Writer in Residence | RJ Samuel at Wild Grace Sanctuary

The Residency

RJ Samuel is Writer in Residence at Wild Grace Sanctuary, an eighteen-acre nonprofit sanctuary near Atlanta for rescued animals, the land, and creative practice. The sanctuary's board appointed her to write on the land, and to open that work to others.

In residence, she is writing a braided memoir: her own story woven with research into why good work so often goes unreceived.

The residency isn't a school or a workshop. There's no critique and no teaching. It's writing as a practice, done in the company of animals, trees and water, and shared once a month with anyone who wants to write alongside it.

Creative Care

Wild Grace Sanctuary's work rests on three kinds of care: Animal Care, Earth Care, and Creative Care. The residency is part of Creative Care.

Writing Mornings

Fourth Saturday of every month, 10am to 12pm. Quiet writing together in the barn, with a break by the lake or with the cats. No critique, no reading aloud, and no experience needed. The Writer in Residence writes alongside you.

The Wild Grace Jam

The same Saturday, from 1pm until late. Open to everyone, whether you came for the morning or not. Come to play, or come to listen. Come for one, the other, or both.

The Creative Practices

Writing, music, play and improvisation, taught as life skills rather than performance skills. Each practice teaches the same core skill: observation, presence, and response to what's actually happening.

Why on the Land

Creative flow needs low anxiety. A natural setting with settled animals does half the work before anyone says a word, so people reach creative states faster and deeper than they would in a conference room.

Writing Mornings at Wild Grace Creative Care at Wild Grace