Upcoming events.
Something to Declare - Writer’s Retreat
Tissardine, Morocco
Thursday October 18 – Tuesday October 30 2012
I’m going to Morocco in October and I’d love you to join me. I am facilitating a writer’s retreat in an oasis in the middle of the Sahara desert. Also included in this incredible 12 day retreat are visits to the ancient city of Fes and iconic Marrakech and a camel trip to the giant dune of Erg Chebbi for an overnight camp followed by breakfast the next morning with a local Berber family. The actual writer’s retreat (which runs for six of the twelve days) takes place at the Cafe Tissardmine guest house located in the tiny traditional Berber village of Tissardmine. As well as learning all about how to write a travel memoir you’ll get to do things like sleep under the stars and in a deluxe Berber tent, eat traditional Berber food cooked on the fire, walk along dunes made by 5,000 years of shifting sands and even ride a camel into the sunset.
The retreat is run by founder and director Karen Hadfield and my workshop is just one of a series of great programs of Art Retreats in creative writing and photography coming up in the next 12 months. This is the blurb for my retreat…
‘You’ve climbed a mountain in Kyrgyzstan with a bunch of goats or spent a year living above a trattoria in Palermo or perhaps you are planning a great adventure overseas and think that there might be a book in it. You want to write about your journey but you’re not too sure how to start, what to say and how to make it interesting for other people. In this intensive travel writing workshop I will reveal how to create a good ‘hook’, how to structure your travel memoir, the art and craft of travel writing, ways to evoke a sense of place, how to write a compelling book proposal and how to get published. Whether experienced writers or people coming to personal narrative for the first time, participants will be able to improve their work through daily assignments, group discussions and individualized coaching from an experienced best-selling travel author.’
The cost of the retreat is 21,000 Moroccan Dirham (approximately 1,600GBP or AU$2,350)
Price includes:
• Full board at Tissardmine (breakfast lunch and dinner plus snacks)
• Half board on the road
• Twin share accommodation
• transport
• 3 hr guided tour Fes and Marrakech
• Bottled Water (2L per day)
• Excursions to Erg Chebbi and Rissani
• Tuition and guidance
Does not include
• international air fares
• travel between city of arrival(if not Fes) and Fes or city of departure (if not Marrakech) and Marrakech
• lunches and refreshments on journey to and from Tissardmine (or other incidental food supplies you may want to bring)
• alcohol
• personal shopping
The itinerary will go something like this…
Day 1. Arrive Fes
Day 2. Explore Fes, includes guided tour
Day 3. Travel to Erfoud and on to Tissardmine (7-9hrs)
The Retreat. (Please note that this as a rough guide only)
Day 4.
0730 – Breakfast
0900 – Physical warm-up
0930 – Session 1
1100 – Tea break
1130 – Session 2
1300 – Lunch
1400 – Writing time
1600 – Session 3
1800 – Free time (possible excursion)
2000 – Dinner
Day 5.
0730 – Breakfast
0900 – Physical warm-up
0930 – Session 4
1100 – Tea break
1130 – Session 5
1300 – Lunch
1400 – Writing time
1600 – Session 6
1800 – Free time (sunset drive available)
2000 – Dinner
Day 6.
0730 – Breakfast
0900 – Physical warm-up
0930 – Session 7
1100 – Tea break
1130 – Session 8
1300 – Lunch
1400 – personal writing time
1600 – sunset excursion to the dunes by 4WD and Camel
2000 – Dinner in Erg Chebbi camp
Day 7.
0730 – Return from overnight stay in the dune camp
0930 – Breakfast with Nomads
1100 – personal writing time
1300 – Lunch
1400 – Session 9
1600 – personal writing time
1800 – relax
2000 – Dinner
Day 8.
0730 – Breakfast
0900 – Market excursion to Rissani
1500 – Session 10
2000 – Dinner
Day 9.
0730 – Breakfast
0900 – Physical warm-up
0930 – Session 11
1100 – Tea break
1130 – Session 12
1300 – Lunch
1400 – Writing time
1600 – Wrap up
1800 – Free time
2000 - Dinner
Day 10. Travel Todra Gorge
0730 - Breakfast
0900 - Drive Erfoud
1000 - Drive Dades
1400 - Lunch Dades
1500 – Free time
2000 – Dinner
Day 11. Travel Marrakech
0730 – Breakfast
0900 – Drive Marrakech
1600 – Arrive Marrakech
Day 12. Exploring Marrakech
0900 – 1200 Guided tour of Marrakech
2000 – Farewell Dinner
Day 13. Depart
For booking details go here.