Writing across the genres

This writing course is an opportunity to start or polish writing that you have been working on, or not working on, for some time.  Maybe to finish something that’s been in the closet for a while. By working with diverse genres, each person can find their special mode of expression.

In the Tuscan setting, travel writing, personality sketches, cultural descriptions and poetry are clear possibilities, but there is no limit on the kind of writing you may pursue. Memoirs and diaries can be used as a stimulus for other kinds of writing, and you can practice these forms during your week (or longer) in Italy. Memoirs and diaries are particularly appropriate for self-reflection, while undergoing new experiences or re-living past ones.

In addition to your own writing and favorite writing tools, please bring an example of inspiration (music, literature, a bottle of wine?). If it’s the Tuscan sun, you’ve come to the right (write) place! Writing by the poolside or dictating into a mini-recorder on a bus, writing on your napkin at dinner-time, alone in your room or on a mountaintop – all is permitted.

Prof. Bishop, an inveterate traveler, wrote her doctoral dissertation on “Liminal Space in Travelers’ Tales”, comparing the genres of folktale, travel narrative and novel (from Italy, South America and Africa). She worked as an oral historian in Alaska, Colorado and Mexico. She writes for The Grapevine, a local Italian magazine (in English). She is currently working on a film-script, on haiku poetry based on a friend’s paintings, and on a short story about Leonard da Vinci and his geographical origins.

A laptop is not a requirement for this course but since the Centre has access to WiFi it may be helpful for you, especially for research and revision.

The course is offered during the last three weeks of August, on a weekly basis.