New for Fall 2020--Reserve Your Space Now
Descanso Creatives Writers' Retreat 2020
Writing in the South of France: Community, Creativity...and Cognac
September 13th - September 20th, 2020
Descanso--an intentional rest or pause to catch one's breath before continuing the journey.
Descanso Creatives Retreats allow writers of any and all genres to come together for complete immersion in beautiful locations in community with like-minded spirits. Our creative impulses and projects find the space, place, and time to emerge and be nurtured in a beautiful ebb and flow of solitude and community.
We are not a typical gathering of writers. We create an organic, light structure and container for the week that allows for input from our talented Writer In Residence, while allowing participants to structure much of their time to suit their preferences and projects. While we collectively learn about structure and writing “techniques” as we move through the week, we are not a rigidly scheduled hour-by-hour, module-by-module program.
We are not a typical “tour group” with daily tourist excursions, however, we intentionally maximize the history, culture, architecture, natural beauty, food, and wine of our carefully chosen locations as sources of inspiration for our writing and our time together.
Our time together during the week typically begins with Group Gatherings to hear from our Writer In Residence and create a palette of writing inspiration and challenges, tools, and perspectives.
The first few days of the week intentionally combine more focused input, both internally from and with each other, as well as externally as we move throughout the villages, villas, cottages, meandering countryside, and vineyards, gaining insight and inspiration from the beauty and culture around us and right at our doorstep. We often have excursions into local villages to sample the food, wine, churches, and music of our location, all the while painting pictures with our words through prose, poetry, and sometimes Limericks!
As we move through the week, the focus turns to more individual agendas. We create blocks of time to just write, think, edit. We created a “Design Your Own Day” to immerse yourself however you need to fill your soul and write your heart. Later in the week our Writer In Residence makes time for individual consultations and conferences. Through the ease and grace of attention, and intention through flexibility, our projects get created, birthed, mid-wifed, nurtured.
Regardless of where we are in our week, we begin each morning with Meditation and Cellosong with our Musician in Residence, and end each day in delightful community, with Prosecco and Cellosong before dinner, and long, leisurely, conversation, laughter, and joy filled dinners. Afterwards, the community continues into the evening with more music and wine, sharing our stories and dreams.
On our final day we make plans for our traditional Descanso Creatives Anthology, a published collection of our work for anyone who wishes to have their week’s creative work included – a permanent record of our creative work and time together. This is a unique Descanso Creatives hallmark found in no other writers’ retreat or program. If this sounds like an experience you would like to share and contribute to, please join us! Eileen S. (“Chick”) Morgan, Ph.D., the Descanso Creatives Director of Programs, would love to speak with you!
Eileen S. (“Chick”) Morgan, Ph.D.
Descanso Creatives Director of Programs
chick@thevortexas.com/ 203-451-9051
