Opening the Heart of Poetry: Writing as a Practice of Transformation & Discovery

Jane Hirshfield leads this six-day retreat at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, where poetry practice and meditation sit together. The focus is on writing itself as a form of practice—not poetry as therapy or self-expression, but the act of attention and discovery that happens when you work with language seriously and sit quietly.

The retreat structures days around writing invitations (prompts or starting points), group discussion of craft, poem exchange among participants, and periods of meditation practice. It's designed for writers at any stage—you don't need prior experience with either poetry or Zen practice to attend.

Tassajara is a residential Zen monastery in the California coastal range, operated by San Francisco Zen Center. Participants stay on-site for the full retreat. The center has not yet published detailed information about the daily schedule, lodging arrangements, or what meals are included; contact SFZC directly for those specifics.