O’ahu Writers Retreat at Mokule’ia

03/03/2025

The writing life is hard. It takes painstaking work and dealing with the pain of rejection. So I love to celebrate our successes... Check out the books and other accomplishments of our fellow retreaters on oahuwritersretreat[dot]com.

Here's the newest one:
Russell Rowland has published his memoir, Be a Man, exploring how his upbringing as a fourth-generation Montanan shaped his approach to death, alcoholism, domestic violence, and general failure. Rowland notes how hard it is to escape a dynamic created by history and media depictions of the frontier. As Russell's retreat instructor (and fellow Montanan) Bridget Quinn says, "The dudes cosplaying cowboys in our political and cultural arenas have got it all wrong—and it's dangerous, especially for men & boys. We all need these healing & hopeful stories of tonic masculinity."

02/28/2025

Aloha and welcome to the wonderful writers who have signed up for the 2025 retreat. (A few more spots are still available.) These chairs await us and our stories. Please use comments to say hello, tell us who you are, and what you write.

02/26/2025

Aloha, scribes. We have a wonderful group of writers shaping up for our April retreat, with a few rooms and day-rate spots still available for the 12th annual (!!) gathering. I will be sharing new details soon, but for fun I wanted to share Christina Fang's reminiscence of her first retreat in 2023. (We learned then what a lively writer she is!) Let her know what you think...

By Christina Fang “Is this going to the retreat?” I asked, breathless and standing in a wet one-piece on a Honolulu street corner.

02/02/2025

Read this helpful Substack by the wise and gentle Grant Faulkner, who will be leading the "flash" workshop at the retreat. Rejection, of course, is less an "occupational hazard" than an "occupational certainty." Please respond with thoughts, your own experiences, strategies--and please share!

How to develop a rejection mindset

01/31/2025

Been going through old photos and found this one of me and my bestie, Barbara Wood, from 1978. I was home between sophomore and junior year of college, she was an older sister, mentor, and muse. We are modeling tank tops from a new cafe in Hale‘iwa ("Caffeine, the Legal High") which we got as prizes at one of the poetry readings on Sunday nights. Those readings, I guess, marked my debut as a poet. It was the summer I called a North Shore sunset "the giant hukilau in the sky."

01/28/2025

Take a listen to this podcast about writing retreats. Our hosts are hybrid publishing guru Brooke Warner and literary man-about-town--and Mokule‘ia instructor this year--Grant Faulkner. The guests? Novelist and impresario Ellen Sussman and, well, me!

Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is currently in its fourth year. We are a weekly podcast for writers craving a unique blend of inspiration and real talk about the ups and downs of the …

01/21/2025

Registration has started. Morning sessions are with:
Grant Faulkner (flash fiction & nonfiction)
Susan Ito (memoir & personal essays)
Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes (fiction & advocacy)

Afternoon sessions with:
Constance Hale (Finding your voice)
Karla Brundage (poetry)
Tamara Leiokanoe Moan (images in art and words)
Zoe FitzGerald Carter (songwriting)

Saturday sessions:
Karla Brundage (poetry)
Donald Carreira Ching (fiction)
Malcolm Ryder (composition//decomposition)
Constance Hale (master class)

Send a message to learn more

01/15/2025

E Komo Mai! Join us on the journey! Registration for the April 2025 retreat is now open.

Facebook is not letting me share the link, but if you go to my website (constancehale.com) and click through Retreats, you'll find the form. I'll try to sort the problem with Facebook. :)

01/03/2025

Retreat alum Rachel Funk Heller has published her first mystery novel. “The Eclipse Killer” is the first in a four-part series, “The Forensic Astrology Files.” Set in San Francisco, the series features a homicide investigator working with an astrologer. The stories' intricate plots keep you guessing until the last page. Rachel will be in SF in early Feb for readings! More details at rachelfunkheller.com

12/20/2024

E komo mai! The website is updated, the faculty for morning workshops is confirmed: Grant Faulkner (flash fiction & nonfiction), Susan Ito (memoir & personal essays) Jasmin Iolani Hakes (fiction & advocacy). And there's so much more--art, songwriting, poetry, nature. Check out the site! Registration begins Jan. 15.

On O‘ahu's North Shore. All writers and artists welcome.

11/26/2024

Announcing the lineup for 2025: Grant Faulkner (Flash First Person Essays), Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes (Fiction), Susan Ito (Memoir). And lots more wonderfully creative stuff to come. Save the date: April 21-27. And here is the sunrise at Mokuleia just a few days ago.

11/13/2024

Aloha, writers. If you are on island (or on another island), consider joining us at Camp Mokule‘ia for a mini-retreat on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. Day 1 is generative writing--little lessons and prompts to get you writing much richer descriptive passages, with a focus on character and scene. Special session on nature with Karla Brundage. Day 2 is all about revising your work and enhancing your voice.

