Link with Allyson Latta, editor of Home First

www.allysonlatta.ca/2011/11/04/writing-home-first-a-memoir-in-voices

Please go to Allyson's website to read about the writing of Home First.

Home First (Here!)

Finally, it’s out and available. Home First A Memoir in Voices by Susan Siddeley. Email me to get a copy ($18.00 including)...and/or read on to find how I managed to get this book into print!
Ten times over six years, I’ve invited wonderful, experienced facilitators and writers to live for two week in our house on a vineyard in Chile!
To get such people to buy a ticket, step into a plane and huddle overnight in order to participate in a two week writing workshop, I had to promise to pick them up, prepare a silent sala to work in, serve empanadas, pisco sours and lucuma cake, and plan tours to Pablo Neruda’s houses, indigenous museums and the Pacific coast. I soon learned having playful puppies, grave owls, flowering cacti and a blue pool on hand helped. Nowadays, I also throw in glorious sunsets, the flower garden and Jumbo, the Supermarket, although I try to avoid mentioning earth tremors, ants & dicey showers.
We are now full for Jan 2012, but to get onto the mailing list or receive a book contact me: Susan Siddeley motocad@rogers.com

Books & ... spaces

What do you get when you cross dozens of writers, a vineyard home in Chile, and a boarding house keeper’s summer helper, living out catering memories of Yorkshire in the 1950’s?

A Memoir. Mine!

Out very soon…
It’s the result of years of reflection and tapping short pieces, brought to fruition, thanks to a series of amazing writing retreats at Los Parronales.
Not that there’s been much retreating done during the eleven, two-week residential courses we’ve held there so far. Al contrario, after the all-absorbing morning sessions, participants walked, swam, wrote or consulted. It’s been brilliant - possibly because of the quiet study bedrooms, probably because of the rural setting, trips to Valparaiso and visits to Pablo Neruda’s houses. Throw in the wonderful Canadian writer, poet and memoir specialist facilitators, a pool, hollyhock garden, shady patio, dogs, owls, a rack of Chilean wine, a menu of local dishes and a cast of local characters, and you have, coming soon….

Home First by Susan Siddeley

Meanwhile, calling all Poets and Writers looking for inspiration
(under a cloudless sky below the Andes)
we still have a couple of spaces – sharing –
unless you can persuade a partner to accompany you, in

Don McKay’s Workshop
Re-seeing Things:

Two Weeks of Poetry & Perception
22ndJan—4thFeb 2012

Don McKay!

After two wonderful workshops led by Lorri Neilson Glenn and Allyson Latta in January and February of 2010, came a roller-coaster ride of cliff-hangers: Earthquake mayhem and tragic tsunamis, then World Cup Soccer fever and finally the Mine Rescue Miracle. Barry Dempster returned to lead another brilliant workshop in January 2011, and now, Los Parronales is thrilled to announce that in January 2012, Don McKay will join us. See below. Los Parronales

Another Great Writing Retreat
22nd Jan—4th Feb 2012

Re-seeing Things:Two Weeks of Poetry & Perception
in Chile with Don McKay
Here is a chance to explore and extend creative resources in an inspiring setting—
a sunny vineyard within sight of the Andes.

Workshops on your poems will be combined
with perceptual and poetic exercises,
conversation, one-on-one sessions
with Don McKay, and
time to write, read, walk, observe
and contemplate.

We will also receive stimulation in the form
of talks and artistic probes from
land artist Marlene Creates.

email:motocad@rogers.com

The Return of Barry Dempster!

MEMORY: IN THE MOMENT

Chile, January 16 to January 29, 2011

“I have only what I remember.”
- W.S. Merwin

Every moment we live becomes an instant memory, trailing off behind us, losing colour, texture and meaning. Try as we may, we also keep missing the moment itself, lost in distraction or responsibility, concerned more with the future. Often even our memories have only been half-lived. “Memory: in the Moment” is a workshop devoted to full immersion into both the past and the present. Through a series of language exercises, Poet Walks, memory prompts, deepening meditations and writing assignments, we will explore the various ways of making the past feel alive again, of “reliving” those experiences that most make us who we are. We will also delve into new discoveries, surrendering to the Chilean experience in ways that will be transformative, taking full advantage of the intensity and richness as it unfolds in the here and now.

This new workshop is open to all levels of accomplishment. The techniques and exercises will cross genres: poetry, fiction and memoir. It will be up to each individual what form their writing ultimately takes. The only prerequisite is that you open yourself to deepening your relationship with time and language. The workshop is designed to focus your imagination, to hone your observational skills, and to allow your unconscious to come as fully awake as possible. There will also be one-on-one mentoring sessions and group workshopping.

Join us in Chile for two weeks of deep writing and reading. Pay attention to the moment and let it carry you to a whole new level.

BARRY DEMPSTER is the author of 16 books, including the novel The Ascension of Jesse Rapture, two volumes of short stories, a children’s book, and 12 collections of poetry. His work has also been nominated twice for the Governor General’s Award and has won the Canadian Authors’ Association Chalmers Award, a Petra Kenney Award and a Confederation Poetry Prize. He is acquisitions editor at Brick Books. He has been a mentor on faculty with the Banff Centre for the Arts four times since 2003. His most recent books include Love Outlandish (Brick Books), Ivan’s Birches (Pedlar Press) and Blue Wherever (Signature Editions).

CONTACT: SUSAN SIDDELEY motocad@rogers.com for more information.

Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le

Viva Chile!

Los Parronales is rooting for a big win today.

And for writers who want to be inspired by this vigourous and beautiful country

Visit Us! Participate in our next Writing Workshop in Jan 2011.

Email motocad@rogers.com for details.

Chilean Quake

Gordon and I would like to thank everyone for their concern and enquiries after the unexpected and dramatic season closer we experienced at Los Parronales, Feb 27th 2010.
We were very fortunate and suffered little damage apart from a fallen bookcase, roof tiles, lamps and pots. People further south, including relatives of El Noviciado families lost everything.

Writers who have visited us and been inspired in Chile, have asked how they might help with the ongoing aid drive. Later this year, I hope to start collecting poems and writings for an anthology, the proceeds of which will go to one of the charities.

Meanwhile, we are thrilled to announce that Barry Dempster will be returning to Los Parronales
to give a workshop in January, 2011.
Please email: motocad@rogers.com for full details