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Juniper Institute

@junipersummer

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A week-long immersion in the writer’s life, in community and in service to wild invention in Amherst, MA. June 19-26, 2027

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ty to the brilliant staff, fellow faculty & every writer i met at @junipersummer 🌀! it was a whirlwindy gift to talk writing & water&& in Massachusetts for my first time, to be trusted with developing manuscripts, and to read among writers whose work i admire immensely. a wild surprise to squeeze in river moments talking Polish translation with @karoissunshine & @ryanmihaly, who are doing the vital work of bringing Halina Poświatowska into English (plus finding out Karolina & i went to the same Saturday Polish school?!). dziękuję <3

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June with @abodepress and @junipersummer was nothing short of sacred. Thank you to instructors and mentors @dr_camille_u_adams and @eula.biss. Thank you to each incredible cohort. Your writing and reading MOVED me. I can’t wait to celebrate your work in the world.

I first worked with Eula as an undergrad creative writing student 12 years ago. She taught me the universes and mirrors that essays contain. Over the last decade+, many things have changed for me, one of which made June so powerful: I used to write to run away from myself. Now, I write to embrace and reckon with myself, the ever-in-progress friend, organizer, partner, sibling, caretaker, artist, and person I’m becoming.

Camille and Eula, I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve shared, inspired, and instructed. Abode Press (@diamondgbraxton !!!) and Juniper teams, thank you for operating with creative courage, always towards collective liberation.

Also shout out UMass gym - turns out some college campuses have hella nice powerlifting setups. 😤💅🏻

I’m gonna keep writing, keep lifting, let messiness happen, and never, ever stop trying.

Love you, love us.

xx Leen

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The 23rd @junipersummer is in the books. The love I have for our incredible team—immeasurable. And endless gratitude for the faculty, visiting writers, participants, and working writers who make this place exist for 7 days every summer. Hope everyone’s well is filled all the way up; let’s write like mad now, my friends. ❤️‍🔥✨🌱🪴🌳

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ILY @junipersummer ! There is much beauty the world doesn’t have just yet because we’re still writing it @aria.aber @baydileh @porous.center Celeste @emmaundercover_ Katrina @ellewarrenwrites Prachi @a.b.marie_ Mialise @vikamujumdar Abby Kelly Charlie @by.max.zhang @deezybotpress @jej_sen @laypay @ocean_vuong and Yasmin Zaher etc I’ll never forget this week and the shimmering feeling of finding the words next to you, because of you 💙💙💙💙💙💙

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So grateful to have gotten to spend the week writing, learning, and imagining with these wonderful humans at @junipersummer 💖🦄 thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!

#juniperwritinginstitute #amherstma

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thank God I choose to be a writer, again and again. 🤍

snippets from a nourishing week at @junipersummer ✍🏽

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this has been the most incredible week! so grateful for @junipersummer 💛

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always belated to post lately (i’m tired of pictures of my face!), but i’m grateful to be a part of @junipersummer this week, teaching craft, collaborating with writers, and sharing some of my own work

if you’re in or near western massachusetts, catch me/my colleagues at a public reading series this week ✨(slide 2)

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This annual reading series kicks off next week; see you there!💕📚🦄⚡️

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Wild Invention begins next week!

Join us for this summer's Juniper Reading Series, Sunday through Thursday at the Old Chapel, and Friday at the Orchard Hill Pavilion ~ Readings start at 7:30pm. Featuring visiting writers of this summer's Juniper Summer Writing Institute.

See you there!

@junipersummer

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I met @graceiroberson at @junipersummer in 2022. At the welcome dinner, we both pulled cards of the same suite and were assigned to sit at the clubs table completely by fate. Maybe it was the shared love of trauma-dumping or her willingness to go to Taco Bell with me, but there was just something about her.

Later in the week during the writing retreat, we were given a free day to explore the area around Amherst, MA. Grace went to see Sylvia Plath’s manuscripts and journals @smithcollege, and I went to @massmoca to see their Sol Lewitt exhibit. We went our separate ways again when the retreat was over, but we’ve stayed close ever since.

Flash forward four years, I am spending the weekend with Grace in Cleveland where she has built a beautiful home with her lovely partner. Yesterday, we went to @clevelandmuseumofart and I was stopped in my tracks when I saw a Sol Lewitt that we had coincidentally dressed EXACTLY like.

I absolutely love it when the universe reminds me that somethings are just so meant to be. ✨

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🥹🤯✨ MFA year one, done. What a sacred year, a hard year, a transformative year. Grateful for the lifelong creative comrades I’ve made and am making. Proud of what I’m writing — messy, intentional, visceral, and me. And always, for us. 🖤

Thank you to the creative homes who’ve welcomed my work: @safe.slvt @wearesluttalk @fnewsmag @nonfictionfornoreason @craftliterary

Beyond grateful to spend quality time at @junipersummer & @abodepress in the coming months.

Love you, love us. 🖤

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