Our TLC cultural writing workshop in Italy kicked off on October 10, 2008, in Bolsena, Italy. See Writeups of the event See Photos See Schedule

Scrivere in Italia! Our first annual Cultural Writing Workshop & Retreat was an unmitigated success. From October 10th through the 19th our group of writers experienced Italy to a depth no tourist ever reaches. Through journeys to Vetralla and Montefiascone, Rome and Deruta, the mysterious and beautiful Isola Bisentina, and our tour through the Etruscan ruins of Bolsena, our writers were able to explore and gain incredible inspiration from Italy’s ancient past and very real present. We explored Rome and Porchiano with Italian photographer Pasquale Comegna for two entertaining and informative Photography for Writers seminars, capped by a home-made lunch with a group of writers and artists; we visited Mary Jane Cryan's lovely home in Vetralla for a conversation about writing non-fiction historical books – highlighted by a home-cooked meal with the author and her partner, a professional chef; we heard Rob Swigart at our headquarters in Bolsena speak about how important setting and research are for the author of fiction; Jonathan Radford spoke at Mt. Amiata about the importance of writing and communication in today’s world, and about the magic of story and how it bursts forth from our psyches – his talk was followed by a tour of a 500-year-old palace, Palazzo Cervini; Teresa Cutler-Broyles spoke about dialogue, description, and the process of writing itself, and provided prompts and assignments that incorporated each day’s experiences with everything from buying a cappuccino in Italian to letting the essence of 3000-year old Etruscan ruins or today’s bustling Rome lead their hearts and pens toward a new way of writing; and the entire ten-day event was hosted and co-organized by Paolo Nascimbeni in our Bolsena headquarters.

See Writeups of the event

Upcoming cultural Writing retreats worldwide

See/order my new book
a series of travel essays about Italy