Calendar of Events
The Farmhouse Women’s Wellness and Writing Weekend, Colrain, MA
July 1-4, 2025 | The Farmhouse Women’s Wellness and Writing Weekend, Colrain, MA
All inclusive rates for 3 nights and 4 days (7 Spots Available)
Sessions on writing, self-care and soul-care Attend the workshops and/or enjoy different activities on your own!
Onsite activities: Hot tub, ping pong, games, campfire, hiking, massage appointments, intuitive reading
yoga, trail hiking
Offsite activities: Hiking, rail trail biking, kayaking, swimming, nature walks and birding, flea market, shopping, historic sites and museums
Evening activities: Campfire concert, star gazing talk, sharing circle
Where We Live: Sense of Place Concert and Writers Showcase, Turner's Falls, MA
Great Falls Discovery Center, Turners Falls, MA
WHAT: Where We Live: Sense of Place Concert and Writers Showcase with Erica Wheeler
DESCRIPTION: Singer-songwriter Erica Wheeler will perform a concert of place-based songs and also invite participants from her NEA Big Read workshop series (see April 10, 16, and 17 events above) to share their writings with the audience. The event is free and open to all, refreshments provided. Erica helped us kick off our NEA Big Read with an inspiring Orchard Saunter last November.
Gifted with a beautiful voice, Erica Wheeler is an award-winning singer-songwriter and TEDx speaker. She has worked extensively with the National Park Service and other natural, cultural, and historic sites helping them create compelling visitor programs.
When she paints a landscape with song, she strikes a chord that resonates at a deep emotional level. —Baltimore Woods Nature Center, Marcellus, NY
The Permaculture Place, Shelburne Falls, MA
APRIL 17, Thursday 6:30-8 pm (Pre-registration required)
The Permaculture Place, Shelburne Falls, MA
WHAT: Where We Live: A Sense of Place Story and Writing Workshop with Erica Wheeler
DESCRIPTION: This 90-minute workshop invites writers of all levels to craft vivid, sensory-rich stories, poems, or songs inspired by personal experiences with place. Through guided prompts and conversation, you’ll uncover fresh perspectives and creative sparks to enrich your writing and deepen your connection to yourself and where you live.
Co-sponsored by PVMA and Montague Public Libraries’ NEA Big Read and The Permaculture Place. Workshop participants will be invited to share their writings at a culminating concert with Erica Wheeler and writer’s showcase event celebrating local voices and stories on April 27, from 3-5 pm at the Great Falls Discovery Center.
WHERE: The Permaculture Place, 49 Conway Street, Shelburne Falls, MA
https://www.thepermacultureplace.org/events
Where We Live: A Sense of Place Story and Writing Workshop, Northampton, MA
(Pre-registration required)
Coolidge Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
WHAT: Where We Live: A Sense of Place Story and Writing Workshop with Erica Wheeler
DESCRIPTION: This 90-minute workshop invites writers of all levels to craft vivid, sensory-rich stories, poems, or songs inspired by personal experiences with place. Through guided prompts and conversation, you’ll uncover fresh perspectives and creative sparks to enrich your writing and deepen your connection to yourself and where you live.
Co-sponsored by PVMA and Montague Public Libraries’ NEA Big Read and All Hamptons Read. Workshop participants will be invited to share their writings at a culminating concert with Erica Wheeler and writer’s showcase event celebrating local voices and stories on April 27, from 3-5 pm at the Great Falls Discovery Center.
WHERE: Coolidge Museum, Forbes Library, 20 West St., Northampton MA
More details and registration link here. Registrations open at 6:30pm Wednesday, March 19.
Where We Live: A Sense of Place Story and Writing Workshop , Holyoke, MA
(Pre-registration required)
Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke, MA
WHAT: Where We Live: A Sense of Place Story and Writing Workshop with Erica Wheeler
DESCRIPTION: This 90-minute workshop invites writers of all levels to craft vivid, sensory-rich stories, poems, or songs inspired by personal experiences with place. Through guided prompts and conversation, you’ll uncover fresh perspectives and creative sparks to enrich your writing and deepen your connection to yourself and where you live.
Co-sponsored by PVMA and Montague Public Libraries’ NEA Big Read and Wistariahurst Museum. Workshop participants will be invited to share their writings at a culminating concert with Erica Wheeler and writer’s showcase event celebrating local voices and stories on April 27, from 3-5 pm at the Great Falls Discovery Center.
WHERE: Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot Street, Holyoke, MA
More details and registration link here.
Blossom: A Creative Writing Breakthrough Retreat (Online)
A Creative Writing Breakthrough Retreat
A full day of writing, reflection, creativity and community. Explore whatever is emerging in your writing and your life. Experience Erica's "power hour" writing breakthrough process. Use the energy of spring to kick-start your writing or your next step in life.
National Association for Interpretation Conference, Concurrent Session
Belonging, Inclusion and the Power of Place
See your site from a fresh perspective. Brainstorm with peers to develop an inclusive, site-specific, place-centered program to engage different learning styles. Gain a proven process to make program outlining easy.
