Explore slow,
analog making.
A unique typewriter poetry experience: small groups, vintage machines, creative connection in a two-room studio in the Blue Ridge foothills.
Often
booked for
Bachelorette weekends
Team off-sites
Friends & family
Typewriter poetry sessions
Small House Studio offers typewriter poetry experiences for individuals, friend groups, wedding parties, corporate off-sites, and more. Explore a variety of vintage typewriters and experiment with writing poetry for others. No experience is needed; you do not need to be a writer or a poet to join us. The studio is in Greene County, Virginia, about 45 minutes north of Charlottesville, with the first sessions opening in late 2026.
How a workshop goes →How the session goes
Three hours, from the first welcome to the last goodbye.
Settling in
We gather in the front room, settling into couches and chairs with coffee or tea, and begin with poetry. We each read aloud a short, beloved poem that we brought to the session, sharing why we selected it and what it means to us. We talk about the art of writing poems for another person, and the particular challenges of typing compositions in real time.
Meet the machines
We move to the back studio and sit around a long table set with vintage typewriters, each of us finding a machine that calls to us. We discuss the mechanics of typing and take a few practice spins, troubleshooting as needed. Then we have one final practice round of typing out the poem that we each brought onto vintage paper, creating our first keepsake of the day.
Write for each other
We pair off and dig into on-the-spot, custom poetry. We take turns asking the gentle questions that elicit topics and then writing for one another. This part can be a bit uncomfortable, a bit exhilarating, and is the heart of the experience.
Sharing aloud
We move back into the comfortable front room and process our experience together. Those of us who so desire read the poems they composed aloud — sharing is always welcome but never required. At the end of our time together you collect the poem written for you, the second keepsake of the day, and we say our goodbyes.
The studio
Two rooms inside a restored 1940s farmhouse, surrounded by hayfields, a summer kitchen, and an herbal medicine garden.
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Hosted by Laura Frantz of Charlottesville Poem Store, a professional typewriter poet who has written poems on the spot for guests of the Phillips Collection, Boar's Head Resort, Virginia Festival of the Book, Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, Quirk Hotel, Morrison House, and many others.