Workshops, classes and coaching for serious writers, held at locations ideal for the imagination and the craft

10/31/2024

If you are in the Bay Area...

Send a message to learn more

10/25/2024

Aloha, writers. Just sending a little news your way from me. I am busy writing a book proposal for a book on the writing life. I hope I'll be able to share some pages with you in April. (Sneak preview!) Otherwise, I am looking forward to a meeting of my poetry group tomorrow and figuring out what essay to write after my recent trip to Germany. See pix. What are YOU writing?

10/20/2024

Just reminding you about this invitation to submit from F(r)iction, a triannual art and literature journal that publishes a vibrant mix of speculative work and literary fiction.
Categories Accepted
• Short stories: 1,001 – 7,500 words
• Creative nonfiction: up to 6,500 words
• Flash fiction: (up to three pieces in the same document) up to 1,000 words per piece
• Poetry: (up to five poems in the same document) up the three pages per poem

I've just been invited to solicit submissions for the literary journal *f(r)fiction*. An upcoming issue is devoted to the theme of Ocean, and the editors are eager to hear from new writers. One of them has reached out and has created a pipeline that allows us (yes, us) to submit for free. You can find information on the website (https://frictionlit.org/upcomingthemes/), and I'm putting together a fact sheet that I can send you. Email connie [at] sinandsyntax [dot] com and I'll forward the fact sheet and the link for submissions.

In the meantime, here's what they say about the Ocean issue:

Covering 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, the ocean directly and constantly impacts our lives in ways we see and ways we don’t. From epic sea squalls and hurricanes and floods, to quiet currents that maintain the weather and house thousands of creatures, large and small, the seas wield immense power over climate and the lives of humankind. Yet, there’s so much we don’t know about the vast, abyssal territories of darkness, high pressure, and incredible cold and heat that surround us, impenetrable (or extremely dangerous) to landlubbers. In F(r)iction’s Ocean issue, we seek stories, poetry, and nonfiction about underwater cities, rising seas, harrowing travels, creation, destruction, thirst, and whales. Give us space whales! Tell us about a galaxy of oceans contained in a holographic fishtank, preach the gospel of Poseidon, or win millions with the help of a chance-taking cephalopod. The opportunities for observant and original writing are as boundless as expansive as the briny deep. Note: Works about Great Lakes, ponds, and other watery wonders will also be lovingly considered.

10/14/2024

On Saturday, Nov. 2, I will be onstage & in conversation with MacArthur "genius" award-winner Patrick Makuakane. We'll be talking hula, Hawai‘i, personal history, and past as present, and I'll make sure we go in surprise directions. Libations and live music start at 5:30, the program starts at 7. Join us at St. Teresa's Church, as part of the Potrero Hill Archives Project. E komo mai.

09/26/2024

I've just been invited to solicit submissions for the literary journal *f(r)fiction*. An upcoming issue is devoted to the theme of Ocean, and the editors are eager to hear from new writers. One of them has reached out and has created a pipeline that allows us (yes, us) to submit for free. You can find information on the website (https://frictionlit.org/upcomingthemes/), and I'm putting together a fact sheet that I can send you. Email connie [at] sinandsyntax [dot] com and I'll forward the fact sheet and the link for submissions.

In the meantime, here's what they say about the Ocean issue:

Covering 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, the ocean directly and constantly impacts our lives in ways we see and ways we don’t. From epic sea squalls and hurricanes and floods, to quiet currents that maintain the weather and house thousands of creatures, large and small, the seas wield immense power over climate and the lives of humankind. Yet, there’s so much we don’t know about the vast, abyssal territories of darkness, high pressure, and incredible cold and heat that surround us, impenetrable (or extremely dangerous) to landlubbers. In F(r)iction’s Ocean issue, we seek stories, poetry, and nonfiction about underwater cities, rising seas, harrowing travels, creation, destruction, thirst, and whales. Give us space whales! Tell us about a galaxy of oceans contained in a holographic fishtank, preach the gospel of Poseidon, or win millions with the help of a chance-taking cephalopod. The opportunities for observant and original writing are as boundless as expansive as the briny deep. Note: Works about Great Lakes, ponds, and other watery wonders will also be lovingly considered.

09/17/2024

I'm thrilled to announce the dates for 2025: April 21 to April 27. This means we start the retreat the day after Easter. If you come a day early we'll have to find a way to celebrate together. I realize this photo is a bit somber, but it's one of my favorites, taken by Malcolm Ryder from Kaukonahua Road, which snakes down from Schofield Barracks to Mokule’ia.