The Writer's Cabin
About the Writer's Cabin
The Writer’s Cabin offers a quiet, welcoming space to step away from the distractions of everyday life. Surrounded by the beauty of nature, it’s an ideal setting for writers, artists, and individuals seeking inspiration, focused work, or a place to gather their thoughts. Whether you’re working on a creative project, planning your next big idea, or simply looking for a quiet retreat, the Writer’s Cabin provides a setting where creativity can take root.
How to Reserve the Cabin
The cabin has a beautiful view of the lake and is an ideal location for writing inspiration. It is available at a heavily discounted price of $25 per night to writers who have been approved for a scholarship and are working on a project with a Christian emphasis, or it is available for personal prayer retreats for $75 per night.
Writers Cabin Scholarship applications need to be at least two months prior to your stay. Once approved, reservations can be made two to 12 months in advance of your stay.
Individuals who want to schedule any reservation in the Writers Cabin should email Suzanne Maki at or call the office (503) 538-2763 ext. 101.
For more information about the Writers Cabin project email Dennis Littlefield/Executive Director, or call Dennis at (503) 538-2763, ext. 103.
Application Process for Writers
Artist Statement: In a one-page Word document, write about your work, yourself and your current thinking about what you’d like to accomplish at Tilikum as clearly and concisely as possible. We want to get a sense of you as a writer and your creative process.
Work Sample: Create a Work Sample of up to 10 pages. Work samples can be a work-in-progress or already published work; whatever you feel will make for the strongest application.
Combine your Artist Statement and Work Sample into a single document. Make sure the Artist Statement is on page 1 and the Work Sample starts on Page 2. Save the document as a PDF.
Biographical Statement & Preferred Residency Dates: Write your name, contact information including address, email, phone number. Underneath write up to 2 paragraphs listing any relevant professional accomplishments such as awards, exhibitions, published works, etc. No CV's please. Also, tell us how you heard about Tilikum. This is for the administrative file.
After your Biographical Statement, denote (in order of preference) the dates you would like to be in residence. Include any comments regarding availability. Please note that we cannot guarantee available times. Reservations need to be at least two nights and less than 7 nights. A person can schedule up to a maximum of 15 nights total in a year.
Please email your application and submission questions to: dennis@camptilikum.org office (503) 538-2763 ext. 103.
After you have received scholarship approval for the Writers Cabin, please contact Suzanne Maki, suzanne@camptilikum.org or call the office (503) 538-2763 ext. 101 if you have any questions.
To help with the overall cost of a writing retreat, this micro grant is available from the West Coast Christian Writers organization.
The Idea
Richard Foster and his family lived at Tilikum in the 1970’s when he was on the pastoral team at Newberg Friends Church. During these years he wrote the book, Celebration of Discipline in this peaceful setting. From this connection to Tilikum, the idea came to develop a special place for Christian writers, which the staff at Tilikum began in 2017. Here is a letter from Richard Foster endorsing this project.