A Radical HERstory

Writing reTREAT

Writing with the Body & Breath Exclusively for Women of Color

Save the Date 🗓️ Jan 16th-20th, 2025

The HERstory Retreat is a dedicated space and time for you to finally put pen to paper and start, continue, or finish writing your book.

This reTREAT is in collaboration with:

📖 LET'S GET YOUR BOOK DONE

Experience the Magick of the HERstory Retreat:

An immersive and transformative experience designed exclusively for women of color to write stories that resonate with our authenticity, power, and grace. Come with a book idea and leave with pages and a renewed sense of confidence to embrace the writing journey.

You have the chance to:

📚 Express Yourself: This is your sanctuary. Leave behind the demands of everyday life and immerse yourself in an environment that encourages exploration and self-expression.

📚 Build Lasting Bonds With Like-Minded Writers: Connect deeply with yourself and writers who are on the same journey. Through immersive sessions, form relationships that stand the test of time.

📚 Expert Guidance: Navigate your writing journey with Heather 'Byrd' as your guide. Hone your craft and find your unparalleled voice with expert insights to embrace your authentic voice.

📚 A Journey of Self: Beyond writing, it's a voyage of self-discovery. Ignite your inner power, rekindle your passion, and depart with a spirit ready to conquer the literary realm.

Be A Part of HERstory

Ah-Ha Moments from Catherine Wong

Together we will gain:

✅ Clarity and Direction and leave with a clearer understanding of your book's structure, theme, core message, direction, and voice while learning techniques to create more engaging, powerful prose.

✅ Peer Feedback: Through group sessions, participants should gain valuable feedback on their writing, gaining new perspectives and insights from fellow women of color.

✅Create a Healthy Rhythm Between Work & Play: tools and strategies to overcome writer's block, self-doubt, and other emotional hurdles that might arise during the writing process.

✅ Intentional Community Building: Establish lasting connections with like-minded individuals, creating a support system for the writing journey ahead.

Most importantly, walk away with completed chapters for your book. Your story can transform lives one story at a time.

Your Peaceful Retreat Awaits

Location: Niles, MI

Accommodation: 7 bedrooms · 9 beds · 3.5 baths

A hidden paradise surrounded by 6,000 trees on a sprawling 15-acre landscape. Beyond its opulent rooms, venture to nearby wineries, indulge in golfing, or simply lounge by the pool cabana. Your haven of serenity is calling.

Meet The Collaboration

Barbara Ceptus Schreiber, Ph.D. CTRC, (she/her/hers) is a Healing Facilitator and Coach, certified in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapies. With a deep commitment to bridging healing, embodiment, and self-love, Barbara’s work with Radical Presence, is driven by her vision of a world where every Black woman feels rooted in her authentic self and at home in her own body. She uses powerful modalities, including Somatic Experiencing, Myofascial Stretch, and ancestrally guided centering practices, to gently guide her clients home to their bodies. As the creator of The Gathering Place, a sacred soul circle for individuals impacted by sexual trauma, she offers a safe space for individuals to reconnect with their bodies and each other. Believing that healing is a journey best traveled in the company of others, Dr. Ceptus Schreiber creates spaces where participants can respond consciously and wholeheartedly to themselves and each other on their personal healing journey.

Heather 'Byrd' (she/her/hers), named a Living Legacy by Brooks Permissions, is an international award-winning writer, the author Igniting Ink and Mahogany: A Love Letter To Black. Byrd’s work has appeared in several festivals including The Chicago Theatre Festival and the St. Louis Fringe with HERstory of HIStory and inHERitance: the stories we carry. Her work has also a contributor in Expressions of Englewood, Hope Ignited: Stories of Hope By Women For Women, and Trouble The Waters: Tales from the Deep Blue. Most recently, she won the 2022 International Anthem Award in diversity, equity, and inclusion for her work on the “I See You” issue of the Cornell Report alongside Google, HBO Max, BBC, National Geographic, Netflix, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Byrd’s work is rooted in the need to unlearn, affirm the Black experience, and live in creative joy. Each of her coaching style tastes like ripe mangos, cayenne pepper, or an eclectic combination of the two. Her favorite words are balloon and bubble.

My name is Leah (she/her/hers). I am a cisgender, queer, neurotypical, Black woman , and the mother of three amazing game-changers (daughters). I am an INFJ-T (Introverted | Observant | Feeling | Judging | Turbulent). I am a descendant of Africans and Indigenous/First People who were enslaved; however, I do not know my tribes. I am finding peace in the unknowing. I trust the mystery of my life and am grateful for the shift, and excited about my future.

My purpose for being here is to continue my commitment to creating more open and inclusive spaces for Black, Hispanic/Latina/Latino/Latine/Latinx, Indigenous/First People, Asian/South Asian, and all those who have been racialized as persons of color. Operations and Administration were my profession. Equity and inclusion are my commitments. I am here to support those working through harm and on transition with language of self and practical tools for expansion.