“Vicki combines her superb writing talents and creative insights with her capacity to encourage participants to ‘dig deep’ to uncover authenticity and truth in their writing.
I highly recommend her writing retreats and workshops.”
- Sharon McCarthy, workshop attendee 2017 and 2019
Events
Workshops and Retreats
Words In the Sand 2025 – Oct. 10-12, 2025
Join me in Ocean Grove, N.J.!
Retreat to the beach with us for a weekend of reading, writing, and relaxing!
Vicki Mayk, author of Growing up on the Gridiron, Football, Friendship, and the Tragic Life of Owen Thomas will lead the nonfiction sessions.
Dawn Leas, author of two chapbooks (I Know When to Keep Quiet and A Person Worth Knowing), and two full-length collections (Take Something When You Go and The Sin of Being Okay, forthcoming November 1, 2025) will lead the poetry sessions.
The retreat offers:
- Welcome reception on Friday evening
- Lunch on Saturday and Sunday
- Free time to read/write/relax on the beach and explore Ocean Grove and nearby Asbury Park, NJ
- The opportunity to receive one-on-one feedback on a piece of your writing with either Vicki or Dawn for an additional fee. You’ll submit your work in advance and sit down with one of us during the retreat. (This is an add-on option.)
Retreat Pricing:
Super Early Bird
Register by June 5, 2025: $375Early Bird
Register by September 5, 2025: $395After September 5, 2025: $450
To register, visit the event page here.
Lodging Information
Once you register for the retreat, please be sure to reserve a room. This year, there are two options: The Laingdon Hotel and Selah, which are next door to one another.
The Laingdon Hotel
This hotel is an historic bed and breakfast that was built before 1875 and restored in 2004. It has the charm of its age, but that also comes with no elevator and no first-floor guest rooms. A limited continental breakfast (fruit, yogurt, cereal, tea, coffee) and coffee/tea available all day is included.
Laingdon Hotel amenities include individually controlled a/c and heat, cable television, free WIFI, a hospitality room with an ice machine and microwave, and two common porches with unobstructed oceanfront views. All rooms have private baths and refrigerators.
To learn more, visit: Laingdon Hotel. To book a room, please call the Laingdon and ask for Angie. Be sure to let her know you’ll be a Words in the Sand participant. You will book and pay for your rooms directly with the Laingdon Hotel.
Selah
Selah is a modern and new with it’s own kind of charm, opened in 2021 and has six guest rooms. Amenities include a continental breakfast, central air, and WIFI as well as private baths, mini fridges, and televisions in each room, a front porch, lawn seating, common sitting area and dining room on first floor.
To learn more, visit: Selah Ocean Grove. To book a room, please call Selah and ask for Gina. Be sure to let her know you’ll be a Words in the Sand participant. You will book and pay for your rooms directly with Selah.
Consider asking a friend to join you at the retreat and then room together to share lodging costs!
Appearances
Past Appearances
Vicki read her flash nonfiction essay "What I Wanted To Say When You Asked Why I Live In An Old Factory" in Cleaver magazine's Issue 49 Contributors Reading, held virtually on Sunday, April 27, 2025. You can watch the recording here.
Vicki was the spotlight reader at Page to Stage on Nov. 5, 2022, at 8 p.m. at the Diva Theatre, 126 W. Market St., Scranton, Pa.
Vicki presented the session Writing Real People: Creating Characters in Nonfiction at the 2022 Creative Writing Conference sponsored by King’s College and Wilkes University. It was held on the King’s College Campus on October 21-22, 2022.
Vicki presented the session "Read Any Good Books Lately? The Art of the Book Review" at HippoCamp 2022: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers, in Lancaster, Pa., from Aug. 12-14, 2022. The event, featuring panels and author readings, is a must for nonfiction writers.
Reading, King's College, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Thursday, April 22, 2021, 7:30 p.m. Event will be held on Zoom. Pre-registration is required.
Virtual Author Event: Vicki Mayk, author of "Growing Up On The Gridiron: Football, Friendship and the Tragic Life of Owen Thomas," will read from the book and participate in a Q&A, Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity, Nazareth, PA, Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 7 p.m.
Virtual Author Event: Vicki Mayk, author of "Growing Up On The Gridiron: Football, Friendship and the Tragic Life of Owen Thomas," will read from the book and participate in a Q&A, Parkland Community Library, Allentown, Pa., Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, 7 p.m.
"The Path to Publication" Alumni Panel, Maslow Graduate Creative Writing Program at Wilkes University, Monday, January 11, 2021, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Held as part of the Maslow Family Graduate Creative Writing Program's virtual January residency.
"Writing A Book As An Act of Faith," Guest speaker, Union United Church of Christ, Neffs, Pa., Sunday, September 13, 2020, 10:30 a.m. (also online at YouTube)
Book Launch, “Growing Up On The Gridiron” -- 7 p.m., Thursday, September 10, 2020 on Zoom.
Discussing "Growing Up On The Gridiron" with Keith Groller of The Morning Call on Calling All Sports at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6. Tune in to the broadcast at Fox Sports, 94.7 FM or 1320 AM.
A Night of Nonfiction Online, Debut Creative Nonfiction Author Q&A, sponsored by Hippocampus Magazine and Books, 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday, August 29, 2020
Reading, The Writer’s Showcase, Old Brick Theatre, June 2018
Pennsylvania Writers Conference 2018, Wilkes University, Panel, “Research for Creative Writing”
HippoCamp 2018, Session Presenter: “Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly: Using Speculation in Creative Nonfiction”
Pennsylvania Writers Conference 2017, Wilkes University, Session Presenter: Speculation in Creative Nonfiction
HippoCamp 2015, Session Presenter: “Writing Our Grief”
Past Workshops and Retreats
Words In the Sand 2022 – Oct. 14-16, 2022
Vicki and poet Dawn Leas (aka The Hammock Writer) led a weekend of writing and relaxation at a new location: The Scarborough Inn, 720 Ocean Ave., Ocean City, N.J. The weekend included three generative workshops in poetry or prose (your choice), breakfasts and lunches and a special craft that will capture some of each writer's words as a memento of the weekend.
Nonfiction Places and Spaces - Oct. 25 - Nov. 29, 2021
Join Vicki to explore writing about place in this community workshop offered through the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing. Classes were conducted on Zoom.
Words In The Sand 2019
September 13-15, 2019
Ocean Park Inn, Ocean Grove, N.J.
Going Past the Gate: Entering the Heart of Your Memoir
Online memoir workshop
Feb. 17-March 23, 2019
Memoir Workshop
Pennwriters, Inc., July 2018
Words In The Sand 2018
September 16-26, 2018
Ocean Park Inn, Ocean Grove, N.J.
"Life Stories:" A Memoir Workshop
October 2018
Union United Church of Christ, Neffs, Pa.
Memoir Workshop
Back Mountain Library, March-April 2017
Healing Through Our Stories: A writing and storytelling retreat
June 23-25, 2017
Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center, Bangor, Pa.
Noncredit memoir and nonfiction community workshops
Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing, multiple sessions, 2013-2019
Now in paperback! Growing Up on the Gridiron is Available from These Sites
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