History

In May in 2015, a brief Twitter conversation started by several furry writers and editors, including Kyell Gold, Sparf, Dark End, Ocean Tigrox, and Alkani along with some others, resulted in a meeting to discuss the feasibility of a writing workshop. Key requirements, such as location, necessary materials, structure, instructors, duration, and date/time were part of the discussion.

After a few meetings, a website was created, payment processing was put in place, instructors and guest lecturers were found, and promotion of the event started in earnest in August 2015. Applications for the event were accepted for approximately sixty days, and by the time November 2015 rolled around, the first class of the first furry residential writing workshop, the Regional Anthropomorphic Writers Retreat, was set to run.

The First Class met in January 2016 for a week in temperate San Jose, California. Kyell Gold and Ryan Campbell led the instruction, along with guest lecturers Watts Martin, who discussed worldbuilding, and Brer, who talked a little bit about publishing. The five attendees were Skunkbomb, Sparf, Thomas Steele, Ashe Valisca, and Ianus J. Wolf. Immediately after the event, some participants continued on to Further Confusion in San Jose, California.

In the months between the first and second event, there was internal discussion about moving to a new location. The requirements were that the location had to be scenic, have good food, a good location, and be within budget. Based on the requirements of the organization, South Lake Tahoe, California was chosen as the event location. Housing was secured, information compiled, and the event was then set in stone.

The Second Class met in May 2017 for a week in South Lake Tahoe, California. Kyell Gold and Ryan Campbell returned to instruct the class. The six attendees were John Kulp, NightEyes Dayspring, T. J. Minde, Ryft Sarri, Ocean Tigrox, and Kristina "th' buni" Tracer. The 2016-2017 event immediately preceded Biggest Little Fur Con in Reno, Nevada.

The Third Class met in May 2018 for a week in South Lake Tahoe, California. Kyell Gold and Ryan Campbell returned to instruct the class. The five attendees were: Madison Keller, Gullwulf, Mino, Mog Moogle, and PJ Wolf. The sixth attendee, Allison Thai, was unable to attend. This event did not precede a convention this year (and policy starting with RAWR3 is not to).

The Fourth Class (RAWR4) met in June 2019 for a week in South Lake Tahoe, California. Kyell Gold and Ryan Campbell returned to instruct the class. The five attendees were: Aelius, Miriam "Camio" Curzon, Jaeden "Jay Dee" Drackus, Mythic Fox, and Reverie. This class was the last class to be held in South Lake Tahoe, California,

With the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the original Fifth Class was unable to meet in person. As a result, the event was rescheduled for 2021. With the lack of improvement in the COVID-19 situation during 2021, and not wanting to delay any further, RAWR5 was virtually held from June 6 - 11, 2021. The candidates participating were K.C. Alpinus, Makyo, and Al Song. The instructors Kyell Gold and a new instructor, Dayna Smith.

At this point in time, we are looking forward to holding the RAWR6 class virtually as well. While the COVID-19 vaccine has been widely applied, due to the danger of the Delta variant and having a strong desire to protect our volunteers and attendees from unnecessary danger, we felt that holding a virtual event was key to the continuing success or our writing workshop. We also recognize that holding a virtual event gives others the opportunity to apply and attend.