Join Rae Garringer of Country Queers and Out in the Open staff members for a five-day audio storytelling retreat with other trans and nonbinary people living in Vermont! A group of 10 participants will spend time getting to know one another through story circles and writing prompts. We’ll explore hands-on audio recording techniques and listen to a variety of audio-storytelling styles (from oral history to audio diaries). And we’ll work together to produce 2-5 minute audio shorts. Built into the week will be plenty of time to relax, laugh, and rest together in a beautiful setting.

This is a five-day retreat from March 27-31, 2023.

Participants will receive an $800 stipend for completing the five-day retreat. Additionally, we can offer transportation support, a childcare stipend, and all meals and lodging will be provided.

We will share more location details with participants when the group is confirmed. For now, we’re happy to share that we’ll be on a rural property in a Southern Vermont town within 30 minutes of Brattleboro.

Rae Garringer (they/them) is a writer, oral historian, and audio producer who grew up on a sheep farm in southern West Virginia, and now lives a few counties away on traditional S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and Shawandassee Tula (Shawnee) lands with a large family of animals. When Rae founded the Country Queers project in 2013, they had no formal training in media production or oral history. But they did have an intense frustration with the lack of easily accessible rural queer stories at the time, and a deep personal need to meet and learn from other country queers. They learned a lot through trying things and making mistakes along the way.

Rae completed a BA at Hampshire College in 2007, and an MA in Folklore & American Studies at UNC Chapel Hill in 2017. They gained audio production chops as the Public Affairs Director at Appalshop’s community radio station WMMT 88.7fm in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky from 2017-2020. Rae is white, queer, nonbinary, and a hermit-introvert who prefers to be surrounded by animals and mountains.

We have held many similar gatherings before, although not this exactly. In 2021, Out in the Open & Country Queers collaborated on a 6-month audio project with community members (many working in audio for the first time) that was 100% virtual and resulted in the second season of the Country Queers podcast.

Out in the Open has similarly held 7 overnight, multi-day Summits for Rural LGBTQ+ people since 2015 ranging in group size from 35-100. Including a day-long community oral history workshop facilitated by Rae.

This project is supported by funding from the Vermont Arts Council, with funds from the State of Vermont. It is additionally supported by Out in the Open’s general budget made up of donations from our fabulous community.

This gathering is for trans and/or nonbinary people currently living in Vermont who are 18 years old or older.

If that’s not you, please join us for a different upcoming gathering.

Complete and submit this form by 11:59PM (Eastern time) on January 25, 2023. OITO Staff will notify you of your acceptance by February 3, 2023.

No! We’ll have equipment you can use available.

Reach out to us and we’ll be happy to discuss! Summits@WeAreOutintheOpen.org.