Valleys and forests and castles and mills and centuries and mysteries. Here's your chance to spend a week in this magical area of Eastern Tuscany in the company of interesting people, with great food & wine and company, whilst taking a giant step forward in your writing.
See Lisa Clifford's article below. This year's course was full. Don't miss out for 2014.
My dream for years was to organise a retreat for writers in
my adopted home, Tuscany. I had already published three books, had a fourth on
the way and a movie in the pipeline. It was definitely time to give something
back. Firstly, to others who dream of becoming published writers and secondly to
the mountains of Tuscany, the place that helped make all my dreams come true.
The idea was to design a programme that I personally would
love to do, something that offered a special kind of withdrawal into a creative
space. Lots of lectures from published writers and fabulous teachers,
professionals who are particularly good at evaluating what you've written. A
writers retreat that offered time to learn, time to create and exceptional
private time to chat with authors who’ve made their mistakes and subsequently
wanted to share how to avoid the common and not-so-common problems of working
with the written word.
Several writers, along with a British Creative Writing
teacher that I have worked with in the past, agreed to join me for five days of
lectures. We learn in the morning, write in the afternoons and have guest
speakers at night. As time goes on, more writers and creative writing teachers
have joined my team.
The Art of Writing runs always in the second week of June and
the second week of September. We book out an entire Tuscan agriturismo (Italian
run family farms that by law have to provide 50% of local produce on their
tables) with ten apartments, for ten writers. The Art of Writing groups are
small and intimate, ideal for nurturing and encouraging each
other.
Here is a short video of the 2013 Art of Writing. I hope it
helps you think about your dream and how you too can make it come true.
