On sunny Summer days I often wonder whether it would be fun to book myself into a writing retreat. The idea of spending a few days away from the reality of everyday life, ensconced with like-minded folk and given permission-even encouraged-to concentrate purely on writing appeals greatly.
I read the reviews of several of these, and they do seem excellent but I couldn’t help wondering… It’s not the most usual choice of career path is it? I mean, people don’t say ‘I’ll be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a chiropodist, or maybe I’ll run a Writing Retreat…’
So; What makes someone want to run a writing retreat?
A Writing Retreat is a venue offering a facility for a group of writers to gather, share, and write in an atmosphere conducive to that, away from the distractions and demands of everyday, normal life, supported by fellow writers. Writers can make progress on ongoing projects or learn a new skill. Often guest writers attend and offer a talk or advice and tutoring.
Retreats also exist for those with other interests, such as Art, Meditation and Yoga. All offer a chance to escape from the demands of one’s usual life and focus on a personal passion.
To be classed as a retreat, most offer an experience lasting at least a few days, and include within that, accommodation and food, although some (such as Urban Retreats), have a one-day format.
Anyway, I decided to jump down off my fence, and research several of those based here in the UK. I contacted two local concerns, The Writing Retreat based in Cornwall and the Arvon Foundation at their Totleigh Barton, Devon venue.
- The Writing Retreat in Cornwall.
I spoke to Jane Moss, the retreats co-founder and director. About 3 years ago she set up The Writing Retreat with her friend Kath Morgan at Rosemerryn at Lamorna in far west Cornwall. They also have a venue at Bosloe. They started by running a pilot.
They run a Blog on WordPress linked to their website:
https://thewritingretreat.co.uk
Jane is lovely and full of passion. It shines through. She told me,
‘Both of us tutors have MAs in creative writing and many years’ experience between us of running writing courses and workshops.’
Jane has co-hosted other retreats, at Ty Newydd in north Wales, for Lapidus and NAWE. Kath has a teaching background.
‘I’ve run writing groups in the community and have been a tutor in adult education and a visiting lecturer at Hertfordshire University.’ Jane went on.
Kath has an agent for her novels and Jane is published in poetry, short memoire and a creative handbook for counsellors using writing as part of therapy.’
See www.janemoss.com for more information.
‘We both know our way around the publishing worlds – I worked in publishing as a copywriter and editor for much of the 1980s and 90s. I have training as a provider of bereavement support and a good understanding of counseling and writing for therapeutic benefit. I was on the board of Lapidus (www.lapidus.org.uk) for three years and have run writing groups for hospices, carers organisations and Macmillan.’ Jane said.
Both women are used to facilitating groups and working in a one-to-one, and in situations in which people may be expressing difficult thoughts and feelings through their writing. They use icebreakers and a variety of welcome exercises to help people settle in, and strive to set a positive, warm and supportive tone from the guests’ first arrival.
They astutely saw that they’d need a unique selling point-something to make them stand out. Their USP is that they are a ’boutique’ experience. Luxury.
Jane made me smile when she said she and Kath asked themselves ‘What kind of retreat would I want to go to myself?’
They even have a helper who is a trained chef. She comes in ‘on the day’ to do the final preparation and service for the meals cooked by Jane and Kath, enabling them more time to concentrate on the writing programme. A guest recently described the Writing Retreats food as ‘hotel standard’, which Jane said made them very proud.
(Photo courtesy of The Writing Retreat)
They have a Narrative Structure workshop coming up this year 31st Oct – 5th Nov 2016 at Rosemerryn, Cornwall
The cost is £655 for a double room, or £575 for a twin room. If two people want to attend together, sharing a room, the cost of a double is £495 per person or the twin £450.
Kath and Jane say they try to accommodate keen aspiring writers on low incomes too and invite anyone in that position to contact them directly.
The November retreat is for those who have already spent time working on a substantial draft of a novel or longer memoir. Morning workshops provide the tools to plan and revise structure, identify plot points and theme, and use back story and sub plot effectively.
One-to-ones take place with the tutors in the afternoons. Jenny Alexander will be the guest author for this retreat. She will join everyone for dinner on the Wednesday evening and run a workshop on Thursday morning. After breakfast, Morning workshops start promptly at 9.30am in the studio, with a break for coffee and tea at 11.00am.
Lunch is daily at 1.00pm, followed by free writing time in the afternoons and one to one sessions of 50 minutes each with Kath and Jane. Dinner is at 7.00pm, followed by a variety of talks and readings. On the final evening, guests are invited to read after dinner, if they wish.
- The Arvon Foundation Totleigh Barton venue.
In a 16th century manor house, a few miles from Sheepwash, Devon, Arvon runs writing retreats which are generally considered to be the ‘Gold Standard.’ They have other centres in Inverness-shire, Shropshire and Yorkshire and have been around since 1968. If you want to see for yourself, their site is at
http://www.arvon.org/totleigh barton
I was very fortunate to speak to Mary Morris, the Devon Centre’s Director. She told me,
‘I got involved in Writing Retreats originally from a background working in Publishing in London, mainly literary fiction. I felt at the crossroads of my career path and wanted to get out of London. At just the right time, the job at Arvon came up and everything fell into place.’
Mary said she loves talking to writers about their craft. Loves to see the transformation in them and their work. Loves working in an atmosphere full of creativity and self-expression. Arvon has guest writers to run workshops throughout the year, the highest calibre of writers. She is proud of that and of Arvons ethics and integrity; that was a major factor in her choice to work for them.
