13th Annual

Harvester Island Writers’ Workshop

With Leslie Leyland Fields

Dates: Aug. 30 - Sept. 6, 2025
(only three spots left)

 Calling all Adventurous Writers…

Harvester Island is a stunning, gorgeous island off the west coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska. Its beauty and location (population: no one but us) make it a one-of-a-kind place to grow your writing and achieve your goals. Leslie knows: this island home is where she’s written most of her books.

This year, the Harvester Island Writers’ Workshop offers a first-time-ever exclusive experience: a week of intimate classes and 1-on-1 instruction with Leslie for just 8 writers. Because of the small class size, instruction will be tailored to fit each writers’ specific needs. Whether you’re writing memoir, devotionals, essays, family history, or a book proposal, and whether you’re a seasoned professional or a beginner, Leslie will bring her 40+ years of publishing, teaching and editing to inspire and equip you to craft your prose with confidence, skill and joy.

For the first time ever at HIWW, Leslie is offering full manuscript evaluations (up to 150 pages) at a special rate for those writing books, with personalized 1-on-1 response and direction. Finally get unstuck! Finally finish that book! (This is an optional add-on. Fill out the application below for more information.)

Where Is Harvester Island?

Your Host

Leslie Leyland Fields

Leslie is the multi-award-winning author of 14 books including Your Story Matters and Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers. Other books include Crossing the Waters, which won Christianity Today's 2017 Book Award in Christian Living. Her books have been translated into eleven languages. Her essays have appeared in Christianity Today, Belief.net, The Atlantic, Orion, Best Essays  and many others earning her a number of Evangelical Press Awards, Pushcart nominations and a Genesis Award.

With three graduate degrees (in English, Journalism and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction) she has taught extensively in undergraduate and graduate programs both as faculty member and guest lecturer. She currently leads writing workshops around the world. (Some of her favorite places are France, Moldova, Mongolia, Slovakia and South Africa.) Her Memoir Masterclass program has over a thousand students around the world, and many of her students have gone on to publish their manuscripts, (which makes her incredibly proud!) 

Previous guest writers have included:

Ann Voskamp, Philip Yancey, Luci Shaw, Jeanne Murray Walker, Scot McKnight, Marilyn MacEntyre, Bret Lott, Paul Willis, and Gina Ochsner.

What to Expect

The Schedule

Mornings are spent in small group instruction, 1-on-1 tutorials, and personal writing time. Afternoons feature writing and quiet time, and as weather permits, excursions and adventures. Evenings offer readings, movies, games, discussion. (Or---more writing time!)

The Experience

The first excursion is our adventure in getting there! We’ll take a flight from the town of Kodiak across the spectacular wilderness to Harvester Island. Once at Harvester, we’ll have (weather permitting) activities including whale watching and boat rides across the bay. We’ll see sea lion and seal rookeries, as well as otters, puffins, bald eagles, and more. We also have beautiful beaches for beachcombing and hiking.

The Travel

Alaska, American, and Delta all fly into Anchorage.

From Anchorage, Alaska Airlines flies into Kodiak.

Leslie will meet you in Kodiak. From there we’ll take a floatplane across the spectacular wilderness of Kodiak Island to Harvester Island.

The Spirit

The wilderness can’t be scripted! The weather can be unpredictable and dramatic, preventing air or water travel at times. If your schedule is sacred, and missing a flight due to weather is devastating, this is not your workshop!  An attitude of cheerful flexibility is the first necessary attribute to making the week spectacular, through sun, rain, and storm. 

What’s Included?

  • Private Flight

    Round trip, private flight from Kodiak Island to Harvester Island

  • Housing

    New, clean, comfortable, heated rooms, many with mountain and ocean views.

  • All Meals

    7 nights, 8 days of fresh, abundant, healthy meals (many featuring fresh Alaska seafood), prepared together.

  • Workshop

    All instruction, material, and one-on-one time with Leslie.

  • Excurisions

    Whale watching, boat rides, wildlife viewing, beachcombing, hiking, etc.

  • Scandinavian Steam Bath

    Traditional, authentic sauna experience! Provided every other night.

Accommodation & Pricing

  • $5950

    All the rooms have mountain and ocean views.

  • This is a wilderness island, so we use a combination of flushing toilets, chemical toilets and an outhouse. All the rooms have immediate access to a flushing toilet. In addition, some are equipped with a chemical toilet especially for middle-of-the-night use. (For times when the outhouse is needed, it's clean and new, offering the best outhouse experience you've ever had, I promise!)

  • Hot showers are available every day (though we must be conservative with our water.) In addition, a Scandinavian-style wood-fired steam bath, (which many have described as "heavenly") is also available every other night.

What Past Guests Are Saying…

  • "The Harvester Island Wilderness Workshop was so much more than a workshop; it was an adventure. Through words, through nature, through conversations. It refreshed my soul and creativity in a way I had not expected. If you're thinking about attending, stop thinking about it, and just go.”

    — Andrea Lucado

  • "Meals were bountiful!  Love the local flavors, the special treat of salmon, caribou, and crab. . . . Gina was very sweet in giving me special (writing) stuff that she wanted me to have.  I was amazed at the breadth of knowledge Leslie had.”— David Cecil

    — David Cecil

  • "I cannot thank you enough for the 2022 HIWW. It nourished my soul, spirit, mind, and body. I was so happy just to be there that I had tears when we landed at Harvester. Terry loved the experience also and it was special to have my brother there.”

    — Kent Hanson

  • "Seeing the group photo with the stunning views of Harvester Island brought tears to my eyes. These were tears of joy and deep gratitude for the time we had together in such a phenomenal setting with joy-filled hospitality and unparalleled teaching of your craft. I bask in the delight in making friends who love words and writing. I am a beginner, honored to have been there with you all!”

    — Clydette

  • "Harvester Island is by far one of the prettiest places on God's green earth. Thanks to Leslie and Duncan for sharing their home, their island, their family, and their life with us.”

    — Karen Winkler

  • "I cannot thank you enough for our week on Harvester .. ..it really opened my eyes to how the Kingdom should look on earth---arms and heart open wide."

    — Carey Christian

A Closer Look

Application

SPACE IS LIMITED. APPLY TODAY!