For Writers In Idaho: Horse Back Riding Writing Retreat

I got this announcement in my e-mail and was asked to pass it along.

Writing the High Country:
A Fiction Workshop Intensive on a Western Cattle Ranch

Have you ever wanted to spend the morning on horseback and the afternoon writing about the quiet pull of a mountain range?

Here’s your chance: a week long fiction workshop intensive located on a working cattle ranch near the Snake River in the Idaho Tetons. We will read a selection of classic and contemporary western writing, discussing both the legacies of the mythical “old west” and the realities of the “new west” as they play out in literature. Ranching activities (trail rides, round-ups, camp fire yarns) and a rodeo will be interspersed throughout the workshop schedule. Each participant will emerge from the week with a piece of short fiction. Readings from Wallace Stegner, William Kittredge, Richard Hugo, Thomas McGuane, Richard Ford, Barry Lopez, Annie Proulx among others.

The Location: A working cattle ranch, Granite Creek Ranch is located in the Snake River valley in Ririe, Idaho, halfway between Jackson Hole, WY and Idaho Falls. The ranch is on a five-acre lake, surrounded by magnificent mountain vistas. Yellowstone & Teton National Parks are nearby. Accommodations are in rustic cabins. The cost of the workshop includes all meals, lodging, and activities. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to the ranch. For more info go to: www.granitecreekranch.com.

Dates: July 9-15th, 2006. Space is limited to twelve participants.

About the Instructor: Reif Larsen is a writer, filmmaker, and teacher. He has taught writing workshops in South Africa, the UK, and New York City, where he currently teaches writing at Columbia University. He is working on a novel based in Montana about cartographers, cowboys, and scientists.

It sounds interesting, but you won’t find me there. Me riding a horse is cruelty to the poor beast. Seriously, last time I rode I couldn’t get the horse to go more than 50 feet without turning around to go eat hay. But if you and horses mix, this could be some fun.