SwampFire
Retreat: 2008
Burns family farm, Larwill IN
When Adjunct Creative Writing Professor of Defiance College Dawn Burns invited Jan Bechtel (an artist of the Arts & Humanities Division and the DC chaplain), Mary Catherine Harper (a poet and Professor of English at DC), and Rachel Baker (a student of DC) to the Burns family farm near Larwill, Indiana in July 2008, she was guided by a vision of community for artists and writers, a vision of support and encouragement for individual creative expression.
It all began at that first retreat, documented by Harper in this website.
Most recent retreat: 2026
Rachel Baker tending the fire pit 
Rusty steel 50-gallon drum overflowing with foliage, woods in background 
Jan Bechtel drawing among the trees 
Dawn Burns enjoying the discussion 
Rusty ancient farm equipment hiding among bushes 
Jan Bechtel relaxing in front of the woods 
Delicate wild roses near the Burns farm lane 
Rachel Baker posing for the camera 
Dawn and Jan deep in discussion 
Twilight among the farm’s hickory trees 
Rachel among the evening shadows just after the dinner we cooked over the open fire
Swipe left on phone.
At every SwampFire gathering, whether a monthly or bi-monthly workshop on Zoom or the yearly face-to-face retreat, Dawn’s vision inspires participants to boldly create and share works that express their true selves.
This website is an archive of all the SwampFire weekend retreats. It includes reflections by participants and photos from each retreat, including photos of the hands-on art activities that potter Steve Smith offered to participants.
Here’s the first reflection, recorded in the SwampFire journal:
July 5, 2008
The first ever (and hopefully annual) SwampFire Writer’s Retreat is this weekend, consisting of Jan Bechtel, Rachel Baker, MC Harper, and me. Kasey Coder was supposed to be a part of this too, but life got in the way at the last minute, leaving her at home. What a good day it has been! We arrived a little before 11, shared a diverse and tasty lunch consisting of food we had brought from hommous and salsa to carrot bread and sweet cherries.
I walked back to the swamp with Jan and Rachel where we bumped into Uncle Norman who was planting his garden, and then we returned to write! I’m pretty happy that I did write, working with memoir today and paving the way to work with stories tomorrow. Every so often I would break to pick cherries (amazing that the birds haven’t gotten them this year!) and black raspberries, to visit Norman and take cinnamon rolls and carrot bread, to get wood for the fire.
When we finally got ready for the fire it was nearly 7. We rigged up a cooking system, MC being the brains behind the operation, and used the fan cage David Marshall had brought last year for cooking the chicken. MC used one of Dad’s big skillets to sauté onions and portobello mushrooms in olive oil. Rachel baked potatoes. Jan made guacamole. And we had potato salad Mom had brought down. In short, we had a feast!
And afterwards we just sat and talked by the fire as the sun set and the sky grew dark. ~Dawn Burns
Annual Retreat Archive
