Ireland
Creative Writing & Yoga Retreat
June 6-13, 2010 ~~ for women only ~~
An Tobar
Retreat Centre, Co. Meath, Ireland
Retreat to the pristine countryside
of Ireland
for Creative Writing & Yoga.
Retreat to Ireland
for a week of Creative Writing & Yoga
with:
Patricia Lee Lewis and Jacqueline Sheehan with
Therese Caherty
Includes:
8 days, 7 nights at the An Tobar Retreat Centre,
all meals, double accommodations,
all written materials,
all writing & yoga sessions,
individual writing tutorials.
Costs:
EU 1000 or $1450 single or double accommodation.
A EU 350 or $500 non-refundable deposit is required
to reserve your place. Your final balance is due
May 1, 2010.
How to get
there: The An Tobar Retreat
Centre is less than an hour's drive from Dublin,
in Meath County, Ireland. We suggest flying
into Dublin and making your way there via
public transportation. Getting
to Ireland Bus
travel in Ireland
Price does not include
transportation to the An Tobar. Tips for house
staff or optional outings.
This will be our eleventh
year to offer creative writing retreats
in the British Isles. Participants will
include people with a wide range of writing
experience, from very little to professional.
We are always enriched by the diversity.
While we will offer a daily schedule of
suggested activities, all sessions are optional:
your time is your own.
Writing Practice. Each morning and several evenings,
you will have opportunity to write in an encouraging,
confidential and inspiring setting, in response
to exercises Patricia suggests. You will be invited
to share what you have just written, and to respond
to the writing of others with what is fresh, what
you like, what you remember. (We use the method
developed by Amherst Writers & Artists which
is described in detail at Our
Writing Method.) As time permits, Patricia
will offer individual consultations on (short)
manuscripts written prior to the retreat or on
any writing problems you wish to discuss.
Jacqueline Sheehan and Therese Caherty will
offer workshops about the craft of writing and
Jacqueline & Patricia will counsel each individual
writer on his or her work.
Yoga Practice. Jacqueline will offer
yoga sessions in the early morning and
some afternoons, indoors or out of doors,
as weather permits. The practice of yoga,
the joining of body and mind, can open
pathways for your writing into the feelings,
memories, stories and images embedded
in the tissues. We will encourage you
to use your yoga practice to develop a
deeper relationship with your body as
well as to enjoy the physical and mental
benefits of practice. The sessions are,
of course, completely optional.
Ireland is the land of
literature and history -why not extend
your visit a few days? Visit
www.discoverireland.ie
for more
information.
Check www.priceline.com or www.kayak.com
for the best air fares.
Combining Yoga &
Writing
The practice of yoga, the joining of body
and mind, can open pathways into the feelings,
memories, stories and images embedded in the
tissues. Writing workshops during the retreat
are designed to help you shift your awareness
and write from those deeper levels of consciousness.
Through yoga, we will get in touch
with our kinesthetic sense of self. We will use
special meditation techniques to slow the mind
and create a sense of the sacred. No writing or
yoga experience is required - only a sense of
adventure. Beginning and experienced writers will
find a supportive, encouraging context in which
to write from their deepest selves. We will write
in response to exercises offered by Patricia Lee
Lewis, MFA. In a small group, writers will be
invited to read their work aloud, and the group
will offer simple affirmations of what is done
well and what stays in the memory.
ABOUT
An Tobar
An
Tobar Retreat Centre is nestled
in County Meath's historic Irish countryside.
Near the Hill of Tara where Ireland's
High Kings once lived, the surrounding
environs are steeped in ancient history
and ritual.
An Tobar was founded
in 1983 as a response to those looking for a
serene and secure place to meet, away from the
internal troubles that have plagued Ireland.
It has become important to all those searching
for a meaningful spirituality. The Irish Spiritans,
formally known as the Holy Ghost Missionaries,
provided this safe and sacred space for those
involved in the work of Justice and Peace.
Tobar is an Irish word meaning "Well",
so "Tobar" or "The Well",
is a place of rest, meeting and renewal where
travelers would traditionally receive a revitalizing
drink of water and visit with the local community.
The principal water well near An Tobar dates
back to almost the time of St Patrick& St
Ultan.
