Write by the Sea - Write, Rest & Restore

What's Included:

• 9 divine served breakfasts (local, vegetarian)
• 9 equally divine served lunches (local, vegetarian)
• Daily guided generative writing using the Amherst Writers & Artists method
• Private accommodation steps from the sea
• One-on-one manuscript evaluation or consultation 
• Evening salon to read & discuss all things literary

What's Not Included:

• Transportation to Athens - group transport is arranged from Athens airport
• Dinners - the village of Koroni is a 30 minute beach walk from the resort with many restaurants to choose from; units are equipped with small kitchens for those who wish to dine in
• One evening excursion for a traditional Greek dinner and Bouzouki 
• Optional Greek dance lesson

The retreat begins on October 13 with an afternoon welcome and writing session.

 Your Facilitator:

Susan Wadds’ debut novel, “What the Living Do,” won the 2024 Canadian Book Club Award for fiction, was a 2024 Indies finalist, and was shortlisted for the 2024 Fred Kerner Book Award. In 2016, her short fiction won Writers Union of Canada’s Prose Contest. Susan’s work has appeared in various publications, including carteblanche, The Blood Pudding, Room, and Waterwheel Review. A graduate of the Humber School for Writers and a proud member of The Writers Union of Canada and The Canadian Authors Association, Susan is a certified Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) workshop facilitator. She has lived in four Canadian provinces as well as in India, France, and Italy. She’s sort of settled down and currently lives on a quiet river on Williams Treaty land in traditional Anishinaabe territory with an odd assortment of humans and cats.

Testimonials:

 "My husband and I have travelled with Susan ( Deepam ) to Costa Rica, Spain and Greece. Every experience was a complete delight. The writing was carefully balanced with alone time and shared and interesting activities. The locations were well researched little jewels. Eg. In Greece, we stayed a 3 minute walk from the sea. We would highly recommend Deepam’s writing retreats. In the last 10 years, the only time we have left Canada was to journey with Deepam."

~ Teri and Jon

“I had the pleasure of attending a Write Your Way In retreat with Susan (Deepam) in Spain last year, and it was a fabulous experience. The structure of the days gave real writing time without ever feeling pressured, and I developed my creative writing in ways I could not have imagined before I joined. Great food, a lovely environment, and a genuinely joyful experience. I would recommend it warmly to anyone thinking of going. I am going again this year.”

~ Dr Rachel Gibbons

“I was at Susan's Spain writing retreat in 2023. Everything about it was organized well and she made sure we were well taken care of before and during the retreat. Early mornings were stretching and breakfast in sleepy silence, then we met for a few hours of writing together and sharing our freshly written work with gentle, affirmative feedback. Sometimes people passed, which was fine. Even though I was working on a specific long project, the prompts gave me starting points into scenes that had been eluding me. They also gave me some opportunity to write about other things, most notably my experience in Spain. In the afternoons I walked, read and wrote. The hills were pretty intense where we were but I always was able to find someone who wanted to walk (at least half way). The other attendees were amazing, and Susan nipped any little hiccup in the bud before it ever became an issue. Most notably, someone wasn't prepared for the mobility required at the retreat location and Susan quickly just traded rooms with her, giving her the room closest to ground level (did I mention the hills in Spain?). I can't wait for this year's retreat in Greece. The moment she said Greece, I said, "Sign me up!" It promises to be a restorative, generative ten days.”

~ Cheryl MacLean

The AWA method is a good way to write and a great way to get feedback, but its strongest gift may be the way it encourages us as fellow writers to receive each other's voices with generous attention, deepening our own listening.

Julian Gunn, Instructor, Department of English and Creative Writing, Camosun College, British Columbia, Canada

Deepam’s prompts dig deep and elicit writing that is unexpected and beyond the range of what I normally write. I’ve even written my first poem in a recent class. Her feedback digs even deeper and she provides so much insight, it’s as if she’d written each piece herself. She gets inside the writing and so our discussions are meaningful, helpful, and rich.  ~ Terry V

Deepam’s workshops are a joy. Not only the prompts, along with her warmth and her support, but I always come away feeling like I have struck gold, that I have the beginning of a piece of writing that excites and inspires me. The online connection with the other writers is real and the writing energy is infectious.

~ Marie L

I want you to know that your sessions, particularly your prompts, have really transformed my works in progress, and I am so grateful to you for that.  ~ Barbara K

Thank you Deepam for a wonderful writing refuge! It was just the inspiration I needed to ignite a part of myself that has lain dormant for too long. I had no idea that I was going to be led to diving as deeply as I did on Saturday. I am very grateful for the experience. ~ Roz