Writing workshop in Italy

Activities

Writing Retreat in Italy - Next writers workshop :

May 21 - May 30 2010

Offered by InkWell, Inc. & Life in Italy LLC

Scrivere in Italia

Join us for our first Italy Writing Retreat in gorgeous Bolsena, Italy!

This workshop has been designed for writers of all kinds: fiction, memoir, creative non-fiction and especially travel, at early and intermediate stages of their writing careers who wish to expand their skills and enjoy Italy in the autumn as they learn. Our goal is to help participants not only develop their writing skills but to use Italy and its wonders as inspiration and as muse. Over the course of the ten-day retreat you will have your choice of four talks offered by well-known authors. Short workshops offered daily by a variety of writers and educators, and facilitated by Teresa Cutler (www.inkwell-inc.biz) will help with developing your ideas, your voice, your story.
Workshops will include:

writing for print magazines (from idea to query letter to published story)
writing travel essays
how to build strong characters
discovering your character's journey
memoir writing
essay writing
photography for travel writers will be offered by a professional photographer.

The workshops will be for all levels; for any who wish to spend their day writing instead of interacting with others, a terrace, a local piazza or trattoria, or a chair by the lake will be available. In the evenings we will hold readings after dinner under the stars.

In addition, to inspire and delight you, we will take a number of short, half-day tours offered by Italians who live in the area. We will visit towns many tourists never see, searching for the story no one else has written, or the moment that sparks that story in you. Our choices are many and we'll hand pick the tours just for our writers, from San Gimignano, Siena, Montepulciano, Pienza, Monte Amiata, Viterbo, Orvieto, Todi, Arezzo, Spoleto, Chianti, Narni, Pitigliano, and Etruscan cities like Tuscania, the nearby town of Civita or the seaside and Orbetello. These lovely Italian towns are off the beaten path and often overlooked. Through the ancient history that gathers in every piazza, and in every voice speaking the beautiful Italian language, you will find a well-spring of ideas.

Also available will be a visit to a ceramics school and nearby hot springs. And of course, a nearby wine tasting will be available.

For writers of travel pieces, Italy will provide the environment in which to create rich and vivid essays, and the workshops will give you the tools to develop them. For fiction, Italy will give your characters depth and the workshops will help move them toward their ultimate destiny, and you'll discover the fundamentals of storytelling as we go. Group writing exercises and discussions will be offered as the group desires.

Scrivere in Italia offers an exciting and brand new way of writing. You will learn to access the history, traditions and excitement of Italy to take your writing to depths you've never imagined. Your ess Bolsena house ays and stories, articles and memoirs will have vividness, strength, and that special something we all recognize but sometimes don't know how to create. Here, you will learn to create it.

Accommodations and Meals

Accommodations will be at an elegant hotel in Bolsena, and daily workshops and seminars will be held at Paolo Nascimbeni' s house right on Via Francigena ( see the yellowish building on the left ). Paolo's house will also be available every day, all day, for brainstorming or talking about your projects in the quaint kitchen, writing on the terrace, or discussing the day's inspirations in one of the sitting rooms. High-speed Internet is available as well.
Bolsena, Italy, is shown below.

Bolsena area map

See also the Google Map of the Bolsena area

Cost
The cost of the holiday is 2000 Euros for ten days. This includes all workshop fees plus nine nights of accommodation . The cost will include transportation for the ten days to nearby villages and sights, breakfast at your hotel, and lunch or dinner each day. It will not include alcoholic beverages (inexpensive, however in Italy). NOTE: Airfare to Rome and transportation from Rome to Bolsena is not included. A train from Rome to nearby Orvieto or Montefiascone is quite inexpensive and we will provide transportation from either of those towns to your hotel!
Who Are We?
Teresa Cutler ( left ) is a professional freelance writer and editor with travel writing, short fiction, non-fiction, profile, screenplay, and many other credits. Please check out InkWell, Inc. at www.inkwell-inc.biz for samples of Teresa's writing, her credits, and a list of her projects, and she is available via email at inkwell.inc.tlc@gmail.com to answer any questions.
Paolo Nascimbeni is the owner of Life in Italy, and trip coordinator. He is also available for questions about Bolsena and various aspects of Italy at lifeinitaly@gmail.com.

To Apply: If you are interested in applying for the Scrivere in Italia workshop, please fill out the forms and email them to inkwell.inc.tlc@gmail.com. A detailed itinerary will be decided upon with our guests; please include your preference on the forms for types of sites you'd like to see: museums, ruins, historic buildings, wineries, etc. Speaker bios are available upon request, and a detailed schedule will be provided upon arrival. Come with us to Italy, and explore its magic while learning how to write! Offered by InkWell, Inc. & Life in Italy LLC