Accommodations at An Tobar are housed in a
well-built, comfortable country house. The property
contains a meditation room and a comfortable
meeting room with a generous fireplace for cozy
writing circles on damp nights.
Meals are vegetarian
with some fish and chicken; Continental
breakfasts; lunches of soups, salad, cheese,
fruit (which can also be packed for adventurers);
and full dinners with lovely desserts.
Fresh fruit, biscuits, tea and coffee
are always available.
Things to do
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara, known as Temair in gaeilge,
was once the ancient seat of power in Ireland
142 kings are ssaid to have reigned there in
prehistoric and historic times. In ancient Irish
religion and mythology Temair was the sacred
place of dwelling for the gods, and was the
entrance to the otherworld. Saint Patrick is
said to have come to Tara to confront the ancient
religion of the pagans at its most powerful
site.
One interpretation of the name Tara says
that it means a "place of great prospect"
and indeed on a clear day it is claimed that
features in half the counties of Ireland can
be seen from atop Tara. In the distance to
the northwest can be seen the brilliant white
quartz front of Newgrange and further north
lies the Hill of Slane where according to
legend St Patrick lit his Pascal fire before
his visit to Tara in 433 AD. Read more: http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/tara/
Laytown races
Local folklore has it that it was the parish
priest who, in 1876, organised the first race
meeting on Laytown's three miles of golden strand.
Held intermittently since then, it was not until
1901 that local landowner, Paddy Delaney, established
the meeting as we know it today. Nothing, not
even two World Wars, has stopped it taking place
since then.
Laytown races have not changed very much through
the years, but they are unique because they
are the only grandstand races held in Europe
which have the approval of the governing bodies.
Though they are not held while we are there,
the enclosure consists of a three acre field,
elevated above a beautiful beach. Steps which
have been built up into the face of the sand
dunes and these form the Grandstand.
Newgrange
Newgrange was constructed over 5,000 years
ago (about 3,200 BC), making it older than
Stonehenge in England and the Newgrange
Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. This passage
tomb was built during the Neolithic or New
Stone Age by a farming community that prospered
on the rich lands surrounding the River
Boyne. Nearby Knowth and Dowth are similar
mounds that together with Newgrange have
been designated a World Heritage Site by
Unesco.
While archaeologists classify Newgrange
as a passage tomb, it is considered much
more than this. It is more of an ancient
temple, a place of astrological, spiritual,
religious and ceremonial importance, much
as present day cathedrals are places of
prestige and worship where dignitaries may
be laid to rest. Read more: http://www.newgrange.com/
History.
Check back soon for details!
ABOUT
THE STAFF
Patricia Lee Lewis
lives and works at Patchwork Farm Retreat in western
Massachusetts. She shares the world with trees
and stones, chickadees, writers and bears, and
leads weekend writing retreats and weekly workshops
in her mountain cottage at Patchwork Farm, throughout
the United States, and yoga and writing retreats
at sacred sites around the world - Guatemala,
Mexico, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Costa Rica.
Patricia holds an MFA
degree in Creative Writing from Vermont College,
and completed her undergraduate degree at Smith
College, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1970. She is affiliated
with Amherst Writers & Artists, and leads
national training workshops in the AWA method
for workshop leaders on the east and west coasts.
Patricia's poetry, fiction and feature articles
have appeared in journals & anthologies, The
Los Angeles Times, Hampshire Life, and The Boston
Sunday Globe. Her poems have most recently appeared
in The Berkshire Review, Vol. 11, and
Crossing Paths: An Anthology of Poems by Women,
Mad River Press. She was supported by a grant
from the Chester Cultural Council under the auspices
of the Massachusetts Cultural Council to perform
her poems to a full house to benefit the Miniature
Theatre of Chester. Her poem "Two Hundred
Wings" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize
in Poetry, and her book of poems, A Kind of
Yellow, won first prize in Writer's Digest's
International Self-Published Book Competition
in 2005. Copies of the book are available at the
shop.