(Photo courtesy of Arvon Facebook page)
‘They have a long history-nearly fifty years. Ted Hughes was in at the beginning-him and his house in Yorkshire. The Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, Lumb Bank is an 18th-century mill-owners house in West Yorkshire, which once belonged to him.’
Mary also said she likes being able to provide a space and time where anyone longing to write can abandon their everyday responsibilities and concentrate solely on getting creative. On writing.
She likes the feeling of community. Everyone ‘mucks in’ with things like cooking. And she likes that they have funding help. They get about 60% income from the courses they run and money from the Arts Council (they are counted as a key organisation – supported). They also run a ‘Friends of…’ scheme which feeds into their grant scheme. And they’re open 45 weeks of the year.
Mary was really enthused with what she does and I found that inspiring and reassuring.
So…that’s the ‘Arvon Lady.’ In a nutshell.
Typically an experience has around 15 attendees, and runs from Monday afternoon to Saturday morning. Afternoons are spent writing and in one-to-one tutorials.
An example of one of their retreats takes place July 18th-July 23rd 2016 – A Fiction and Tutored Retreat.
This retreat offers a chance to really focus on fiction writing amid supportive and inspiring peers. Tutors will offer advice tailored to the individual and in one-to-one format, on subjects like voice, structure and control. There’s also ample opportunity for private work.
You’ll pay £750 for a single room or £700 for a shared one.
There’s a Grants scheme that, last year, was able to help 90% of applicants, available at Totleigh Barton. Priority is given to first time attendees but application must be before the end of April each year.
Here’s a typical itinerary:
Monday 4.30pm to 6pm – Arrive. After dinner, a general introduction by tutors.
Tuesday – Evening; tutors read from their own work.
Wednesday – Evening guest speaker.
Friday – Evening; group gathers to share and celebrate work.
Saturday – Leave after Breakfast.
Kat Brown, a journalist and freelance writer, experienced Arvon three years ago.
‘I went to Arvon in desperate need of a holiday. I came back feeling calm, confident and ready to work on a story and characters that I felt properly invested in.’
(Taken from Kat’s blog – http://exoticmaypole.com)
Other retreats that I also researched include;
- Retreat West
Amanda Saint started Retreat West in 2012, and it focuses on reading and writing fiction, with provision of helpful workshops. Competitions are run too, with literary agents as judges, said to be ‘a chance to avoid the slush pile.’ Typically a four-night experience with masterclasses, costs around £625
www.retreatwest.co.uk
- Swanwick Writers Summer School, Derbyshire
One of the oldest residential writers’ schools in the world, Swanwick was founded back in 1949. Every year in August, a week-long writing retreat is offered here, where a wide range of courses and workshops are run. This year, it is from 6th-12th August. There are journalist-led panels, and others run by agents and bestselling authors. This years speakers include John Lamont, Simon Hall, and Michael Jecks. At the historic 19th century Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire surrounded by a lake and landscaped gardens, a peaceful environment is provided to soothe even the most stressed of us, and the Summer School typically attracts around 300 writers. Novelists, poets, playwrights, journalists, comedy-writers and biographers get together to renew old friendships and build new ones.
Some ‘insider info:’
First attenders wear white labels. This is to indicate that they may need some assistance to find their way around, not that they are inexperienced writers. Some people can feel rather overwhelmed at finding themselves surrounded by 300 unusually eloquent strangers. The advice is to stick it out. Once the magic of Swanwick takes over, all falls into place. A variety of evening social activities are offered too, along with innovative ideas like a way for shopping online to benefit the school and a gift vouchers scheme.round the conference centre, not that they are inexperienced writers. Some people, quite understandably, can be overwhelmed by suddenly finding themselves in the midst of over 300 unusually eloquent strangers. The advice is to hang in there, once the Swanwick magic takes over all will be well. An important part of the week for many is taking part in the vareity of social activities arranged in the evenings, such as dances, quizzes and entertainments. Excursions are available on the Tuesday afternoon. round the conference centre, not that they are inexperienced writers. Some people, quite understandably, can be overwhelmed by suddenly finding themselves in the midst of over 300 unusually eloquent strangers. The advice is to hang in there, once the Swanwick magic takes over all will be well. An important part of the week for many is taking part in the vareity of social activities arranged in the evenings, such as dances, quizzes and entertainments. Excursions are available on the Tuesday afternoon.novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, comedy writers, journalists, biographers and more gather together to renew old friendships and forge new ones.
novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, comedy writers, journalists, biographers and more gather together to renew old friendships and forge new ones. novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, comedy writers, journalists, biographers and more gather together to renew old friendships and forge new ones. Prices start at £445 for the whole week, in the main house accomodation or £90 for day visitors. Their website is
http://www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk/
Moniack Liltarlity, Scotland
Residential Courses are run at Moniack Mhor. The centre is home for the duration, free from distractions within a nurturing writing community. Tutored Courses start from £325 for a 3 night course and £540 for Mon-Sat.
Grants are available to help with course fees on all courses.
Residential courses run with up to fourteen writers and each is tutored by two established, experienced tutors. All courses have one-to-one tutorials except the untutored retreats. At least one half hour tutorial is included with each tutor during your stay.
So; there is plenty of choice with something for everyone ‘out there.’ I focussed mainly on the West Country, here, Devon and Cornwall, but writing retreats can be found all over the UK and beyond with enough individuality to offer something for everyone who wants to find their inner scribe. Enjoy!
Musings 