“You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. 'Floods' is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding; it is remembering.” — Toni Morrison, The Site of Memory
Writing is a practice of remembering, and remembering is a liberatory space. When we remember, we preserve our genius, we determine our personhood, and embody the people that came before us. Historically, the Ohio River symbolizes how we practice freedom through a site of remembering. Our hope is that participants walk away from this retreat more curious about the genius of Ohio writers with a renewed pull toward cultivating their writing practice. Join us in our collaboration with our Community Artist-in-Residence, Tyiesha Radford Shorts, and The Giovanni Collective for a two-day writing retreat dedicated to the flooding of Ohio writers.
This writing retreat will take place across two days: Friday, January 16, from 5–9 PM and Saturday, January 17 from 11 AM–5 PM at Urban Arts Space. The retreat is free to attend.
Applications accepted through Monday, January 5, 2026.
Participants will be notified about their acceptance around Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
Also check out other Arts events in Columbus, Literary Art events in Columbus.