Patricia has spent much of her life
as an advocate: for women, for civil rights, for
peace, for a healthy environment, for small farms
and rural communities, for the arts. Born and
raised in Texas, she moved north years ago with
her children. She has been a business owner, tree
farmer, director of several organizations, including
women's centers, community economic development
corporations, district congressional offices,
and served as an elected county commissioner for
four years. In 1985, when she joined Pat Schneider's
Amherst Writers & Artists writing workshop,
she finally found the courage to write for others
to read
Patricia is responsible for the
writing program at all retreats and serves as
retreat coordinator.
Jacqueline Sheehan,
Ph.D., is a fiction writer and essayist. She
is also a practicing psychologist. She is a
New Englander through and through, but spent
twenty years living in the western states of
Oregon, California, and New Mexico doing a variety
of things, including house painting, roofing,
freelance photography, journalism, clerking
in a health food store, and directing a traveling
troupe of high school puppeteers.
Her first novel, Truth, was published
in 2003 by Free Press of Simon and Schuster.
Her second novel, Lost & Found, was published
2007 by Avon, Harper Collins. Lost & Found
has been on the New York Times Bestseller List
and has been optioned for film by Katherine
Heigl, star of Grey’s Anatomy. Her third
novel, Now & Then, was published in 2009
by Avon, Harper Collins. She has published travel
articles (Winter in Soviet Georgia), short stories
(most recently in the Berkshire Review), and
numerous essays and radio pieces. In 2005, she
was the editor of the anthology Women Writing
in Prison. This anthology is the culmination
of eight years of writing workshops sponsored
by Voices From Inside, an advocacy group for
incarcerated women. She is currently working
on her fourth novel.
Besides her work as a writer and therapist,
the practice of yoga has been a sustaining and
inspiring part of Jacqueline's life for 20 years.
She has taught Yoga at Patricia's writing retreats
in the British Isles since 2001. Jacqueline
teaches a restorative style of yoga based on
Therapeutic Yoga and Anusara Yoga that is accessible
to beginners as well as those who want more
challenging poses. Writers can start and end
their day by revitalizing, relaxing, and strengthening
the body, mind, and spirit.
Therese
Caherty is a freelance editor and writer
living and working in Dublin. She came across
the AWA method in the late 1990s, went to a
Pat Schneider workshop soon after, and then
headed for a Patchwork Farm retreat in Mexico
where Patricia Lee Lewis persuaded her she really
was writing poetry and should keep going with
it. She hasn't looked back. In 2006, she hit
50, completed the M Phil in Creative Writing
in Trinity College Dublin, left her job as a
journalist and decided to devote herself to
the pen (or laptop). It hasn't exactly turned
out the way she planned but it's fair to say
AWA and the two Patricias managed to change
the course of her life -- for the better. If
you want some magic, you could do worse than
try this Patchwork Farm writing and yoga retreat.
TESTIMONIALS
Adult summer camp! Plenty of time to socialize,
do outdoor activities with like-minded people
combined with just the right place for inspiration
and creativity. The good sisters pampered us and
fed us with fresh local foods. Paradise! Jeanne
Location, leadership, participants…all
combine to create and permit an experience of
writing and reflection that challenges, renews,
and validates oneself as a writer. Each person
seems to discover new ways of creativity and self
expression. The daily yoga stretches the body
as well as the spirit. Kathleen
Patricia and Jacqueline provided guidance that
I feel significantly increased my appreciation
of my own talents and opened myriad new paths
for exploration. They are first-rate writers and
compassionate, down-to-earth people. Frank
The positive guidance leads and nurtures developing
skills in writing. Daily yoga adds strength to
body and mind. Very helpful! Doris
On this retreat Patricia and Jacqueline created
a safe, nurturing space where a group of individuals
could- and did- grow into a community of writers
and friends. This experience has given me the
courage to keep writing and new tools to improve
my craft. Jill
The support and encouragement of the facilitators
helped me take steps in a new direction, to try
new styles and voices that I might otherwise not
have done. Patricia
"I’ve been in writing workshops,
but never a writing retreat. I couldn’t
have imagined a more supportive, but still challenging,
experience." Wendy
"It has been an unforgettable experience
- wonderful in all aspects. Especially the people."
Jill
"The startling beauty of the outside world
and the guided crafting of our inner world made
life perfect." Bonnie
"I returned home more relaxed
and calm than any other vacation I have ever taken."
Carol
.jpg)
