About Our Writing Retreats
We're guided by inclusivity, safe communication, and a decolonization of craft.
Entrelinhas is rooted in an existing creative writing community in Portugal, the Porto Writers' Workshop. Founded by writers Lucianna Chixaro Ramos and Hiten Chojer in 2023, the Porto Writers' Workshop has offered local and immigrant writers opportunities to learn the craft of writing in a safe, inclusive space.
Our core values are:
Inclusivity
We honor the local culture of our retreat locations and our resident country. Entrelinhas is based in Portugal and we have made a committment to center Lusophone writers and traditions in all of our programming. Although the sessions are hosted in English to accomodate a variety of writers, all workshop materials and programming will also be available in Portuguese.
We are proud that our first cohort consisted of 50% lusophone and 50% anglophone writers, hailing from the U.S., Brazil, Portugal, and India.
Safe Communication
Every writer’s work is given equal importance, regardless of genre, language, educational background, or intent to publish. We ask participants to engage each other’s work with curiosity and care and that feedback be directed at the writing itself, not the writer. Open, non-violent communication is a key component of our workshops. The goal is to provide participants with an opportunity to strengthen their craft and communication skills in a supportive environment.
Decolonization of Craft
We approach craft as an evolving practice shaped by many literary traditions. Our programming makes space for a range of narrative structures, voices, and influences, with particular attention to Lusophone writers and traditions.
Rather than prescribing one way to write, we encourage participants to examine the assumptions behind craft conventions and to develop work that is formally and culturally intentional.
Our Team
Lucianna Chixaro Ramos
Founder & Lead Facilitator
Lucianna Chixaro Ramos is a Brazilian-born writer and the author of Cells (Burrow Press, 2023), a poetry collection that explores the intersections of language, law, and institutional power. Her focus is now on nonfiction, with her most recent essay, "Fortunes," appearing in Electric Literature. Lucianna holds an MFA from Stetson University’s MFA of the Americas, where she taught a course on the poetics of immigrant communities in the U.S. She is passionate about creating supportive spaces for writers and co-founded the Porto Writers' Workshop in 2023. For more information, visit luchixaro.com.
Maureen P. Medina
Somatics Instructor
Maureen is our bridge between body and mind. She is a writer, healing practitioner, and facilitator of safe, generative spaces. Author of My Fears Out Loud, she hosts open mics and generative writing workshops that incorporate somatic practices, and provides mental health trainings with a focus on anti-carceral resources. Her movement is informed by her belief that all oppression - and therefore, all liberation - is connected. She invites us to bear witness to ourselves and the world at large to heal individually and collectively. Aside from her writing and mental health advocacy, Maureen also works to bring ingredients grown at Horta Harmonia to life, a zero-waste food garden in Ovar, Portugal, focused on food sovereignty.
Melanie Andrade
Resident Chef
Melanie is our resident chef, responsible for crafting nourishing meals for our retreat participants. She spent most of her life in cafés, cooking and listening to other people's stories. Now she also writes her own. You can read her essays on the people she encounters in Porto on her blog, The Listening Room. She also runs At the Table, a foodie book club, monthly in Porto.