on the application form.

We understand that cost can be a prohibitive factor in applying to/accepting an invitation for our retreat, so we intend to fully fund the tuition for one applicant. While this scholarship is available to all applicants, we will prioritize those who are LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, women, and/or have recently experienced financial hardship due to the pandemic or displacing events such as hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, or wildfires. Scholarship recipients will still be responsible for travel and lodging costs.

Absolutely! You can donate to a scholarship fund or sponsor an attendee here.

Yes, we do require a non-refundable deposit of $100 USD to be paid within two weeks of acceptance to the retreat. We can accommodate payment plans, but ask that your full tuition is paid at least one month before the start of the retreat.

Each day will consist of a group discussion about selected poems, a warm-up writing session, and two full-length workshops led by Caitlin and Ari. Both Ari and Caitlin can provide extra writing assignments for your downtime if any writers are looking for them. Outside of workshops, there will be time to read, write, meditate, explore the surrounding Buffalo and Niagara Falls areas (Caitlin is from here, and will provide lists of restaurants & activities), or connect with other attendees.

Breakfast and lunch are provided, including snacks, and beverages. We can accommodate allergies, as well as special diets (vegan, gluten free, etc.) as long as we’re notified ahead of time. We also intend to have some fun, introvert-and-extrovert-approved bonding activities, as well as designated time for individual feedback from Caitlin and Ari on poetry written during the retreat. 

Your evenings will be free to do as you please.

We will be writing at the Alt Nature Preserve and Center on Grand Island, New York. This building has heating/cooling capabilities, a restroom, plenty of windows, and wifi. During class, we will have access to large, shared tables, and chairs. Outside of the center there are nature trails and gardens that will be open and available for us to use during downtime and writing sessions.

Please note, once you enter the Alt Nature Preserve there are three stairs that must be climbed in order to get to the main writing area. If this is inaccessible for you and you would like to attend this retreat, please reach out to Caitlin and Ari via unearthwritingretreats@gmail.com.

You must be 18 years of age or older to attend a retreat with us. However, we will be hosting more retreats in the future — check back when you turn 18 to see when the next retreat will be :)

If you enjoy writing, you’re already a writer. You don’t have to be published (traditionally or self), have any social media accounts for your writing, or have studied it in college to apply or attend. If you are interested in and motivated to learn about poetry, write good poetry, and engage with other poets, we would love to have you.

Not everyone who applies to a retreat will be accepted—but please don’t let that stop you from applying! Caitlin and Ari carefully curate the attendee list for each retreat to ensure that the attendees' writing styles, workshop styles, and personalities will create a safe and productive environment, and due to space and cost only a certain number of writers can attend any given retreat.

You can opt into joining the waitlist for a retreat, so keep an eye on your email if you don’t receive an initial acceptance. Finally, when a new application cycle starts, we reach out to all applicants — including attendees and those waitlisted from previous retreats — to encourage them to re-apply.

We plan to do rolling admissions for this retreat, which means you should hear back from us within one week of applying.

If something comes up and you need to cancel, please let us know as soon as possible so we can invite another applicant and refund any payments (other than your non-refundable deposit). If you cancel less than one month before the start of the retreat, we cannot issue refunds of any payments except in extreme circumstances. If, at some point after your acceptance, you suspend communication with us without warning (“ghost us”), we will not invite you to attend any future retreats. Please check your email and reach out if you have any questions.

Send Caitlin and Ari an email at unearthwritingretreats@gmail.com. DMs are not the best way to reach them.