In June 2022, Kundiman's Retreat returned to Fordham University Rose Hill! After a two-year break due to the pandemic, 36 Fellows in Poetry and Fiction gathered together to learn, share, write, sing, and be in community together.

Kundiman Retreat staff members were excited to welcome the new fellows with Kundiman folders, totes, and water bottles! Upon arrival, fellows were asked their favorite love song. Poetry faculty member Matthew Olzmann compiled these as an addendum to his craft class on love poems. (Here's someone introducing him to Olivia Rodrigo.)

Timothy Yu led an Asian American literature seminar, leading a discussion about who has historically been included and excluded in Asian American literature, and how the field has evolved.

Throughout the Retreat, each Fellow takes three craft classes, one from each faculty member in their genre. This year, poetry faculty included Philip Metres, Matthew Olzmann, and Sueyeun Juliette Lee, and fiction faculty included Bushra Rehman, Ira Sukrungruang, and Vu Tran. Classes included topics on hermit crab forms, love poems and ‘the Keanu Reeves effect,’ ecopoetics, impossible characters, and more!

Everyone enjoyed their open-air classroom for a Reading and Performance seminar with Jason Bayani!

Each fellow receives a Patron Writer in their welcome packet, as a way to honor and acknowledge writers we can look to for guidance and inspiration as we go on our way.

Sharing meals and making friends is a vital part of the week!

During free time, Ching-In Chen and Dulani treated haiku-writers to slushies, a tradition revived from Kundiman co-founder Joseph Legaspi, and Shan Rao taught knitting.

We love visiting the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx as part of our week. Helene Achanzar led a spark writing exercise that allowed us to reflect on the vast changes in the past few years, encouraging us to lower the bridge between the past and the present.

Each fellow receives a one-on-one mentorship meeting with a faculty member to discuss the writing life. Here’s Bushra Rehman sharing some wisdom!

Picture Day at the Retreat! Photographer Mengwen Cao joined us to take fun group photos as well as individual headshots for everyone. More photos to come :)

In evening salons, we get the chance to hear writing from everyone at the Retreat. Such talent in the room! And of course, it wouldn’t be nighttime at Kundiman without some late-night karaoke :)

We rang in three birthdays during the Retreat and celebrated Cancer season with cake, balloons, and songs. Here’s Jessica Yuan, Ira Sukrungruang, and Kyle Lucia Wu blowing out imaginary candles (safety first!).

Graduating Fellows Andy Chen and Ryan Lee Wong presented readings and offerings as part of their graduation ceremony, and were given celebratory toasts in honor of their third and final Retreats (as Fellows). Congrats to Ryan and Andy!

The Retreat couldn’t exist without our exceptional Retreat staff, our unparalleled faculty, and the brilliant Fellows who joined us. Thank you to everyone who took part in a truly magnificent week.

Applications for the 2023 Retreat will open in December 2022.