Correspondence Workshop

Experience the gentle, ancient art of REAL letter-writing

Join a small group of like-minded peers exploring various modalities of expressive writing in an online workshop.

Sessions starting in June 2024

eight 2-hour sessions without leaving home

write letters that recipients will reall read and keep

receive a custom, hand-printed letterhead for your correspondence

"A letter came pouring in"

I heard once of a beleaguered, small-town newspaper editor, despondent over the silence of his readership after he had published an ever-so-carefully crafted, hard-hitting editorial, who finally beamed with delight the day “a letter came pouring in!”

A funny story, but obviously an old one. There are hardly any small-town newspapers any more; there are hardly any newspapers. But lack of response to carefully-wrought work isn’t something of the past. If anything, it’s more common than ever. We all write and receive massive numbers of emails. How many of them do we look at more than once? How many of them do we preserve for posterity? How many emails from last year (or last month) could we even find — if we remembered receiving them at all? Not many, I would guess. And it’s no wonder: they are easy to create and easy to discard.

The same was not true of real mail. Letters typed or written on smooth air-mail paper or on heavy bond, folded into a matching envelope, bearing a colorful stamp in the corner, canceled by the Post Office, and hand-delivered by a letter-carrier to our home or place of business — these commanded attention. Even the humble post-card takes a degree of effort to compose and post, and that effort shows.

The manuscript letter or postcard is a weirdly obsolescent literary form that still has an outsized impact. People tend to keep real correspondence. They notice it, handle it, appreciate it, and are often moved by it. Occupying that ambiguous space between a carefully composed text and a casual, private communication, a posted letter or card is tactile and personal in a way electronic communications can never be.

If you would like to explore the possibilities of this art form, this is the workshop for you!

I will supply participants in this workshop with appropriate customized letterhead, printed by hand in my letterpress studio. We’ll consume it during the workshop.

I'll be forever grateful to Greg for what I've learned during his course on journaling. He is a passionate reader and a natural teacher. He has a "lead by example" teaching style that motivated me and the entire group. With Greg's help, I was able to re-learn how to love writing, and how to let writing be an integral part of improving my overall well being.

Aaron Curtis

Front-End Developer

Greg creates a calm, creative and supportive atmosphere in the Life Sentences workshop. His approach to journal-writing is inspiring. I really enjoyed the casual, relaxed vibe at each session and hearing my fellow classmates' writings. I came out of the experience having formed a daily habit of writing that I feel like I now can't live without!

Liz Demarest

Communications Professional

This was more than a writing class. It was an inspiring community where listening other people's stories inspired me to write more. Thanks to Greg, I started my journal and now I see writing as part of my life. I also really liked the reflective aspect of this workshop. Greg is a dedicated and experienced writer. Seeing his own journal amazed me.

Yi Ma

Investment Banking Analyst

I couldn't have imagined the improvement this class, and the in-depth journaling habit it has fostered, would make in my thought life. I have much more clarity, and routinely delve deeper than I would otherwise, both on and off the page. It's particularly useful for an artistic life, because you record, explore, and remember ideas that otherwise might have flown away moments after they arrived. It also banishes a relationship with the self where you are that person in your house with whom you avoid eye contact, replacing it with the heady expansion of getting to know someone.

Amy Denninghoff

Professional Artist

Greg creates a wonderful mix of structure and curated serendipity. While learning and practicing a wide variety of journaling techniques and approaches, we also formed a warm and collegial bond with our fellow journalers. Whether you are dedicated to keeping a journal or just want to give it a try for the duration of the course, you will finish with a Swiss Army knife of writing approaches and techniques, which you will undoubtedly use in your personal, academic and/or professional life.

Richard Boly

Former Career Diplomat

Though I do a lot of writing, I haven't journalled regularly for many years. This course re-ignited a neglected practice and brought with it Greg's immense wisdom about the process and what we produced. I am still journaling regularly and find it a linchpin for my day and an opportunity to give growing space to thoughts which would otherwise have disappeared with the sunset.

Jack Peterson

Management Consultant

YOUR HOST AND INSTRUCTOR

Gregory Robison

Letter-writing has long been for me a companion activity to journal-writing. I rejoice in the delicious privacy of the journal and the undisturbed space for uninhibited freedom of expression that it provides. The personal letter, on the other hand, offers a semi-intimate platform for expression: it’s tailored to the named recipient and not intended for wide distribution, but it nevertheless requires care and discretion in its composition, because who knows? Once it’s out of your hands, it has its own trajectory. And the very effort to create a letter elicits more attention to its form and content.

In my own personal experience, letters (and hand-written cards, too) have a high retention rate. People appreciate them. They tell me they save them, and want me to keep sending them. This encourages me to exert more care in writing them — which, in turn, makes them more likely to be impactful and appreciated.

And this, of course, is the heart of the matter. Anything we pour our hearts into has value, and its worth is usually perceived. It’s authentic. And in this throw-away world, where we are hell-bent on finding the fastest, cheapest, most convenient way of doing and making everything, authenticity is usually the element that’s missing. We’re always looking for the next thing. Everything is expendable. When something appears on our doorstep (or in our mailbox) that was lovingly crafted with care and attention just for us…is it a surprise that it has a magical effect?

I would be delighted to help you experience this for yourself in this workshop.

YOUR REGISTRATION INCLUDES

Use this time of forced isolation to explore your creativity, hold yourself accountable, and produce some awesome work.

How will this help me get unstuck?

A writer is someone who writes. Whether it’s a novel; a memoir; an op-ed column; a venture idea; a marketing pitch; a sermon; a family history; a collection of poems; a private diary or journal; a play for stage or screen… It’s all writing. Whatever its purpose or final form, it’s all worthwhile.

But like all creative work, it takes discipline, skill, and the right attitude. Producing anything worthwhile in this world is a struggle.

This workshop will dispel the illusions and misconceptions about that struggle — illusions and misconceptions that may have kept you from cultivating your creativity and achieving your goals.