WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
TREAT YOURSELF TO A RETREAT?
BY ALYSON HILBOURNE
Writers work mostly in isolation so it comes as pleasant change and a chance to
recharge the batteries to join a writing retreat and meet with other like-minded
people. Some retreats are taught workshops, while others require you bring a
work-in-progress and you will get help with it during your stay. Choosing which
to attend comes as a matter of personal choice (and no doubt price), but if your
writing needs a kickstart it might be something to consider.
I have just been lucky enough to attend the Iceland Writers Retreat for 2017.
Writers come in all shapes and sizes and many nationalities, and people were
there for a vast range of different reasons – some were published authors
around for networking and company as much as anything I think, while others
had yet to put pen to paper and begin writing at all. Some people were
returning, having attended the retreat all four years of its existence. All-in-all
there were about 120 attendees from 20 countries. Everyone was keen and
eager to start.
The retreat had twelve visiting authors who taught two-hour workshops on a
variety of topics from food writing to character to historical setting to family
narrative and beginnings to name a few. The classes were small, no more than
fifteen in each, and there was plenty of opportunity to interact with the teacher
and other participants in the classes I attended.
32 | MAY 2017