1. Use a sense of place lens to create more inclusive, relevant and engaging programs.
2. Expand your interpretation toolbox with fresh ideas and practical tools.
3. Create a meaningful mini-program outline.
https://nai-us.org/NAIConference
Keynote: New Mexico Council on Aging
Sense of Place, Story and Well-Being Keynote
Be prepared to take an unforgettable journey through song, story and conversation that evokes personal stories grounded in the power of place. Learn why place-based memories stay with us so vividly forever. Gain insight for ways to think about your journey through life and your narratives in a new way. Leave recharged and with a sense of place, well-being and belonging that is deeply needed in our world, no matter where you are.
https://www.aginginnm.org/speakers
Women's Wellness Retreat: Attean Lake Lodge, Jackman, Maine
This wellness retreat is designed to rejuvenate a group of women through yoga and meditation, art and crafts, and nature walks in a serene setting.
I’ll be giving a campfire concert and writing workshop at this beautiful wilderness camp!!!
https://www.atteanlakelodge.com/event-details/womens-wellness-retreat-2?fbclid=IwY2xjawEg4u9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHd13Acg-hW16rz90Vdag_px_K2TowywB080UkvWyW3CQB1L1pNq8N9B7Dg_aem_nlFbqARHBNfsmk5VqQq0PA
Interpretation Canada National Conference 2023 (ONLINE)
Some interpretive trainings offer formulaic techniques for participants to implement afterwards. Erica offers a collaborative development segment in her Sense of Place and the Art of Interpretation trainings which helps interpreters apply what they have gained. This session will provide case studies from sites across North America that have used her approach to think outside the box, experiment with techniques, and generate ideas and apply to create new programs or refresh current offerings.
Great Camp Sagamore: Sense of Place Writing Workshop
https://www.sagamore.org/august/sense-of-place-writing
Great Camp Sagamore Songwriting Weekend
https://www.sagamore.org/july-programs/rooted-in-place
Deepening the Power of Place: Exploring our Cultural Crossroads through Story, Song and Spoken Word
A Keynote Concert and Conversation with Erica Wheeler + Poetry and Spoken word with Andre StrongBearHeart Gaines, Jr. and friends.
Open Alumni Tea and Reading
Come and listen to current and past participants of Sense of Place Writing classes. FREE!
Enjoy a cozy and nourishing afternoon of creativity and community.
The Gift of Story: A Winter Solstice Retreat
2 full days of inspiration, tools, creativity, and support.
December 17th to 18th, 10 am to 8 pm ET
Live online with Erica Wheeler
This will be a fun and soulful retreat! We’ll be using Clarissa Estes Pinkola’s “Gift of Story” as inspiration, plus the classic story format of holiday movies. It will also help you get grounded and centered in the essence of the season and what it really means. Find and share stories as a gift for yourself or others.
Includes: Pre-retreat guidebook prompts, and practices you can use long after the retreat is over.
Come enjoy a nourishing community of support and celebrate this time of year!
Gratitude: A November Creative Writing Retreat
1 full day of inspiration, tools, creativity, and support.
Sunday, November 20th, 10 am ET to 8 pm ET
Live online with Erica Wheeler
Change your relationship with your writing through gratitude. Take time to reflect on your connection to the earth, people, places and objects that are meaningful to you. The full-day format helps you dive below the surface and stay with a piece of writing until you get a draft.
Includes: Pre-retreat guidebook prompts, and practices you can use long after the retreat is over.
Give yourself a day of reflection, inspiration, creativity and community.
Fall Writing Series
If you yearn to write more and are looking for inspiration and a community that is grounded in a sense of place to uncover the memories and experiences that bring a story to life, this is for you.
It's for all kinds of writers: non-fiction, historical fiction, memoir, interpretation, songs, poetry, and more.
You'll get a unique, proven framework, along with the practices and tools you need to kickstart your writing and keep honing your craft.
By the end of the year, you'll have completed writings and mapped out your next steps.
Free Writing Session: Celebrate the Fall Equniox
Cozy up. Write to celebrate the season. Stack your creative wood.
What you'll get:
75-minute live Zoom call
Grounding and Centering Practice
Find Your Sense of Place Story Practice and Worksheet
Nourishing Community
Come live or get the recording 24 hours after class.
Deep Dive Summer Writing Retreat
June 23rd-26th: Deep Dive Summer Writing Retreat.
Save the dates. More details soon.
Return of the Songbird: A Story-Songwriting Retreat
April 23rd: Return of the Songbird: A Story-Songwriting Retreat.
10 am-8 pm ET Online Live
Blossom: A Springtime Writing Retreat
March 27th: Blossom: A Springtime Writing Retreat.
10 am-8 pm ET on Zoom.
The STORY LAB
January 16th-April 2nd , 3-5 pm ET
A 12-Week Series to grow your writing and your creative practice. We meet for 2 hours via Zoom on Sunday afternoons. If you've worked with me before, this is the perfect place to put your ideas, tools and skills to work. Learn more and register
