Windbreak House

Welcome to Windbreak House.

Celebrating 20+ Years of Writing Retreats! (founded 1996)

In the center of the nation, deep in the grasslands of western South Dakota, essayist and poet Linda M. Hasselstrom grew up as an only child on a family cattle ranch homesteaded by a Swedish cobbler in 1899.

Today she invites you to benefit from a writing retreat on that same ranch. Come to the house where she discovered the Great Plains outside her windows, where she began to write the poetry and non-fiction books that have established her as one of the strongest voices on behalf of the prairie.

Linda holds a BA in English and Journalism, an MA in American Literature, and has been a teacher of writing for more than 45 years. She has hosted writing retreats at her ranch since 1996.

Not a writer but a reader? Enjoy Linda's vivid descriptions of her life and work on the ranch, as a writer, and as an advocate for the preservation of the prairies and the people and wildlife who inhabit them.

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New Books Coming In 2017

I have two new books that will be published this fall. Book covers will be unveiled soon, along with ordering information.


Gathering from the Grassland: A Plains Journal
My first book, Windbreak: A Woman Rancher on the Northern Plains, written in journal form, covered a year on my family's ranch, telling the stories of the land, the livestock and wildlife, and the people.

My newest book, also in journal form, revisits that same landscape thirty years later. I spent a year observing the changing of the seasons and the daily life of my feathered and furred neighbors. At the same time I studied the personal journals of my parents and other relatives, trying to understand their lives from an older-- and I hope, wiser-- perspective; hoping that making sense of the past will allow me to see my way into the future.


Dakota: Bones, Grass, Sky --- Collected and New Poems
This new collection of poems includes the works found in the 1993 book Dakota Bones: The Collected Poems of Linda Hasselstrom, along with 50 new poems.

I have purposefully included my older poems, without revision. As a teacher of writing, I feel that it would be untruthful to hide or change my earlier work: aspiring poets should be able to see my range of accomplishment.


Stay tuned to this website and to my Windbreak House Facebook page for future bulletins.

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Free Books!

Dakota Bones: The Collected Poems of Linda Hasselstrom
When you purchase a book from me, any title, you will receive a free copy of Dakota Bones as I pare down my inventory in preparation for my new poetry collection.

Click here to go to the Dakota Bones webpage.
Read some behind-the-scenes details about this book: Q&A with Linda, the story behind the book cover photo, a list of the poems in the book, and more.


The Wheel of the Year: A Writer's Workbook
If you attend my workshop at the South Dakota Festival of Books you will receive a free copy of The Wheel of the Year, which includes two years worth of essays and exercises to inspire you to write.

Click here to go to The Wheel of the Year webpage.
Read some behind-the-scenes details about this book: Q&A with Linda, notes about content, information about the book cover photo, and more.


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South Dakota Festival of Books

Join me at the South Dakota Festival of Books in Deadwood, South Dakota, this September. I will conduct a writing workshop, participate in a poetry reading, and discuss writing and the grasslands with author/buffalo-rancher Dan O'Brien. You can buy my books and have me autograph them.


“Writing Through Seven Decades: No Matter What Happens”
Workshop -- Saturday, Sep 23 -- 9:00 to 9:45 am
Homestake Adams Research & Cultural Center
$20 ticket required. You will receive a free copy of my book The Wheel of the Year ($22.95 cover price).
read about it here


“Celebrating Poetry of Presence: A Reading”
Poetry Reading -- Saturday, Sep 23 -- 3:00 to 3:45 pm
With Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby Wilson
Deadwood Mountain Grand - Prospector Room
read about it here


“What's So Great About Grass? How Writing about the Grasslands Can Help to Protect Them”
Panel Discussion -- Sunday, Sep 24 -- 11:00 to 11:45 am
With Dan O'Brien
Deadwood Mountain Grand - Event Center
read about it here


Purchase Books and Meet the Authors
Book Sales and Signings -- Saturday, September 23 -- 1:00 to 1:45 pm
Deadwood Mountain Grand - Event Center


See the full Festival schedule here on this page of the South Dakota Humanities website.

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Interview on KEVN TV

In March I was interviewed by Taylar Perez of Rapid City's KEVN Black Hills Fox TV station. Taylar came to Windbreak House, filmed my responses to her thoughtful questions, and captured shots of the Writing Retreat house, the books I spoke about, and early spring at the ranch. Then she zoomed back to Rapid City, filmed another interview elsewhere, edited the stories in the afternoon, and presented them that evening while she also anchored the news. Wow!

You can watch my interview and read the transcript here at KEVN Black Hills Fox.

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New YouTube Video

In honor of National Poetry Month, and specifically National Cowboy Poetry Week (April 16-22, 2017), I recorded some stories and readings as a tribute to Badger Clark, South Dakota's first Poet Laureate.

