Successful Summer Retreats Prepare For Autumn In Donegal and Belfast

Two retired Canadian mounted police, an English scientist, an American pastor and a nurse were among interesting participants at our two June writing retreats in Donegal, with entertainment provided by multi-talented musicians-songwriters Ger Roche and Tara Gallagher at our opening buffet and drinks evening.

Not to mention our traditional guided tours to the beautiful lakeside Glenveagh Castle and Botanical Gardens, lunch at an historic 19th century thatched cottage overlooking the ‘Seven Sister’ mountain range and visits to an attractive coastal town and Famine Museum on the picturesque ‘Wild Atlantic Way.’

Workshops and critiques of participants’ works-in-progress were led by Irish author and long-time foreign correspondent for The Irish Times and The Times of London, Sean Hillen and Dr. Kathleen Shine Cain, whose long career in higher education led to her becoming a well-published author and writing center director in Massachusetts.

Participants also enjoyed a walking tour of Gola Island, which some say was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island,' he thinking it was 'Gold Island' after Spanish Armada ships filled with chests of gold doubloons sank there.

Subjects taught during the retreat ranged from dialogue and character development to approaches to flash fiction and memoir writing.

Master medical herbalist, Columbia Hillen, hosted an innovative workshop on how best to use our senses in creative writing, bringing various plants and herbs into class as inspirational Muses. 

French author and anthropologist, Saskia Levy-Rodgers, who now lives on Tory Island, also spoke about her writing and her life experiences as an islander.

We now look forward to our upcoming week-long writing retreat in Donegal in September and our first-ever retreat in the charming city of Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland, in October which will be held uniquely in an ornate 300-year-old  private library, where previous Irish Nobel Prize winners in literature were both guests and members.

Conveniently, the library is a mere two-minute walk from the colorful upbeat downtown hotel room2 Belfast where all participants will stay during the retreat.