Salt Lines Poetry Retreat

Georgetown Island, Maine

October 6-8, 2026*

 

Gathering with other poets isn't only enjoyable—it's essential—as is sustained quiet, natural beauty, and a sense of belonging among like-minded humans.

This early Autumn retreat takes place  the charming historic Grey Havens Inn on the wild coast of Maine, just an hour from Portland. 

We'll rediscover how it feels to slow way down to the pace of a poem, write what feels true, and speak with the courage of our convictions. 

We'll remember why we write and why we need each other. 

We'll enjoy generous meals around a beautifully laid table, prepared by the award winning chef of Blu Restaurant.

We'll walk the shoreline and some will go swimming or fishing.

We'll affirm the importance of what we do when we are together, making lives and work that reflect our full humanness.

During the 2026 session we'll give special attention to an unfinished project that has been calling our name. The time is now to complete it. Within a warm community, guided conversations, and with the seasoned guidance of your host, author and artist Holly Wren Spaulding, you will accomplish something not only artistically significant, but personally profound. To confirm the form and commit to finishing a piece of work is a threshold experience. Many writers struggle to do this on their own. We will do it together, as the season shifts, as a way of harvesting and honoring what we've been working on in the earlier months of the year, or perhaps for many years.

It's time to gather your poems. 

it's time to complete what you've been carrying.

*Some participants may choose to arrive a day early, or stay longer at the inn, for unstructured time, extra rest, and integration time.

 

Creativity as necessity. Community as tonic. Poetry as the essence of our humanness.

 

  • We'll write, inspired by the liminal space where salt water meets the edge of the continent
  • We'll give uninterrupted attention to a project that has been calling to us, and needs to be completed
  • We'll share our work in progress in a circle of Poetry Forge friends, and receive supportive feedback
  • We'll engage in life-sustaining conversations about the realities that surround our commitments to a creative life, and the hopes and dreams we have for our writing
  • We'll find inspiration in the coastal landscape, fresh air, dark night skies, and plant poetics
  • We'll listen and laugh together
  • We'll curate our best lines—and look forward to seeing them transformed into a set of limited edition letterpress poetry cards, printed as a keepsake by a skilled artisan

 

Proposed Schedule

The vision for this gathering is spacious, generous, and calm. We we be under one roof, overlooking the ocean. We will savor and go slow. We will enjoy doing what we love to do. Time will bend and the days will be ours.

 

Monday, October 5

Optional early arrival at the inn or in the area. Take it slow, explore local trails, and work independently before the retreat begins on Tuesday. The restaurant at the inn is not open on this day, but charming local eateries exist nearby. Why not add a day to your trip and use it to see a bit more of Maine, or relax at the inn? Reach out to Holly if this appeals to you.

 

Tuesday, October 6

Check-in at the inn is 3 pm. Join Holly and other Poetry Forge friends on the wrap around porch for our first activity (it's a surprise). Share a meal in the restaurant once everyone is present. Dinner will be followed by a visioning and writing workshop in the salon, before we retire to the quiet and privacy of our rooms.

 

Wednesday, October 7

Coffee, tea and quiet writing happen on the porch or in your room. Our workshop begins after a generous continental breakfast and time to stretch outdoors. We'll use this time at the long table to focus on bringing form and clarity to a group of poems that you've been wanting to gather into a project of some kind. After lunch, some may prefer to write in their room, while others will want to gather in small groups for critique. Those who want to walk the shoreline may carpool to a local park do so. At 4 pm we'll circle up for another workshop. Happy hour is followed by a celebratory meal in the dining room. As night falls, gather around for a reading from work in progress: bring something you want to share with a warm and encouraging audience of peers. Porch conversations, star gazing, board games, and tarot readings may follow. Or maybe you know how to play the piano—there's one in the salon and we'd love to hear you. If the most delicious thing in the world is a hot bath and reading alone in bed, Holly will provide bath salts. This is the day when we remember the pleasures of summer camp, or the fortifying pleasures of an artist residency. If you need the evening to arrange your poems into a collection, Holly has washi tape for you! What will make this time feel most meaningful to you?

 

Thursday, October 8

Join Holly for early morning writing on the porch, a curatorial exercise, hearty breakfast, and final words.  Check-out is 11 am.

 

This outline is meant to give you a sense of the flow of the days, including opportunities for you to do your own thing, while also preserving some of the magic and mystery of this special gathering. Changes are bound to be made as we get closer to our retreat dates.

 

Additional practical details about this retreat may be found here.

This retreat is for you if

  • You’re longing for dedicated, uninterrupted time to attend to your creative process—and to be with your poems in a deeper, more devoted way.
  • You want to gather with other poets in a space that is generous, thoughtful, and genuinely supportive.
  • You’re ready for close, meaningful feedback on your work, along with guidance that helps you see what your poems are asking for next.
  • You feel the pull to step away from screens and into a slower rhythm—one shaped by light, tides, conversation, and quiet.
  • You’re craving a creative experience that feels both nourishing and memorable—something that will stay with you long after you return home.

 

Join Us

We are a warm circle of devoted poets interested in tending our creative practice among like-minded folk. Together, we are placing creative practice at the heart of a well-lived existence. We are making  and completing our work. We are not alone.

Register for the Retreat

 "For a moment in time, the noise of the world settled, and the voice of the world emerged through poems, new friends, delicious meals, encouragement, empowerment, sun-dappled silence, rooster crows, butterfly wings, ocean waves, periwinkle paths, and laughter. So much laughter! I arrived not sure where I belonged. I left as a poet amongst gorgeous, talented, inspired poet friends. I am still marveling at that. Thank you."

—Jane H., Salt Lines Poetry Retreat, 2026 

 

"It was really a wonderful gathering, and I loved the built-in spaciousness as well as the together time."

—Lori L., Poetry Forge Mini-Residency, Georgetown Island, 2024

 

“It is a gift to be with people in community, while at the same time, being alone. . . . I felt very held and grounded and connected to something bigger than all of us.”

—Ashley M., Blue Shore Writers Retreat, 2024

 

"It’s hard to express how much I loved being at this residency. Thank you for being the person to dream it up and put it on."

—Charlotte W., Poetry Forge Mini-Residency, 2024

 

 

Salt Lines Poetry Retreat--Fall 2026

A poetry retreat with Holly Wren Spaulding in midcoast Maine.

4 monthly payments of $400.00 USD

Your Retreat Includes

 

All retreat programming and materials, your room and meals at the inn (October 6-8), happy hour wine, special tokens, and a limited edition set of letterpress cards containing your words, handcrafted by a skilled artisan. Sunrise and sunset beside the ocean. Incredible views. Birdsong. Wavesong. Soothing tides. Friendship and community. Instruction, feedback, and stewardship of your work in progress. Clarity and a path toward completion.Â