About Writers’ and Poetry Sanctuaries
If the writer in you is feeling neglected, if you need a day away to concentrate on your writing project, if you are working on a project but feeling a bit stuck, or if you want to write but don’t know where to start, a one-day Sanctuary Writer’s or Poetry Retreat may be just what you need: a day of bum-in-chair, support from other writers, and a nurturing, no-excuses environment, where everything is looked after and all you need to do is write!
At a Sanctuary, we begin at 10:00 a.m. Writers are welcome to arrive a few minutes early to settle in, grab a coffee or tea, and muffin or some fruit and chat with the others.
In the morning we work together, engaging with craft, doing some writing exercises to stretch those stiff writing muscles and get the creative writer in you feeling more relaxed, focused and perhaps even a little experimental.
After the delicious lunch (provided) the afternoons are spent in silent community with other writers, working either on a computer or by hand on whatever you want to work on. You can continue to expand work begun in the morning, work on a project that is preoccupying you these days, or begin something entirely new. It’s your time. If you don’t have a laptop but want to work on a keyboard, you will be provided with a computer. Your Word file can be emailed to you at the end of the day.
Uplands is in a peaceful rural location, so you are also welcome to go out for a walk on quiet country lanes if you need a break. There’s even a couch or two if you need your afternoon nap for half an hour to wake up refreshed and ready to write some more!
Writing is over at 4:00 p.m. for those who need to get home, but if you wish to stay, there will be an opportunity to sit a while longer, to share some of what you’ve been working on and to debrief, discuss issues of craft, etc. The day is finished by around 5:00.
Wondering where to find this creative refuge?