With Anne Aylor
SOLD OUT (email for reserves!)

Banyoles, Catalonia, Spain
June 11 - 18 2010

What kind of novelist are you? What sort of book do you dream of writing?
Have you found your subject matter? If you have not written before, how do you begin?
This novel retreat will consist of morning workshops, one-to-one tutorials and readings that will give you the confidence to develop your manuscript. During this novel writing intensive, material normally covered in 6 weeks will be covered in 6 days. Sessions will include:

  • six 2.5 hour morning workshops, covering topics including "Getting Started", "Characterisation", "Point of
    View", "Setting", "Plotting"and "Editing"
  • one-to-one tutorials to help students begin, shape or edit their material
  • techniques to start writing/develop a novel already in progress
  • advice on how to arrange and expand your material
  • a chance to create new work that feeds into your manuscript
  • the opportunity to have your writing read and discussed
  • Open Mic nights for those who wish to have their work critiqued

The serene, inspirational surroundings offer time for writing, relaxation and recreation. There is a swimming pool on the grounds exclusively for the use of students.

OPEN MIC NIGHTS
On most evenings there will be the opportunity to share prepared work. Word limit: 1300 per session. For best feedback, you will need to provide copies which will be returned to you.

The Day:
Breakfast 8.30 - 10 Fruit, yoghurt, fresh bread, tea/coffee & juice on the terrace
Workshop 10.30 - 12.45 - Workshop with the author under the olive tree.
Lunch 13.00 Fresh tomatoes, cheese, salad... a buffet in the sunshine.
Afternoons 14.00 onwards Read, swim, relax, chat, sleep, walk to Banyoles lake.
Meet 17.30 Writers get together to discuss work & share ideas.
Apero's 19.00 Pre-dinner refreshments & gentle talk.
Dinner 19.30 Your hosts dazzle with local gastronomy, 3 courses...
***There is a day off - meaning you can 'diy' or explore the locality

Anne Aylor is a professional writer and teacher. She has had short stories and poems published by the Arts Council of Great Britain, The Literary Review, London Magazine, Fiction Magazine, Stand Magazine and broadcast on BBC Radios 3 and 4. In 2008 her short story, "The Speed of Dark", was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the biggest open creative writing competition in the English language.

No Angel Hotel, her first novel, was published in the UK by HarperCollins and Grafton Book and by St Martin’s Press, New York (US title: Angel Hotel). She has recently completed her second novel, The Double Happiness Company, and is working on her third (working title: The Beekeeper).

She has won or been a runner-up in a number of competitions, including the BBC Radio Short Story Competition, Stand Magazine Short Story Competition, the Dixon Ward Short Story Competition and the 2005 Good Houskeeping Short Story Competiion, judges: Alexander McCall Smith, Julie Meyerson, Lindsay Nicholson, Ali Gunn (Curtin Brown) and Kate Elton (Editor-in-Chief, Random House). In 2008 her short story, "The Speed of Dark", was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize.

Her stage play, Children of the Dust, won the 1987 International Playwriting Festival competition and was co-produced by the Soho Theatre and the Theatre Warehouse, Croydon. Her short play, The M & M Café was commissioned and published by the Oxford University Press. Her stage play, Happiness Is North of Here, had a rehearsed reading at the Gate Theatre, London.

She was a shortlist judge in the 2007 Wimbledon Book Fest (Sandi Toksvig Writing Challenge) and has given teleseminars and weekend courses at Alternatives, St James Church, Piccadilly. She taught playwriting at the City Lit, London, and has taught at Morley College for over twenty years. She loves to write because it doesn’t involve high maths or high heels.

www.anneaylor.co.uk
Daily writing workshops, afternoon discussions.
The week is entirely flexible. A real, relaxing holiday in Catalonia. Meet people, write, talk, enjoy fantastic food and try local wines nightly...

The house is a close to Girona and the lake of Banyoles, in February we strolled down to the lake through the beautiful verdant valley (2 hours) and had coffee watching rowers and boats on the turquoise tinted water.

TRANSPORT FROM GIRONA AIRPORT
Guests will be responsible for transport to/from CamósBanyoles. Bus: There is a bus from Girona Airport to Girona where you transfer for a bus to Banyoles. Taxi: A taxi costs approximately €40 from the airport to Camós. If several students are arriving around the same time, a taxi can be shared. Lee will help you with transfer arrangements.

NOT INCLUDED
  • Flights or rail travel to/from Spain
  • Ground travel within Spain
  • Personal travel insurance
  • Lunch and dinner on Wednesday, 16 June