What Past Participants Say About WWIG



"I absolutely loved Natalie’s workshop. You could tell she was leading with intention and genuine concern for our creative experience. She met with me one-on-one twice and gave me great advice for my larger project. Natalie brought passion to the workshop and made sure all of us received the guidance we needed."

-–Haley Swanson


"Deeply satisfying! The workshop was, for me, the perfect mix of structured class sessions and big chunks of free time for writing. Natalie was the ideal workshop instructor: perceptive, encouraging, full of very specific and individually-attuned ideas and suggestions for developing and shaping our pieces. She had excellent reading suggestions and writing prompts at the ready but was also very flexible in allowing each writer to do what she needed. We were lucky to have a cohort of serious, thoughtful writers who established trust quickly and went deep. I arrived with specific project goals and was thrilled to meet them."


"Joanna Eleftheriou’s Greek language and culture class adds so much value: she’s remarkably patient, good-natured, and creative in her methods, juggling students from the very beginning to the struggling-to-get-better intermediate levels. I loved her instruction in music and dancing, and really appreciated Erika Voelzer’s contributions on history and culture."

-–Amy Muse


"Anyone looking to write seriously belongs on this island, among this group of teachers, role models, and inspirations. Every breath taken on the island is filled with beauty such that it is impossible to walk away from this program without feeling whole."


"After being in workshops for two straight years in the MFA program, this is the structure I wanted. Life after MFA is scary and that’s exactly where I needed to be. For my writing and for my life. The excursions and cooking was a brilliant way to break up workshopping. Also, it gave us material to write about without even realizing. The entire workshop as a whole was invaluable."

--Demetri Raftopoulos


"I’ve lived in and travelled through different countries in my young adult life (as many in our cohort had), and while I’ve been touched by all of these places, this is the trip that changed my life. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that it affected us in a way that goes beyond “learning to write better in a very beautiful location.” We weren’t tourists; we were family. I got something I didn’t know I needed. On a practical level, I was able to garner excellent feedback during workshop and published two pieces while overseas. I also gained material to write about for the rest of my life. But beyond that, I got spiritually wrecked, lost pieces of my heart, and felt like I’ve come home from war—not in the way that results from death and trauma—but rather, an over-abundance of life."

--Jennifer Currier