(Photo by Caryn Morgan)

This Fall marks the creation of a budding charitable writer’s retreat starting in Portland’s Sellwood neighborhood. The Sikora Writer’s Retreat will be hosted in a beautiful historic home built in 1912 by famous Portland architect Wade Hampton-Pipes with the Oaks Bottom Nature Preserve abutting the Backyard Habitat Certified garden featuring abundant local flora and fauna.

Once owned by an ethics professor and his wife, a painter and art collector, the home now belongs to their daughter Anne Sikora PsyD, who tastefully restored her late parent’s residence while retaining many original features.

This retreat is inspired by the likes of Hawthornden Castle in the UK, a self-guided program secluded from the bothers of the outside world. This fall the application period will open to writers of all kinds. The Sikora Writer’s Retreat aims to create a sanctuary for the dedicated writer to fully indulge into their craft without distraction. Flight accommodations will be covered as well as food and transportation stipends.

This September, three notable published authors will be traveling to Portland, Oregon to be the first to partake in this program — Stephen Hunt, Michael Bunker and Alec Ross.

Stephen Hunt is a digital producer for CTV in Calgary after many years of working as a screenwriter for various television and film productions, as well as decades of experience writing for newspapers, magazines, and publishers. Hunt used his experience to teach playwriting at the University of British Columbia for over 15 years.

Michael Bunker is a USA Today Bestselling Author who has an extensive background in homesteading, off-grid living, and pre-industrial farming, just some of the topics some of his many books cover.

Alec Ross is a Canadian who traveled via canoe across the entire country using old fur-trader routes and wrote a memoir about his experiences as well as being a travel writer for various Canadian magazines for decades.

If you have a passion for writing and want to indulge further into your project, as a novice or experienced writer, please consider applying to the Sikora Writer’s Retreat. As more information develops, please consider dropping us a line at sikorasretreat@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram @sikorasretreat where we would be happy to answer any questions.