Treehouse Writers
One-Day Workshop
Saturday, September 21st
Auburn, Washington
Tickets: $279
Registration closed. See you in 2025!
Fall back in love with writing
Join us in a unique, natural setting for a day of work and play focused on the craft of writing. Feel reinvigorated and fiendishly talented as the words just flow out of you, spurred by thoughtful prompts and energizing challenges. Be a part of something special while forming lasting bonds with fellow writers.
Write and publish
Earn a valuable publishing credit for your author portfolio! Every participant in the one-day Adventures in Writing workshop is invited to publish in the Treehouse Writers Anthology. The anthology, published by Avasta Press, will be available for distribution through Amazon and bookstores worldwide.
Let us gather amongst the trees
A bit of magic comes from writing in natural settings. Your work is unique and special. Come away to unique and special place certain to stimulate your senses and recharge your creative energy.
We'll meet in a modernized, African-inspired meeting hut for primary program blocks. Small group break-out session will scatter in the garden, or even up in the Kenyan-styled Treehouse built by Pete Nelson and famously featured on Treehouse Masters.
An event like no other
Your facilitator, Kelsye Nelson, offers surprising creative invocations and skillful guidance specifically designed to ignite your joy and enthusiasm for writing.
Activities include surrealist and collaborative writing games, guided writing exercises exploring voice and perspective, small group break-out sessions, writing in nature and sensory writing practices. The day ends with an open mic. Share something you just wrote, or a short piece you’ve brought with you.
Be astonished with the thoughtful, unique work you produce that very day. Delight in the uncommon brilliance of your peers and collaborators. Leave the event not only with pages and pages of new writing, but also lasting connections formed with fellow writers.
Write
Generate new work through guided exercises, explorations in voice and perspective, and sensory writing experiments.
Connect
Enjoy new bonds formed with fellow writers. Delight in your remarkable creations inspired by surrealist, collaborative writing games.
Share
Read your work at the open mic session at the end of the day. Share a piece you wrote that very day, or a piece you've written before the workshop.
Publish
Contribute your best work to the Treehouse Writers Anthology. Free, priority submissions available only to workshop participants.
3-night writer's retreat in the treehouse!
Imagine writing your next book in a cozy cabin high up in the trees. Write your lines at a gorgeous, hand-made wooden desk as you gaze out the window through the trees at the horses trotting through the nearby pasture.
Each retreat participant is entered in a drawing to win a free 3-night writers retreat in the African in Auburn Treehouse. A $600 value! Choose to schedule your retreat for dates between April and September 2025, subject to availability. Originally designed as a writing cabin for an African historian, the treehouse has hosted hundreds of artists looking to get away and work on their craft.
Meet your hosts
Kelsye Nelson, Gutsy Creatives Director
Kelsye is an author, entrepreneur and creative community organizer. She serves as Director at Gutsy Creatives and managing editor of Avasta Press. She holds a BA in writing and art activism from Evergreen State College and completed graduate coursework in the publishing arts program at Antioch Los Angeles. She taught the business of digital publishing at the University of Washington and English at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan. A fierce advocate for building supportive writer communities, she founded multiple writers groups, the oldest of which has been meeting for 17 years. Learn more about at Kelsye.com/about.
Skeeter Wilson, Author & Africa in Auburn Treehouse Creator
Skeeter Wilson grew up in Kenya, in the Agikuyu highlands along the edge of the Great Rift Valley, until he was nineteen. While much of his life in America has been as a business owner, he was always a writer and an amateur historian. He holds an undergraduate degree in history and creative writing from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, where he got the Hayden Carruth Award for a non-fiction short story, Empty Nets. He received a dual MA in Creative Writing and African Historical Fiction from Alaska Pacific University. Skeeter founded Lens & Pens, a press dedicated to publishing African thinkers who can't get published in their own country for political reasons. Find Skeeter's books on Amazon.
Praise for Kelsye's writing guidance:
"Kelsye [Nelson] offers insights that are brilliant, articulate, and always on point for the individual, for the unique piece—will leave you exhilarated; that she, a writer herself, tackles the same challenges you do will leave you compassionate and determined, enriched through a sense of having shared a journey. She does it all with authenticity and humility will leave you inspired. I highly recommend collaborating with her at any opportunity you can."
- Robert Caldwell, CEO at Celumbra, Author
Registration closed. See you next year!
Event Registration_
$279 full event access and benefits. Registration closed.
Additional Registration Options
To make our workshop accessible to all writers regardless of financial status, we offer a limited number of reduced price registration options. No proof of income required.
Pay Klarna Split Payments
Registration closed.
Split your payments and pay over time with Klarna.
Volunteer Registration
Registration closed.
Serve as an event volunteer and register for $50.
"Pay What You Can"
Sold out! Full event access and benefits. Min $25.
Workshop Information
Schedule
Saturday, September 21st, 2024
10:30PM ~ 5:00PM Instructional Program
6:00M ~ 8:30PM Optional Open-mic Reading
10:30am Welcome!
11:00AM ~ 12:30PM Program Block #1
12:30PM ~ 1:15PM Lunch Bring your own.
1:15PM ~ 2:45PM Program Block #2
2:45PM ~ 3:00PM Break Snacks & drinks provided.
3:00PM ~ 5:00PM Program Block #3
5:00PM ~ 5:30PM Break Snacks & drinks provided.
5:30PM ~ 6:00PM Anthology Q&A
6:00PM ~ 8:30PM Open-mic Reading Optional.
While the 10:30am start time will not change, program blocks and break times may be adjusted day of the event.
Location
Africa in Auburn Treehouse & Meeting Hut
16615 SE 311th St
Auburn, Washington 98092
Wear layers! The majority of your day will be spent in a heated gazebo, but some activities will take place in the garden. While the day may be balmy and pleasant, be prepared for rain and unexpected cold.
Submissions, Snacks & Swag!
Your $279 registration entitles you to complete access to the full day of writing workshop events, plus:
No fee submission to the Treehouse Writers Anthology Up to 3 pieces.
Publication of at least 1 writing piece in the Treehouse Writers Anthology Subject to editorial discretion.
Hearty, healthy and indulgent buffet of snacks and drinks during the event. Non-alcoholic. Tea, coffee and more.
Limited-edition Treehouse Writers swag
One entry in the drawing for a 3-night writing retreat in the treehouse, to be scheduled between April - September, 2024.
Bring your own brown-bag lunch! While you'll have access to a wide variety of snacks and drinks, we highly recommend you bring your own lunch and/or dinner as the day is long and the snacks are limited. No refrigeration or microwa_ve available for attendee use.
Accessibility
The event is held at a private residence in a park-like setting with rough, uneven surfaces and limited stair steps. Please contact us at least 1 week prior to the event if you believe you may need accommodations or have any questions or concerns about accessibility, We want you to attend! We will do everything possible to accomodate any writer who would like to participate. _
Important: This event is 100% smoke and vape-free.