Earnest Hemingway found solitude, peace and inspiration in the woods surrounding Ketchum and this week the Hemingway Center at Boise State hosted the Sawtooth Writing Retreat to help elevate students’ writing skills.
“We heard elk bugling while we were out having lunch our first day here,” said Annie Furman who came from British Columbia for this retreat. “To be here in a cabin and roll out of bed in the morning to watch the sunrise and hear the aspen trees quaking, I can write so much about the quaking of aspen leaves in the sun.”
The Sawtooth Writing Retreat invited writers out to the Central Idaho 4-H Camp where they got instruction and lessons from Paul Bogart and Kim Cross.
“I think Kim and Paul are really great they are both professional writing teachers at the University level,” said Dawn Brockett an alumnus of Boise State. “They both have multiple publications with different perspectives that are really great to hear.”
While I was there Kim and Paul did a lesson where they had camp caretaker, Tom, teach the group how to chop wood. This exercise gave the students a chance to journal a scene as it took place in front of them while being able to ask questions to build a character. It’s one example of what happens at the Sawtooth Writing Retreat.