“Spirit of Place” Writing Workshop in Italy — May 31 – June 6

Thanks to Sandy Sims for sending this information about a workshop that’s similar to one she took:

Learn How to Capture Spirit of Place

May 31 through June 6, Linda Lappin, an American expatriate writer living in Vitorchiano, Italy is offering a creative writing workshop that focuses on capturing the spirit of place. I have been to another workshop by another writer in her tiny medieval town about 45 miles north of Rome.  Total cost of the workshop is $950.00 including room and board, a real bargain.

The workshop I took at Vitorchiano was wonderful — a complete experience — the setting, the writing workshop, the countryside tours, the hotel, the meals.  Linda has a light but sure touch for creating this lovely experience.

Spirit of Place

I only got a taste of Linda’s “Spirit of Place,” workshop one afternoon.  This was fascinating.  She talked of place having “Indwelling Spirit.”  That is spirit indwelling the land itself, and that people, unknowingly, are always communicating with this spirit.  That humans are an expression of their landscape.  She talked of the planned symbolism of some places such as churches and towns.  Bomarzo, the so-called monster garden we visited one afternoon was supposed to represent a nightmare or dream.  The gardens in Villa Lante-which we also visited-represent upward movement of consciousness.  These bits of information gave the settings meaning beyond what we felt strolling in them.  I have read several pieces and books of Linda’s and she captures place beautifully and deeply with details that bring a place to life.  I think a full week working with her would be a major asset to my or anyone’s writing, especially travel writing.  I’ve written an interview with Linda that should come out in the Writers Chronicle.

Vitorchiano and Centro Pokkoli

I’ve had more fun showing people my postcard of Vitorchiano, a medieval village that appears to be carved out of the top of a cliff.  This is not a tourist town, so there were no crowds, no tour guides leading groups.  In fact, for the most part, the residents there speak only Italian, and the shops are mainly the kind that support residents, a grocer, baker, a pharmacy.

In the mornings, after our breakfast at the Hotel Piccola Opera (another lovely setting), we’d climb into two vans and ride the short, maybe one mile, to the walled part of Vitorchiano, where we’d stroll over cobbled, narrow streets to the door of Centro Pokkoli.

Inside, Centro Pokkoli is a long room, with a kitchenette and a bathroom.  The square window at the end overlooks the deep, lush gorge, where swallows glide over pistachio trees.  The view is enchanting.
Linda and her husband Sergio have restored this medieval apartment so that it’s clean and simple, and useful for everything from writing workshops to theater or even an individual writer’s retreat.  For our workshop, there was a long table surrounded with chairs.  Peter, the workshop leader, who slept nights in a tiny room at the end and off to the left of the main room, always had coffee and tea brewing for us at the tiny kitchenette.

– Sandy Sims