Friday, April 18, 2008

What are the pleasures of creative writing – and why travel to Spain to explore them? Reasonable questions that I frequently consider when choosing our courses here.

Coming to a wholly different place from the daily norm is one way of challenging the anaesthesia of the every-day. Visitors to the Almàssera frequently comment on how much more they seem to notice when they are here – and how clearer things can be seen back at home when detached from them for a week or so. This is one of the pleasures of travel anywhere of course, but it was an strong element in our thinking when designing the Almàssera - how to harness that greater awareness creatively.

From the beginning our design brief for the Almàssera put first the idea of creating space to facilitate creative writing. We wanted private, tranquil areas available both internally and externally so that visiting writers could always find somewhere congenial to work.

We wanted a well stocked library. Visiting writers need not worry about dictionaries, thesauruses, Atlases etc , they are all here. And we have about 3000 works of fiction, poetry, biography etc. Recently we have set up spare computers for writers use – and wireless connection is now easy both in the house and annexe.

Easy access to inspirational walks was another essential factor . From the front door it is an easy stroll to the pine-shaded Calvary path to the Ermita chapel and the castle. There are the olive, almond and orange groves to wander through – and for the more adventurous an inspiring mountain walk over to the next village Sella.

Another element is the communal table – it seats fourteen comfortably. Creativity goes with conversation , good humour – and sharing ideas. And good food . To get an idea of the cuisine offered at meal times during a course, check the Canadian writer Rhona McAdam’s blog site http://iambiccafe.blogspot.com:80/ , check the entries around April 13th 2008

And our courses this year? The distinguished poet Alfred Corn is coming to us in on May 30th – to start with a poetry reading at Alicante University and then to tutor a residential course with us: ‘Getting to the Next Level’ Alfred comes to us from the London Poetry School with whom we work closely in selecting courses right for the Almassera

I will be running the next course beginning June 14th on ‘Beginning to Write’ – this will be an introduction to the pleasures and satisfactions of creative writing in all genres including travel writing, memoir, fiction, journal, poetry, essays etc.

I met the brilliant John Hartley Williams for the fourth or fifth time at Lake Orta last year and we agreed to run a course here looking at the note book and its role in the creative process. The course ‘From Notebook to Poem’ begins September 6th and is again under the auspices of the London Poetry School who also recommended Penelope Shuttle whose course ‘Mirror and Window’ starting October 4th will be a weeks study of inner and outer visions in poetry. Penelope Shuttles most recent collection ‘Redgrove’s Wife’ was short-listed for the prestigious T S Eliot prize last year.
We also have put aside a week in September for retreaters who want no distraction – we will fully cater the week as normal but there will be no tutor. We have places available on all these courses and self-catering retreats are available all year