PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO JUNE 6-11, 2021
Wendell Berry’s profound vision for human flourishing has always been rooted in local culture: in the people who create, nurture, and preserve ways of living that are sustainable and sustaining. His vast creative output (in poetry, fiction, and essay alike), explores the difficulties in keeping community between human beings whose lives are uniquely complicated and messy and fraught, especially in a modern world that seems to have jettisoned the age-old virtues. His writing reflects on the costs of the increasingly mechanized world on societies, soils, and souls, but not without a clarion call to take heart and take action. Berry issues an ongoing invitation to cultivate a rooted, reflective life, which necessitates working together towards a shared and solid goodness even when empathy and simplicity do not come easy.
Taking three of Berry’s short novels, five poems, and two classic essays as its core texts, this Close Reads retreat will contemplate Berry’s vision for modern life. Together we will revel in his vision for place, delight in a few of the characters he presents (especially in the Catlett, Coulter, and Beechum clans), and wrestle with the ideas he proposes. And along the way, we’ll enjoy good food, friendships new and old, and a beautiful spot in the North Carolina mountains.
About the Retreat
Co-led by David Kern, Heidi White, and Tim McIntosh, this retreat will offer a contemplative venue for conversation and community in the same spirit as the Close Reads Podcast. Each day will begin with breakfast together, followed by The Daily Poem and coffee. Then we'll dive into the warm waters of his fiction and essays. We'll chat, debate, eat, walk, and dig together and hopefully by the end of the week we will have ascertained a bit more clearly what Berry can offer to contemporary people who believe in the value of looking back.
The Reading List
Fiction
The Memory of Old Jack
Remembering
A World Lost
Non-fiction
"A Native Hill" (essay)
"The Unsettling of America" (essay)
Selections from Sabbath Poems
Key dates and times
The retreat will begin on the evening of Sunday, June 7 at 7:30 with a welcome reception and will conclude on Friday, June 12 at 4 pm. Breakfast will begin at 8:30 each morning and sessions will go until 5:00 pm each day, except on Wednesday when the afternoon is free for exploration, rest, shopping, etc. Tuesday evening will include a family-style dinner, and Thursday evening will include a banquet-style dinner in the resort's restaurant.
The Venue
Chetola Resort at Blowing Rock is an 87-acre resort within walking distance of a quaint mountain village, neighboring a 3,600-acre National Park, and surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. At the turn of the 20th century, it was known for its natural beauty and therapeutic qualities so it is fitting that in Cherokee, Chetola means "Haven of Rest." Today it has come to be known as a world-class resort featuring first-class accommodations, exceptional food, and even award-winning fishing, if you're so inclined.
Address: 185 Chetola Lake Drive, Blowing Rock, NC 28605
Please note: The closest major airport is in Charlotte, NC. Nearby Boone also has a small regional airport which might suffice in rare circumstances.
Claim Your Seat
This retreat is limited to approximately 15 seats, although we can make some exceptions for family members and others who might be willing to share a room.
To claim a seat, please email David Kern via david@circeinstitute.com.
The retreat costs $1350 + a non-refundable $175 deposit. This fee includes a seat at the event, lodging in the lovely Chetola condos, breakfast and lunch every day, a banquet dinner, a home-cooked family-style meal, and any requisite supplies.
Please note: The deposit, which secures the seat, is non-refundable. No refunds of any kind are available after February 15th.