writing the bright moment in France

Finally, I've got round to updating my website with new courses. My programme is not complete yet, but if you can't join us on Iona, found the course that I'm co-tutoring with Sharon Blackie in Scotland ('Singing Over The Bones') was full, and can't make my day-workshops on Dartmoor, then what about this?

Make it a holiday at the wonderful retreat centre in the Cevennes, in France (Robert Louis Stevenson set off on his famous 'Travels with a Donkey' from here), and combine sun and walking and swimming in the waterfall pool with time to write with an inspiring (they say) tutor in the company of others passionate about words...

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Writing the Bright Moment in the Cevennes, France
Sat 31 August - Sat 7 September 2013

Could you do with a tonic for body, heart, mind, imagination and, of course, your writing? If so, this is the week for you – one to both quicken and quieten the heart, fire the imagination and enliven the senses. Through silence, slow walking, time outdoors, mindfulness exercises and various creative prompts we’ll find new ways of being in and writing from each moment – effortlessly.

The retreat will focus on developing our writing at the same time as deepening our sense of relationship to the world around us, in this moment – the only one we ever have.
 

There’ll be lively discussion, stimulating writing tasks for the imagination, shared silence and walking as well as words and readings, and time to simply be in the natural world, and, if you’d like, to immerse yourself in the waterfall pool. All the time there will be gentle prompts to relax into the present moment and its joys and gifts.
Expect a deepening of your sense of connectedness, a great deal of sometimes surprising writing (prose and poetry), a slowing down, some play, a lot of laughter, and an opening of your imagination and your heart.

Cost: 595 Euros

Price includes all course tuition, accommodation and meals. Single rooms will be provided to all participants depending on availability unless otherwise requested.

Sharon may be able to help with transport from Nimes up to Gardoussel (shuttle buses run from the airport to the train station). (Places limited, otherwise we can help you to organise a shared taxi or advise on public transport.) For travel options see below:
Train from the UK:
TGV fast trains Paris (Gare de Lyon) – Nimes approx every hour, journey takes less than 3 hours (can link up with Eurostar London St Pancras to Paris, or flights into Paris Charles de Gaulle).
Flights from the UK:
Ryanair: Luton – Nimes
Ryanair: Liverpool – Nimes
Easyjet: Gatwick – Montpellier

For more information about this retreat and other events at Abri Creative Writing and Gardoussel, visit the websites www.abricreativewriting.com http://www.abricreativewriting.com and www.gardoussel.com