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Once upon a time, way back in September 2005, we ran a Writers Retreat at Totleigh Barton. The participants got so much from the experience and also made such good friends that they asked whether they could hire Totleigh Barton for a week to get together again and carry on writing. So they came back the next January, then again in June and recently in January this year. The group is ever-changing: when some writers can’t make the dates, other writers – people met on other Arvon courses and contacts made through writing networks – are invited to make up a full house.
The DIY Group has gone from strength to strength and Totleigh Barton is a place where they all love to meet up and work, play and cook up fantastic food in the Totleigh kitchen! This is so much what Arvon is about: likeminded people getting together and having an audience for their work and benefiting from peer feedback during the week.
Time to write, talk, read and walk.
DIY folk are an eclectic bunch and their writing encompasses Poetry, Prose, Writing for Children, Theatre, Radio and Screen. One of the members of the group, Anne Greer, was pleased to announce that a short story she had written had been accepted and was to be broadcast on Woman’s Hour the very week that DIY were with us, and so we were all privileged to tune in to Radio 4 with our friend, the author! Can’t get much better than that!
With best wishes from Arvon’s pre-Domesday thatched cottage in Devon, Totleigh Barton
Huib and Esther (Centre Directors) and Julia (senior administrator)
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May 7, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Rina Vergano
Just to say that DIY Retreat writers love being at Totleigh as much as Totleigh folk love having us… it’s a case of requited love! We are all looking forward to being there again in a few weeks time. Last year the June DIY retreat was idyllic with swallows zipping in and out of the thatch and endless sunny days and evenings. A lot of white wine got glugged and a lot of words were written. DIY is becoming pretty popular, people come back time and again - this June is no different with a totally full house, plus one rough sleeper (!) and a waiting list. Our next one is October 15-20, the holding list is full at the moment but things can change rapidly. It would be great if similar DIY retreats developed organically at other Arvon centres during “dark” weeks.
Thank you Julia, Huib & Esther for being such great hosts!
best wishes Rina & Jan (organisers of DIY Retreats @ Totleigh)