Max Regan, MFA
Max is a teacher, an internationally published poet and writer, and the founder of Hollowdeck Press, LLC. He has taught poetry, prose and creative writing to various groups for the past 30 years. Max has worked as a journalist for publications around the country, and has taught and lectured at the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, Rose Medical Center and Naropa University.
His work has been published in numerous literary journals, magazines and anthologies and has been translated into Czech, Spanish, French, German and Japanese. Max has designed and taught creative writing classes for national and international arts conferences, as well as teaching annually across the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. Max served for over a decade as the Director of the Naropa Summer Writing Program and was the founder and faculty advisor of Naropa University’s Study Abroad Semester in Prague.
Max has worked with a diverse array of clients including authors who have published high-quality indie/self published books using POD sites such as Create Space, iUniverse, Blurb, Lulu and others. He also edits for authors who have published mainstream books with publishers including Simon and Schuster, Counterpoint, WW Norton, Random House, HarperCollins, Longacre Press, Free Press, Lantern Books, Pegasus Press, Spirituality and Health Publications, Coffee House Press and Spuyten Duyvil. Authors have been featured in many media outlets including The New York Times Review of Books, Oprah Magazine, People Magazine, ABC Nightline, NBC Today and The Travel Channel.
For all inquiries or to Register for a class, retreat or journey, please contact Max Regan at Hollowdeck Press LLC
E-mail: hollowdeckpress@mac.com
RULES OF THE ROAD
for classes, journeys and retreats
When we step into community with one another as working writers we step into sacred work. There is a long and powerful lineage of artists working to support and strengthen one another, in every country and culture on earth. Here are some basic ideas that might help support you as you dive more fully into your work together in the context of this specific class, retreat or journey:
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Respect your Artistry
You are here because you are a writer. Do not waste your precious energy doubting or proving your legitimacy. If you don’t respect that identity every day then, regardless of what you write, no one else ever will. Your most vital job as a writer is to stay true to your own creativity. Honoring WHO you are and WHY you choose this art are as vital as honoring WHAT you make. Respect your passion, your intention and your inspiration, even if these things change or evolve. Never let anyone, no matter who they are (even yourself), talk you out of your own heartwork. Write it like it matters and it will matter.
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Speak and listen mindfully
Only critique the text and never the author. Replace your assumptions with skillful questions and listen deeply to the answers. Take responsibility for your state of mind, what you say and how your words impact one another. Refrain from comparing mind and all forms of gossip. When invited to respond to one another’s work, abandon the limited field of opinion and offer true feedback instead. Feedback always references specific places in the work itself. It requires your honesty and seeks, above all else, to provide useful information that might strengthen both the craft of the author and quality of their text. Treat one other’s work with the care, curiosity, seriousness and skillfulness you would want for your own.
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Welcome difference
Honor the widest possible array of genres, methods, feedback and perspectives. Seek out writers, texts, ideas and strategies that differ from your own. Honor your own aesthetic as well as your resistance but don’t be limited by either of them. Reading widely and fearlessly is the foundation of strong craft. Write with the stranger in mind, and welcome the parts of your own mind that seem to be the most strange, your uniqueness and brilliance often live there. Whenever possible put your work into the hands of the unexpected reader; wide generative communities make for broad eventual readership.
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Take chances
Never miss an opportunity to experiment wildly as a writer. Risk and chance have alchemy and magic inside them. Keep surprising yourself, both on and off the page. Write texts that take a leap outside your comfort zone. Don’t try to make the page look too good too soon, this way lies madness. Do the work OF each stage IN that stage but, especially in the early stages of drafting, don’t be afraid to try anything that seems like it might spark your creativity.
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Hold your seat
Keep your word and don’t give it lightly. Honor your obligations as a writer and maintain your dignity. You are always building your professional reputation, so protect it in everything you do. Learn to see your work clearly. Invest in your curiosity more than your desire or fear. Practice confidence without arrogance, humility without self-deprecation and, wherever possible, try to cultivate a calm heart.
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