Artists Retreats

Writers Guild Director Charles Prier

The Bowers House is a perfect venue for a writing workshops or overnight group retreat with its Georgia Review and Writing Guild associations and proximity to the University of Georgia and Clemson. Retreat Residents and members of the house are expected to share cooking and cleaning duties and launder their own linens on longer residencies. Artists share the end results or focus of their retreat with a public or private concert, reading film or gallery showing and are encouraged to interact with and welcome the local community. The homes is an active art gallery as well, which brings in additional needed funding. Our ‘Bowers Hour’ programming expands and amplifies the reach of arts beyond the facility.

We accept donations and proposals for joint ventures and co-production on the property, and honor financial sponsors with VIP catered weekend stays and public recognition.

RETREAT RATES  Retreats: $75 per person per night (7 person minimum) Entire Home $500-$900 depending on occupancy and season Daily Events $500 Meeting Space $300 (approximate 5 hr.) For booking, sponsorship opportunities, or event house rental please call Family Custodian, Charlie Read at 954-888-8948 or Ellen Bowers Davenport at 404-358-3678. or visit bowershouse.org for more information.

Catering and food service, grocery set up and transportation can be customize to your overnight event, workshop, reunion, intimate celebration or bed and breakfast accommodation.

To reserve lodging for individual guest stays with private bath, book here. Read on about upcoming writing events, readings and workshop retreats coming to The Bowers House.

Charles Prier’s Writers Guild Retreats

Ready to put your stories on paper? Director Charles Prier and a special guest helm Writers Workshop and weekend Retreats ensuring you’ll leave with the primary tools and harnessed imagination to start creating memorable characters and page turning stories. Groups can customize their dates with Charlie Read, Family Custodian at 954-888-8948
Local adult day participants and overnight residents may register by calling or texting 954-888-8948 for this small group intensive writing instruction crated to give you the propulsion to become an accomplished prolific author.
JANUARY 26-29, 2023 REPEAT EVENT
Charles Prier, Guild Director and Workshop Facilitator, with family custodian of The Bowers House, Charlie Read

See info from the past event description below, more to come soon.

PAST: September Retreat 9/22-25, 2022
Developing Fictional Characters
Application: Charles Prier
(706) 246-9421 or (706) 436-9632
charles@priernet.com

Learn How to Create Captivating Characters

Are you struggling to bring your fiction characters to life on the page?
Want to create more lovable heroes and hateful villains that readers simply can’t get enough of?
Looking to publish a book that will live on in the hearts and minds of readers forever?

If so, then don’t miss the Writers Guild Retreat at The Bowers House, September 22-25, 2022.

flyer cover for event Developing Fictional Characters 100 Depot Street, Canon, Georgia 30520  USA bowershouse.org 954-888-8948 $600 (before September 7) More info: Charles Prier 706-246-9421 or 706-436-9632 charles@priernet.com
Charles Prier’s Writers Guild Retreat
September 22-25, 2022

Inside this intensive three-day workshop, you’ll learn how to create unforgettable characters that propel your plot forward and grab your reader’s attention – page after page. Led by Charles Prier, accomplished author and publisher, this game-changing event includes dynamic presentations, videos, group discussions, hands-on writing exercises and assignments. This illuminating retreat also includes a fictional character immersion session with special guest, Javon Johnson, an award-winning writer, educator and actor. Once the weekend comes to a close, you’ll walk away with the knowledge, skills and confidence to craft riveting characters that animate your story and deliver your message to the world.

Ready to elevate your writing skills and learn how to create captivating characters? Contact Charles Prier at (706) 246-9421 or (706) 436-9632
charles@priernet.com

Meet Charles Prier, Retreat Director

Charles Prier has been a writer for 30 years with stints in trade publishing, the tech industry, local news and fiction. As director of Writers Guild at The Bowers House for the past 12 years, he has mentored and coached countless members on their journeys to become published authors. The author of four books, Charles has also edited and published the work of more than 20 members.

 Writers Guild and Retreat Director, Charles Prier (l) with Terry Kay, “To Dance with the White Dog,” an inductee into The Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, on his 82nd birthday.
Writers Guild and Retreat Director, Charles Prier (l) with Terry Kay, “To Dance with the White Dog,” an inductee into The Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, on his 82nd birthday.

Become the Writer You Were Meant to Be
at The Bowers House

Terry Kay, George Singleton, Alice Friman, Scott Russell Sanders, Anne Pancake, Alison Hawthorne Deming … these are just a few of The Georgia Review alums who have sought refuge at The Bowers House to further hone their craft and perfect their stories before releasing them to the world. For decades, this 100-year-old historic registry railroad hotel nestled in the sleepy hamlet of Canon has provided writers with the seclusion and inspiration they needed to move forward with their most important works. Perhaps their creativity ripened under starry nights or amid spiral-vined gardens, in the thick shade of towering magnolias or the comforting embrace of the wraparound porch here at The Bowers House. If you’re ready to follow in the footsteps of some of the most acclaimed authors out there, consider a retreat or residency with us.

A special guest workshop session on author character immersions conducted by writer, educator and playwright Javon Johnson who wrote the acclaimed musical “Sanctified.”
A special guest workshop session on author character immersions conducted by writer, educator and playwright Javon Johnson

About Javon Johnson, Special Guest
We are thrilled to welcome Javon Johnson to the September retreat. An award-winning writer whose work includes musicals, films and literary fiction, Javon is also an educator and talented actor who has appeared on “The Oval” (2019), “American Soul” (2019) and “Survivor’s Remorse” (2014). Johnson will conduct a fictional character immersion session from the dual perspective of an actor and a writer while sharing his favorite character development exercises and techniques.