STORY BY NICHOLAS OLSEN
Aspiring writers are being offered an opportunity to get their work recognized by a colony of artists in France.
This spring, from May 15 to 24, Mosaic Press publisher Howard Aster and his wife Jeannette will be holding their annual writer’s workshop retreat at La Roche D’Hys in Burgundy, France.
“The Académie de la Roche D’Hys offers and hosts an exciting variety of programmes, workshops, master classes, seminars, conferences, professional development in all arts & cultural disciplines with a particular emphasis on encouraging open exchange between participants from the four corners of the world,” said Jeanette Aster.
La Roche D’Hys is a farmhouse located on “a huge, beautiful piece of land,” where guests will be able to attend the workshop, get room and board and unlimited wine for about $138 a day. There will be allotted time for travel and touring.
“In the morning we do the workshop and in the afternoon it’s free time. During the evening everyone eats together at this big long table and artists/writers come from all over the area to talk about their writing,” said Joyce Wayne, a professor at Sheridan and one of the organizers.
Writers should bring between 10 and 25 pages of their work to discuss with Wayne and Howard Aster. Wayne has asked those interested to send their material to her before attending the workshop, and plans to bring 12 writers.
The La Roche D’Hys retreat has been active for 10 years. This is Wayne’s first time joining the France trip, but she has been involved with the colony for years. She urges aspiring writers to take this opportunity as it has helped her tremendously in the past.
“I came into this group with near next to nothing, and five years later I ended up with a novel,” said Wayne.
Her novel, The Cook’s Temptation; involves a woman who faces conflict within class, religion and family in England during the late 1800s. The novel is due to hit shelves in February.
To learn more and sign up, email joyce.wayne@sheridancollege.ca and check out www.larochedhys.com