About the Retreat
Walking on the villa lawn
The wellness and writing retreat takes place during the summer when the warm air in Tuscany takes on its famous golden glow.
This retreat is about putting you in one of the most magical places in the heart of Tuscany and giving you everything you need to produce a lot of quality writing, whether you have a creative project you’re itching to make headway on or whether you just want to soak up the experience and be part of a terrific group of individuals living their dream on a traditional Italian farm.
From Monday to Thursday, you have the option of receiving daily guidance on your writing and on each Thursday there will be a group critique. Friday to Sunday are travel days, though participants are encouraged to continue writing during travel days.
Guests are encouraged to explore the property and write from wherever they feel most interested — there is none of the formality about meeting in a classroom or sitting through lectures. You have the option of taking a short, scenic hike as a group to Ponte della Pia and a longer hike to the stunning Castiglione che Dio Sol Sa.
Playing bocce ball in the late afternoon
We will hold lively afternoon critiques in the common room to fully address the payoffs and challenges faced in your work. By the end of the retreat at Spannocchia, each participant will have the opportunity to give a public reading of a brief excerpt from their writing.
This is not a University course, and there won’t be anything in the way of grades assigned. This creative writing program is purely productive fun. In addition to writing instruction and group critique, you have available to you painting and drawing instruction as well as daily morning yoga classes.
Coordinator Biography:
Nearby is San Galgano, the monastery with no roof
Stephen Lloyd Webber earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. His poems, short fiction, and essays have been published in numerous literary journals including Yellow Medicine Review, Free Verse and Black Magnolias. He has exhibited a musical installation in Oklahoma, several sculptures in New Mexico, and has given poetry readings as well as exhibited paintings in New Mexico and Italy. He is a teacher of poetry and composition at New Mexico State University and also a certified personal trainer and activist for Population Connection. 2012 will be his sixth summer at Spannocchia.
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