“It was an overwhelmingly positive experience. I can say with some certainty that I came back with the best play I’ve ever written.”
— Jason Grote, Green Gulch 2018
“It was, as so many people say, a transformative experience. I literally broke through a writers block that had lasted five years at that point.”
— Deborah Stein, Catskills 2012
“The Silent Retreat I did with Erik was, no exaggeration, a life changing experience. I have never before (or since!) sat in such deep communion with my writing.”
— Jerry Lieblich, Texas 2014
“It really was/remains the highlight of my professional playwriting career.”
— Dan O’Neil, Texas 2015
“The Silent Retreat was a magical, productive week for me.”
— Chelsea Marcantel, Green Gulch 2017
“I wrote differently and more deeply thanks to the quiet and the structure.”
— Lila Rose Kaplan, Texas 2014
“I was at the 2015 retreat in Texas, and wrote a play there. In ten days. Minor miracle. I took the advice and arrived with nothing. No ideas, no previous drafts, no beginning of something. The play came out pretty much whole. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to have written it in the way that I did.”
— Quincy Long, Texas 2015
“I’m sure I’m not the only person to say the silent retreat with Erik Ehn changed my life, artistically.”
— Rob Handel, Texas 2013
“Erik’s curriculum is brilliant bordering on a national treasure for living, committed writers.”
— Justin Taylor, Green Gulch 2018
“My time there on the farm with the Silent Playwrights was magical. To unplug like that, in a location like that and feel supported and taken care of. . . what a blessing.”
— Brit Frazier, Green Gulch 2018
“I ended up with an entire play in less than three days. I’m still pretty amazed by and giddy about that. ”
— Nick Robideau, Green Gulch 2018
“The week for me was bliss.”
— Sarah DeLappe, Texas 2018
“I’m moving forward with the play I wrote on the retreat, working with a composer who will treat the words like a libretto and write a full score (to be sung by a choir). The retreat was revelatory for me, and I’ve never before (or since) had such a radical opportunity, to focus only on my writing.”
— Jordan Baum, Texas 2018
“The retreats are an eventful and electric contact with the deepest parts of your writing brain.”
