Ireland Retreat Participants

Ryan Dennis is the author of the novel The Beasts They Turned Away, published by époque press in March 2021. He is a Fulbright alumnus and PhD in creative writing, and has taught writing at several universities, including most recently the University of Galway. His work has appeared in various literary journals and he is a syndicated columnist for agricultural print periodicals in four countries and two languages. In 2020 he founded The Milk House, an initiative to showcase the work of those writing on rural subjects in order to help them find greater audiences. In 2021-2022 Ryan was selected as a Writer-in-Residence at Maynooth University. As part of the residency, he created and edited Voices from the Land, a collection of short stories, essays and poems by Irish farmers. 

Ryan's interests include social and political agricultural issues, as well as creative writing that explores the dynamics of rural environments. 

Marjorie Gowdy writes and paints on a farm in the Blue Ridge mountains of Callaway, VA. Her poetry has been published in a number of journals, including the international Friends Journal, Artemis, Streetlight, the Journal of the Virginia Writers Project, Clinch River Review, Moonstone Arts Center anthologies, Floyd County Moonshine, and 2023 Centennial Anthology of the Poetry Society of Virginia. She has four chapbooks: Inflorescence: The Pasture at Rest, from Finishing Line Press; Cowgirl by Choice, an online microchap at origamipoetry.com; Horse Latitudes from Moonstone Arts Press; and Pillow Fight from Prolific Press. In 2023, Gowdy received first prize for poetry at Field Guide magazine. In 2024, her poetry is included in the Virginia anthology of the Writing the Land series.  Her essays are included in Katrina: Mississippi Remembers (2007). Her illustrations have been featured in Artemis Journal, Barely South, and in Views of Virginia, 2024. Her most recent painting, Landing at Midnight, won the Community Spirit award for the 50th anniversary of The Roanoker (Va.) magazine.

Her work tends to be about connections: connections between nature and the life of humans, connections between geography and the soul, the connection to all of us from the hands of a fickle fate. Additionally, Marjie’s interests include ancient history – particularly in Ireland and surrounding lands and seas; crafts and arts from each locale she visits; folklore; folk music; and, of course, the use of language both ancient and contemporary.

Christi Leman is a writer and musician who lives in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains in Utah. The daughter of a wildlife biologist, she grew up exploring redwood forests, hanging out on the beach with elephant seals, and chasing endangered kit foxes. She is involved in local environmental efforts to protect clean air and water and is currently working on a memoir in essays about walking Scotland’s John Muir Way.

Statement of Interest:

I’m Lis (pronounced just like Lisa, but without the “a”)—I am a poet, spiritual activist, and publisher. I am in the process of conserving 2 of my lands as “forever wild” as I believe the land should be in charge of itself. I am interested in meeting with others who are passionate about land conservation, especially those working in the intersection of art, environment, spirituality, and justice. 

Bio: Lis McLoughlin, PhD is founder and director of NatureCulture, a publishing company through which she directs the Writing the Land Project, which pairs poets with conserved lands, and creates anthologies sold for land conservation. Lis works with over 350 poets and 150 land conservation organizations, and has published 14 WTL anthologies and 6 other books.  Her degrees are in Civil Engineering, Education, and Science and Technology Studies. She lives off-grid in Massachusetts and in Montréal. 

Biography

Erika Morton (she/her), is a photographer and painter in the Greater Boston area whose studio is currently celebrating its 11th year on the North Shore. After her time as a photographer for NBC and PRIMEDIA she began to explore her own voice outside of photojournalism. Drawing on influences from fantasy literature, the intricacies of medieval marginalia, and the beauty of the natural world, she presents pieces that spark stories and encourage the viewer to imagine. When not in her studio, she spends her time seeking out liminal spaces and creating art from the people and places she finds. Over a decade ago, she began studying medieval illumination styles and techniques in earnest, and now creates medieval images in medieval ways with modern materials. Since beginning her series Modern Works, Medieval Ways, she has been in a number of gallery shows both in the United States and overseas.

Despite the differences in the mediums that speak to her, photography continues to be the constant thread that ties her art styles together, serving both as the inspiration for paintedpieces and the final form. She is interested in what happens when we let go of our ideas of the separation between fantasy and reality, driven by the changes light makes to color, shadow, and the stories the world waits to tell. E. Morton Studios painting with light www.erikamorton.studio

Tomra Michelle Vecere lives in Gloucester Massachusetts with her husband, Newfoundland Enzo, and a rotation of Guiding Eyes for the Blind pups in training. She is a writer interested in social and climate justice, our relationship to the natural world and one another, mental health, and exploring these topics through place. She grew up on horse farms and in restaurants, a combination that spanned two generations. She has been published in Creative Nonfiction Magazine, The Fourth River, the Awakenings Review, and International Women's Writing Guild (IWWG)’s Network magazine. She has attended Bread Loaf’s Environmental Writer’s Conference, Orion Magazine Environmental Writer’s Summer Workshop, Elk River Writers Workshop, and is currently enrolled in Mass Audubon’s Field Naturalist Certificate Program.  www.tvecere.com, Twitter @VecereT, Instagram @t.michelle.v