These five-day retreats are designed for writers wanting to start, or reconnect with their writing project, and to have quiet time and space away from the distractions of dailylife to write, write, write.

A combination of workshops and writing councils provide inspiration and renew creative energy; with plenty of time to write, walk, rest and interact with other writers. Simple vegetarian group suppers each evening are included in the course fee. Self-catering for all other meals.

MARCH RETREAT

Friday 2 to Wednesday 7 March, 2012

SEPTEMBER RETREAT

Friday 7 to Wednesday 12 September, 2012

FEE:  R3600

(includes five nights’ accommodation with own room in shared cottage, workshops, writing councils and group suppers )

‘TWENTY LINES A DAY, GENIUS OR NOT’

This course is offered TWICE in 2012:

*   23 January to 27 February 2012

*   30 July to 3 September 2012

Taking the title from a quote by Stendhal on his practice of writing, this five-week email course will stimulate, inspire and energize your writing practice – with daily writing exercises, designed to get you writing regularly, loosen up your writing, have fun, learn new techniques, craft writing into poems, vignettes, stories.

Each day, at 6am, Monday to Friday, for five weeks, you will receive, by email, a 25 minute creative writing exercise for the day which can be used as a right-brain warm up for the day’s writing, or as a way of developing a regular writing practice.  At the end of each week you will have an opportunity to craft the writing from the week into a poem, vignette, story.

At the end of each week you will be invited to submit some of the writing for feedback.

FEE:  R2200 for five-week course (includes feedback).

7 May to 11 June 2012

“Because life is not linear, you want to approach writing memoir sideways, using the deepest kind of thinking to sort through the layers; you want reflection to discover what the real connections are”.  (Natalie Goldberg).

Flash memoir is an evocative and revelatory form that takes a writer’s personal memories and mental snapshots and shapes them into short complete pieces. This course approaches writing flash memoir as an opportunity to  experiment with approach, form, structure, voice and style. Each day, at 6am, Monday to Friday, for five weeks, you will receive, by email, a creative writing exercise for the day, which builds on a theme for the week. At the end of each week you will have an opportunity to craft the writing from the week into a piece of flash memoir.

At the end of the five weeks you will be invited to submit some of these for feedback.

FEE:  R2200 for five-week course (includes feedback).