This Tutored Retreat is designed for a limited number of writers to work intensively with a focus on individual sessions to help them develop a body of their work into the basis of a collection. This will involve looking at larger patterns than those represented by individual poems as well as strengths and weaknesses of participants’ writing as a whole. Open to all serious about taking their poetry to the next level.
There will be a daily writing workshop and each writer will have an individual, 30 minute tutorial each day.
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Tutor: Steve Ely – Poet Steve Ely has published several books or pamphlets of poetry, including Zi-Zi Taah Taah Taah: The Song of the Willow Tit, Incendium Amoris and Englaland. His new book of poems, Lectio Violant, has just been published by Shearsman and a second new book, The European Eel, will be published by Longbarrow Press in July. He’s won a Northern Writer’s award, been nominated for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and for the Ted Hughes Award. His poems have been translated into French and Italian. His biographical work Ted Hughes’s South Yorkshire is the definitive work on Hughes’s poetic formation. He’s an Arvon Tutor and he also teaches at the Poetry School. He’s tutored and read at The Garsdale Retreat. He is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Huddersfield where he is Director of the Ted Hughes Network. |
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Guest, Wednesday evening: Helen Tookey – Poet Helen Tookey is a poet based in Liverpool, where she teaches creative writing at Liverpool John Moores University. Her debut collection Missel-Child (Carcanet, 2014) was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney first collection prize, and her second Carcanet collection, City of Departures, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2019. Her pamphlet In the Glasshouse was published by HappenStance Press in 2016, and the CD/booklet If You Put Out Your Hand, a collaboration with musician Sharron Kraus, came out from Wounded Wolf Press also in 2016. She also collaborates with composer and sound artist Martin Heslop; in 2019, they were awarded a two-week residency at the Elizabeth Bishop House in Nova Scotia, and have since been developing sound/text work in response to that visit. Helen is currently working on a third collection for Carcanet, due to be published in 2022. Photo: Jenny Halse |
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| PRICES | Fee includes all day and evening tutored workshop sessions, readings, accommodation and full board (not including alcohol).
Single – En-suite room £845 Single – Shared bathroom £795 Shared Room (2 Beds) £745pp Non-residential (inc. lunch and evening meal) £605 |
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| TO BOOK | £150 deposit payable on booking by bank transfer, PayPal or cheque, to secure place. Balance due four weeks before the start of the course/tutored retreat/untutored retreat. Please see Terms and Conditions. |
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| INCLUDED |
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| WHAT TO BRING |
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| START TIME |
Please arrive between 3:00pm and 5:00pm on Monday 21st June 2021 Tea and cake 4.30pm Introductory Workshop 5.45 – 6.45pm |
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| END TIME |
After breakfast, 10:00am on Saturday 26th June 2021 |
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| LOCATION | The Garsdale Retreat, Clough View, Garsdale Head, Sedbergh, Cumbria LA10 5PW Nearest railway station: Garsdale, on the Leeds – Carlisle line. For directions, see Find Us section on the Contact page. |
Courses
The Garsdale Retreat provides an inspiring place to develop as a writer. Our courses offer opportunities for new, emerging and experienced writers. The tutors, all professional writers, lead workshops and also give one-to-one tutorials to help the individual student. In the remote and beautiful setting of The Yorkshire Dales, The Garsdale Retreat gives a wonderful opportunity to escape from the daily stresses of life and to draw inspiration from fellow students, tutors and the landscape itself.
All courses start on Monday afternoon, arrival time 3.00 – 5.00pm. On this first day, tea and cake are at 4.30pm followed by an introductory/ice-breaking workshop 5.45 – 6.45pm. Dinner is at 7.00pm. All courses end after breakfast on Saturday (10.00am).
Course Structure
Although there will be slight variations, according to the type of course (see below), students can generally expect the following outline:
8.00 – 9.00am: Breakfast
9.30 – 11.00am: First workshop – Students explore particular aspects of the chosen genre and take part in writing exercises to further their understanding and expertise. All students have opportunities to share their work with the tutor and fellow writers in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment in which individual work is respected and confidence developed.
11.00 – 11.30am: Coffee break
11.30am – 1.00pm: Second workshop
After lunch, participants are free to do whatever they like, such as: relax, go for walks, enjoy The Dales, draw, paint, read or work on individual writing projects.
4.30pm: Tea and cake
5.30 – 6.30pm: Third workshop
7.00pm: Dinner
All students have one individual tutorial of 30 minutes with the tutor in the course of the week which usually takes place at a mutually agreed time, usually in the afternoon.
Each evening, at about 8.30pm, there is an after-dinner event. The precise nature of this varies according to the type of course but participants can typically expect a tutor reading on Tuesday followed by a reading from a guest writer on the Wednesday evening. There is an informal activity on Thursday such as a word/literary game. On Friday, there is a reading of work produced during the week.
Poetry Course Anthology
An integral part of poetry courses is the production of an anthology of writing produced in the week. It is, of course, accepted that the writing is essentially work-in-progress. However, the aim of the anthology is to reflect a flavour of the work accomplished on the course and to provide participants with an attractive record of their time at Garsdale. The Retreat stores copies of anthologies in the library, providing pleasure and inspiration for future students.
Tutored Retreats
These follow the same basic structure as above except there is only one workshop in the morning and participants will have a daily tutorial, four per week.
Untutored Retreats
The only formal structure of the week is determined by meal-times (see above), allowing participants to concentrate totally on their own writing. After dinner, participants in conjunction with the course director sometimes organise evening read-rounds of their work /open mics/music /word games. However, participation in such events is entirely voluntary and people are free to continue with their writing in the evenings if they prefer.
