Tuesday, March 08, 2016

All Good Things

It’s over.
 Our 2016 Writing Retreat with mentors Beth Follett and Stan Dragland,
seen together below on our hill, was wonderful. On weekdays, the arrival of writers from Santiago for discussion and consultations, lunch, supper and/or to stay over, interspersed hours of
quiet writing time, swimming and feeding cats.
 
A surprise guest was Rosemary Sullivan, who came for a two-day visit during our third week.
It was fascinating to hear about her recent book, Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva” and the tremendous task of researching and writing it. Today, Congratulations are in order.
Her book has won the prestigious RBC Charles Taylor prize!
 
Regrettably last year, following a significant drop in the price of grapes, we decided to eliminate the vineyard. The eight-hectare field which contained Thomson Seedless and Tintorera grape vines is now ploughed over and rented out to a farmer who has planted beetroot. Sad, as it is, to lose sight of the Sun rising over the pristine rows in the morning, the newly ploughed area has a surprisingly open and pleasant aspect to it.
 
Thank you, once again, to Beth and Stan for coming so far (from Newfoundland) to Chile
and sharing their literary wisdom.

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