The Creative Writing Course at Peralata in Tuscany

CREATIVE WRITING COURSE

Creative Writing Course 4th - 11th June 2011

Italy is a magical place that has inspired creative artists for thousands of years. Peralta, a historic hamlet in the foothills of the Tuscan Alpe Apuane, overlooking the Mediterranean, is the perfect setting for a writers retreat. The views are spectacular and there are small private terraces among the olive groves where you can sit and work, as well as beautiful walks through chestnut woods with views of the mountains and the sea.

It is conveniently situated for anyone wanting to extend their holiday to see other parts of Italy - Pisa is a 45 minute drive and there are frequent trains. Siena, San Giminiano and Florence take a couple of hours by local train or car, Rome and Venice are about 5 hours away by Eurostar. The nearest airport is Pisa and the closest railway station is Viareggio.

The course is suitable for both those just starting to write, as well as more experienced writers. Past participants have included someone who had never written before, but went on to write a novel, and a television and children’s writer who wanted a change of direction. There are optional workshops and seminars in the morning and the opportunity to have one to one contact with the tutors in the afternoon. You can, if you wish, simply use the time to write, socialising with the other participants at meal times.

The course will cover Fiction, Memoir and Poetry, though the tutors have experience in Journalism, Film and TV as well. We are flexible about tailoring the course content to the needs of the participants.

What we offer:

Tranquillity and the space to think and write.
Individual consultations with two experienced, internationally published authors. The tutors can offer advice on getting started, how to develop and edit your work, as well as information about getting an agent and getting your work published. This kind of experienced, professional editorial advice is worth the course fee alone!

The best of Tuscan home cooking, wine and olive oil.
All food and wine with meals is included. Transfers to and from the airport on arrival and departure dates within specific hours.
The week includes a visit to a typical Tuscan restaurant in a local hill village.There will be the opportunity for an afternoon excursion to a local town, either Lucca (a medieval walled city with designer shops) or Pietrasanta (the artistic centre of the region, where Michaelangelo stayed when he was working on David).

Partners are welcome - there is a discount for non-participants.
Above all it should be fun. We aim to give everyone a taste of Tuscany as well as the opportunity to develop their creativity.

The Tutors.

Mary-Rose Hayes is the best-selling author of eight novels in various genres including horror, suspense, romantic adventure and, most recently, "Blind Trust" (August 2009), her second political thriller co-authored with U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer. Her books have been translated into fifteen languages and have regularly been Doubleday Book of the Month and Literary Guild main selections. "Amethyst" (E.P. Dutton, 1991) was a TIME/LIFE bestseller condensation.

Mary-Rose has published short stories and articles in England and the United States, and has written and optioned several screenplays. She has worked as a script editor for Thames Television, London, England; as Associate Editor for Pacific News Service, San Francisco; and as a free-lance book editor. She has also taught creative writing at Arizona State University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Mary-Rose began to write at the age of six. She attributes her love for language to growing up among writers. Also to a childhood spent in a remote country house with no TV, spotty radio reception, and constant electrical blackouts when entertainment involved reading aloud, and the writing of plays to be performed in the living room by family and friends.

www.maryrosehayes.com

Kathleen Jones has also been writing since she was a child and has published ten books including six biographies and a collection of poetry. She lived for several years in Africa and the Middle East, where she worked for the Qatar Broadcasting Corporation. Since then she has written extensively for BBC radio and contributed to several television documentaries.

As a journalist Kathleen has written articles and reviews for the Independent, the Guardian, the Daily Express, and the TLS, as well as magazines such as SHE and Cosmo.

Kathleen's poetry has appeared in all the leading poetry magazines and has been included in the South Bank poetry archive. Her award winning short fiction has been widely published in magazines and anthologies and has been read on Radio 4 and on radio networks in Germany and Spain. One of her stories was chosen for the Arts Council's online collection during the ‘Save our Short Story' campaign and Kathleen's most recent work, ‘Living with the Dead', is in the ‘Route Offline' anthology published by Route publishing.

Kathleen is currently tutoring creative writing for the Open University and was appointed as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow in 2007. Her latest biography, ‘Katherine Mansfield: The Storyteller' will be available from Penguin in early summer 2010.

www.kathleenjones.co.uk
Kathleen’s blog: www.kathleenjonesauthor.blogspot.com

For more info Email. peraltusc@tiscali.it