Participants love Ellen Bass's workshops. Here is what they have to say about them:

     Ellen Bass is a wonderful teacher, presence, gift to the creative
spirit and the world. I love her. I Unconditionally recommend her. She has a generous heart, soul, spirit ....and the poetry of her, not only what she writes but who she is ...is transformative and touching and creates that needed safe and sacred space to explore our words, sounds, music, souls, shadows, grittiness, juice, fumbling, breath, ways of coming up for air...again and again.
--Stewart Mintzer, Tarzana, CA

I took part in Ellen Bass' Writing for Our Lives" workshop in Majorca
2004 -- and what a TREAT! Not being a professional or seasoned writer, but with stories inside me that I had carried around for some time, I wasn't really sure how it would be for me. What I found was a group of people who were oh so talented and supportive, and an environment made whole, uplifting, and inspirational by Ellen's skilled leadership. Oh how I wish I could be a part of one of her groups regularly!
-- Pamela Pine, Maryland

     Having taken three of her weekend writing workshops, I remain impressed at the subtle, indeed alchemical, way Ellen Bass quickly engenders a safe supportive space in which a wide range of participants create and share increasingly profound and personal, sometimes painful and frequently humorous, work. Inspired and encouraged by the group, I am amazed at the depths to which I am able to dive, and then can carry the magical experience back to my home writing practice.
--Jim Van Buskirk, San Francisco

     I want to once again thank you for your inspiration, support and
nudging. You are a marvelous teacher and model for the creative
process, the work it takes and the results it yields in product and
personal gratification.
      I am recognizing the poet in myself, finding the reorganization of my way of seeing the world and my experiences in it so stimulating at times and so right in the way it soothes me at other times. Beyond thank you.
--Nancy K. Brown, Santa Cruz, CA

     Thank you for being a person with whom the effort to speak up is
always worthwhile; thank you for the generosity of your wisdom, which is both profound and practical; and thank you for constantly
articulating your faith in my writing, which has helped me up over and
over...
      It's about 10:30 now, way past my bed-time. I just printed out an
outline of the book's skeleton. I am thoroughly enchanted by the
adventure of organization! My metaphor for it is this: having some
'narrative structure' is like finally sheltering myself in a cabin,
after trying to stay warm for years huddling beneath a pile of
sticks...
--Kathryn Kefauver, San Francisco, CA

     Ellen, I love your clarity and your ability to concretize
the vagueness of anything I or others write. Your insights take me to
places that I haven't been before; helping me to see the larger
possibilities. Writing can be a bumpy ride, but because you are such a
fine teacher, you make it smoother.
-- Shalom Victor, Santa Cruz, CA

      Before I venture off on my own, leaving behind the safety of the group, I want to take a moment to thank you. For years I have wanted to acknowledge that part of me that longs to write, but I have always
managed to give every other part of my life priority. With the help of
your class I have rediscovered just how much I love writing and what an important part of me the writing side can be. I thank you for that.
Your positive feedback, your gentle suggestions, and most of all, your
willingness to honor the writer in all of us--these have helped me ease
into the writing life. My real triumph? For the first time, I actually
wrote to the end of a journal! I suspect that will be the first of many.
- Ellen Newberry, Santa Cruz, CA

"A writer's workshop facilitated by Ellen Bass is a rare and inspiring opportunity. I learned so much, about writing and about myself, that the experience is still resonant and meaningful long after the fact."
- Susan Pritzker, Chicago, IL

Her process is deceptively simple in appearance, but profound in its
effectiveness. With Ellen Bass you learn almost as much by listening to
her coach your fellow writers as you do from her razor-sharp,
insightful critiques of your own work. She maintains a focused,
sensitive, serious atmosphere where each one gets as much specific
feedback as he or she wants, and where a fascinating mix of writers and poets support one another in a warm, powerful way. I'd recommend her workshops to anyone who wants to become a better writer or poet.
- Dick Guthrie, Santa Cruz, CA

I hosted a workshop with Ellen in my home last fall and I cannot
encourage all of you enough to find a way to work with her. Ellen has
not only a truly gifted way of looking at a poem but the most blessed
way of helping a poet see new perspectives and potential in their own
piece. She is very affirming and has a terrific sense of humor. Give
yourself the gift of Ellen's workshop and you will not regret it!
- Georgia Popoff, editor of Comstock Review, Syracuse, NY