2022 Scriptoria Workshop

Imagine a boot camp for your writing: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Scriptoria is an interfaith writing workshop, a collaboration between Aquinas College, Calvin University, and Cornerstone University. Morning workshops, afternoon writing conferences, and evening readings will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan,

Over a small town lunch one day, author and Calvin University professor, Gary Schmidt said aloud, “I’d like to start an MFA program.”

Across from him sat Cornerstone professor Cynthia Beach. She recalled this comment and pondered it. Could it really happen? What if we tried?

The idea resurfaced a year later when Beach and Schmidt talked again at a writing conference. What if Calvin, Cornerstone, and Aquinas joined efforts?

Scriptoria: An Interfaith Writing Workshop had begun.

Schmidt, Beach, and Dr. Gretchen Rumohr, English chair at Aquinas, then started monthly meetings to dream and to plan.

Why? To awaken creativity. To teach craft elements. To wrestle with ways in which each faith tradition may affect the writer’s purpose and process.

So, Scriptoria is a seed of a dream, for a program someday perhaps. For now, it’s a gift of industry-level feedback, one-on-one’s, and connection to a warm and loving writing community.

What Scriptoria Offers

Scriptoria, modeled after MFA residencies, offers the following:

• morning workshop class, limited to 8 participants, where participants receive industry-level feedback on their writing

• classes focused on writing instruction: craft, process, creativity, and faith

• two scheduled one-on-one’s with editors

• evening readings by special guests & faculty

• open mic for participants

• Wednesday night barbecue at the Schmidt farm

Registration

The registration deadline has passed.