Wielding Words for Change: Writers Retreat
July 6 - July 13
“Action is the antidote to despair,” the singer/activist Joan Baez once said. Take action by joining fellow writers at Tidelines Institute’s beautiful Inian Islands Campus near Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska—and make your craft count. This week-long gathering will empower you with real tools for climate action, and teach the art of changing people’s minds through story, empathy and humor. It will be a week to slow down, find inspiration, sharpen writing skills, eat delicious locally-grown food, walk through old-growth forests, and paddle with sea lions and new friends.
Join national champion debate coach and award-winning author Daniel Henry, two-time National Outdoor Book Award winner Kim Heacox, and climate scientist, educator, and activist Zach Brown, PhD, for this intensive course on the spoken and written word, and become a stronger, more persuasive environmental leader.
July 6-13 2025
$1600 all-inclusive from Juneau, AK
FMI & to apply: zach@tidelinesinstitute.org
MORE INFORMATION
From Zack Brown, Co-Executive Director, Tidelines Institute:
To my fellow writers—and aspiring writer-activists!
Thank you for your interest in our July 6-13 program, Wielding Words for Change, hosted at Tidelines Institute’s Inian Islands Campus in Alaska. Far from cell signal or busy streets, on the edge of the largest contiguous expanse of protected wildlands on the planet, Tidelines Institute is an unparalleled place for honing your craft and for building community with other writers.
Your instructors/presenters for this program, all Alaskans, include:
Kim Heacox, author of National Outdoor Book Award winners The Only Kayak and Jimmy Bluefeather, and regular opinion contributor at The Guardian. Kim will teach on “writing to the light,” including how to craft strong opinion pieces that speak to the urgency of our moment.
Dan Henry, a 40-year educator, NEH teacher-scholar, Pushcart Prize recipient, national champion debate coach, and author of Across the Shaman’s River: John Muir, the Tlingit Stronghold, and the Opening of the North. Dan will teach on crucial rhetorical tools, including building ethos and building strong arguments, both written and verbal.
Zach Brown, PhD, climate scientist, educator, and activist, and Co-Executive Director of Tidelines Institute. Zach will teach on the climate crisis and the real tools the climate movement is using to end the fossil fuel era—very much including communication and storytelling.
We will provide a daily calendar of sessions and activities as the program gets closer.
In this intimate, community-building program, no doubt you will learn as much from each other as from your nominal instructors! The priceless conversations will not be about narrative structure (which could be discussed in any Zoom room) but hearing your kayak partner’s life story while watching humpback whale blows, or spontaneously laughing together while chopping garden kale and grilling fresh caught salmon.
Tidelines Institute will provide all lodging, meals, instruction, logistics, equipment, and wilderness guiding. This is a coastal temperate rainforest, so you should expect cool temperatures and a mix of sun and rain as we explore on foot and by kayak. Housing will be in a beautiful 12-person bunkhouse with wood heat. This shared sleeping space is “youth hostel” style with minimal privacy; if necessary, we can arrange other housing options (including tent camping, or a few beds with more privacy in our guest cabin) to ensure everyone’s comfort. Whatever your sleeping accommodations, there will be a shared composting outhouse and shower. Please don’t plan on showering every day, and laundry will be limited. All meals will be provided, and they’ll be hearty & delicious. Sometimes participants will join in the deeply human work of cooking together. We will make our best effort to accommodate dietary restrictions, but be aware that Tidelines Institute is extremely remote, and food choices will therefore be limited. Tidelines Institute is emphatically not an allergen-free environment, and we cannot accommodate participants with a history of anaphylaxis upon trace exposure to common allergens.
We will ask participants to minimize phone and laptop use for the duration in order to create as immersive a gathering as possible. We have an office with satellite wifi to accommodate can’t-miss virtual meetings, family check-ins, etc; Participants may also use our campus’s shared phone (reachable at 907 885 0220).
To apply, please email Zach (zach@tidelinesinstitute.org) a short statement of interest, no more than 400 words, stating why you wish to attend this program, what motivates you to “wield words for change,” and how you hope to use the tools gained to make a difference in your community or beyond.
This program costs $1600 in addition to booking your own travel to Juneau, AK. In other words, the $1600 fee, payable to Tidelines Institute, is all-inclusive from Juneau.
Once you’ve sent your statement of interest, in order to secure your spot, we will ask that by March 31, you provide a $400 deposit to Tidelines Institute. This can be a check [mailed to Tidelines Institute, PO Box 100, Gustavus, AK 99826], or Zach can connect you with our administrative assistant to remit electronic payment. This program is already filling rapidly, so don’t wait to secure your spot!
Flight Information:
On Sunday July 6 you must arrive in Juneau in time to catch the 10am charter flight from Juneau to the Inian Islands. Alaska Airlines flight 61 from Seattle (arriving JNU at 8:32am) and Alaska Airlines flight 62 from Anchorage (arriving JNU at 8:37am) would both work—otherwise, it may mean arriving in Juneau the previous day. On Sunday July 13, you will catch a charter flight from the Inian islands back to Juneau, arriving at the Juneau Airport around 12:30pm. You should therefore schedule your departing flight from Juneau no earlier than mid-afternoon. (Alaska Airlines flight 240 to Seattle, departing JNU at 2:15pm, would be cutting it close but just might work!)
A future message will lay out more logistics, a packing list, and other specifics. If you have questions I’ve failed to answer here, please email me.
We hope to see you this summer, and bring more powerful voices into the movement for climate & environmental justice!
Zach Brown, PhD
Co-Executive Director, Tidelines Institute
zach@tidelinesinstitute.org
907 697 2210
Living & Working on Traditional Tlingit lands of the Huna Káawu