I was inspired by a number of writers and poets during my childhood-- notably Mari Sandoz and Badger Clark-- who each wrote about the west that I recognized from my life on the ranch.

New in 2017 --- See my tribute to Badger Clark, his cabin in nearby Custer State Park, and his humorous Last Verse of poetry here on Youtube.

See also my video about Badger Clark's poem "The Legend of Boastful Bill" here on Youtube (published 2016).

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My Most Recent Book

Write Around Nature's Calendar

The Wheel of the Year: A Writer's Workbook
nonfiction, 2015, Red Dashboard Press
ISBN: 978-0-9966450-0-3
$22.95 -- paper

The Wheel of the Year is structured with sixteen essays, one for each of the eight seasons through two years, with an intermission essay, “Respect Writing By Not Writing,” which discusses taking time off. Extensive writing suggestions are included, as well as additional resources. The workbook is intended as a guide and teacher as a writer sets up her own schedule of writing and develops a relationship with the natural and mundane worlds in which we live. If the reader came to a retreat at my Windbreak House Retreats, this might be a series of conversations we would have about writing.

All About the Book --- Read some behind-the-scenes details about this book: Q&A with Linda, notes about content, information on the book jacket photo, and more.
Click here to go to The Wheel of the Year webpage.


If you would like to purchase an autographed copy from me, please send a check or money order for $28 to:

Linda M. Hasselstrom
PO Box 169
Hermosa SD 57744

Let me know if you would like me to personalize a message along with my signature.

The $28 covers media mail shipping & handling within the USA and any applicable sales tax.

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Now, What About Your Writing?

Windbreak House Writing Retreats and online Writing Conversations by eMail.

If you would like to spend some time writing at Windbreak House see the Writing Retreats Page for the list of available retreat dates in 2017 and all the details you need to know about applying for a writing retreat (working with me) or a solitary retreat (recharge your creativity and enjoy uninterrupted writing time).

If you can't take a retreat holiday because your time or your budget is tight, we can still have some productive writing fun together online. See the Online Writing Help Page for complete details on how to sign up for a Writing Conversation by eMail.

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Stories About Writing Retreats

Susan wrote a blog about her January, 2016 writing retreat-- you'll get a few writing tips while you enjoy reading about her experience.
www.writingwyoming.com/2016/02/lessons-from-writing-retreat

And I have a blog series about writing retreats.
Six Steps to a Successful Retreat at Windbreak House
Create Your Own Writing Retreat at Home

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The Windbreak House Blog

Notes from a Western Life

My WordPress blog allows me to include multiple photos, link with social media across the web, and offer you a free subscription that sends a dandy version of the blog directly to your email inbox, photos and all. To subscribe click on any of these links to go to the blog, then scroll down and look for the subscription box in the right-hand column.

Some Recent Blogs:

"Book Remarks: Wilderness Fever" -- posted June 26, 2017
High Plains Press recently published Wilderness Fever: A Family’s Adventures Homesteading in Early Jackson Hole, 1914-1924, a book created from journal entries and letters written to relatives. Hang on to those family writings, folks!
Read the book review here.

"The Internet: Connecting to the World from Rural South Dakota" -- posted June 7, 2017
One of the reasons I write is to understand a problem and therefore move towards a solution. As my internet connection grew worse until I lost connection completely, I still kept doing research and continued to write.
Read of my woes and my solution here.

"Resting in Peace. Or Not." -- posted June 1, 2017
As I help tidy the local cemetery before Memorial Day, I am reminded of the people of our community. How I wish I had written down the oral history my father heard as a child and then passed along to me as we worked together on the ranch. This is what I remember.
Enjoy stories (and photos) of the Hermosa community here.

"Windbreak House Writing Retreats 20th Anniversary" series -- posted in December 2016 and January 2017
2016 was the 20th year I conducted writing retreats at my ranch home. Read this ongoing series of blogs for stories, photos, and many quotes by writers taken from the Retreat House journals. I have written 8 chapters and expect to write a few more later this year.
Part 1 -- Beginnings
Part 2 -- Evolution
Part 3 -- Guidelines
Part 4 -- The People
Part 5 -- The Writing

"Deadline Met: Report on a Solitary Writing Retreat" -- posted December 16th
Mystery writer MK Coker came to Windbreak House for a solitary retreat in October, hoping to finish the final revisions on the most-recent book in the Dakota Mystery series in time for its November publisher deadline. Read the report on MK's time at the retreat and my notes about this great mystery series.
Read about MK's retreat and books here.


Because it is time-consuming to update two blogs, I have phased out the blog on this website to concentrate on my WordPress site. However, many older blogs are available on the Blog Page of this website which you will find by clicking here.

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