With Novelist Charles Palliser

Banyoles, Catalonia, Spain
September 18th 2009
A week of literary creativity in a fantastic sylvan mansion near Banyoles lake & Girona.

- Daily writing workshops
- Relax in a baronial mansion with pool
- Tuition, food, accommodation & space

Mas Dalt, Girona, Spain

£695 - £495 for shared

Everything is optional, why not come along and enjoy a holiday in good company. Previous customers have been published.

Includes:
-all workshops
-Single rooms
-Continental breakfast
-Buffet lunch
-3 course evening meal with wine

Morning workshops with Charles:

You will work on an idea for a novel based either on one that you bring or one that we will find. You can work on your own or on a group project. We will be looking at questions like: Who should tell this story? Who should live through it? How should it be structured? And how does a novelist engage and hold the reader's interest through a long narrative?"

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...

Charles Palliser - 4 novels published including a "masterpiece" - The Quincunx", "The Sensationist", "Betrayals" & "The Unburied". His fiction has been translated into a dozen languages.

In 1991 "The Quincunx" was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He has had two radio plays and a short television script produced by the BBC.

Before becoming a full-time writer in 1990, Charles Palliser taught literature and creative writing in universities in the UK and the USA. He was Writer in Residence at Poitiers University in 1997. He teaches for the Arvon Foundation, London University, the University of North London, and Middlesex University. Charles is also a regular at Skyros.

See our Previously page

The venue is a 16th century Baronial stone house; carefully renovated with en-suite bathrooms and lots of space. There is a beautiful covered terrace that overlooks the swimmingpool - both with views down the green valley. Mas Dalt is a perfect location for a writer. Steeped in history, nestling in the Catalan forests near Banyoles lake and only 20 mins from beautiful Girona. The house is huge and cool with plenty of space for thinking, writing or relaxing. Each individual room is large with an en-suite.

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.

Charles will conduct his erudite sessions under the shade of the olive tree where he'll give his sage advice on planning a story: "A successful story communicates a sense of its shape or design long before it comes to its conclusion. Yet at the same time, it has to continue to surprise the reader with what is unexpected."

"It's like being a guest in a country house... good conversation with people who have the common thread of an interest ... interesting combination of being very relaxing while stimulating at the same time.... The food was fantastic."

Isobel - Booklovers Tales, February 2008