Writing Workshop Assisi
"You may have the universe, if I may have Italy."
So wrote Giuseppe Verdi of the inspiration he found in his homeland. Come join us for this unique Workout, focused on individual support and coaching.
Kevin “Mc” McIlvoy, a noted author, writing tutor and professor in creative writing, will work with you to bring forward the muses which inspire your writing!
“Mc” incorporates the familiar workshop into a form of coaching he calls the "workout," an approach that supports the inherent qualities of your distinctive story, essay, or poem, as well as your personal writing long-term goals.
The Umbrian hill town of Assisi is the location for this supportive and instructive workshop. We have selected the very best time of year to be in Italy; comfortable days are balanced with splendid, cool evenings.
Read more about this incredible opportunity, then join us for an unforgettable, individually focused, workshop in bella Italia!
About Kevin "Mc" McIlvoy
Mc brings thirty-five years of dedicated writing and teaching experience to the writing craft.
He teaches in the community of Asheville, North Carolina where he is also an adjunct faculty member for the Warren Wilson MFA Program in Creative Writing.
He has served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs and the Council of Literary Magazines and Small Presses..
He has been a manuscript reviewer for several publishers, including University of Nevada Press, University of New Mexico Press, University of Arizona Press, and Indiana University Press. He has taught for the Bread Loaf and University of Arizona and Writers at Work national writing conferences.
For twenty-seven years he taught as Regents Professor of Creative Writing at New Mexico State University where he also served as editor in chief and fiction editor of the national literary magazine, Puerto del Sol.
He has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fiction Fellowship.
In 2005 he was a recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He has published four novels, A Waltz, The Fifth Station, Little Peg, and Hyssop. His most recent book is a short story collection, The Complete History of New Mexico. Mc offers online instruction and book editing through his website, mcthebookmechanic.com. He is at work on a new story collection, 57 Octaves Below Middle C.
How will the workout help me as a writer?
You will be supported by “Mc’s” unique and nurturing approach to your individual writing voice. Personalized coaching meetings are balanced with time for you to write.
You will create within a supportive community of other writers.
With the guidance and encouragement of “Mc's” perspective on your unique and special writing talent, you will convey new ideas to your writing.
You will exercise your "writing mind" in ways that will bring improvement and strength to your composing and revising processes.
You will live in Italy for ten days, surrounded by the splendor of the Umbrian hills, surrounded by Assisi's unique creative inspiration.
The workout schedule offers writing time with "Mc", balanced with individual coaching sessions, both included with the price of the workout. For those interested in additional coaching sessions, details are included below.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Writing Workout participants depart the United States for Rome, Italy
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Group arrives in Rome, Fiumicino Airport
Note: All participants must arrive at our Rome’s Fiumicino airport meeting point no later than 12:00PM today. Additional details about the meeting point and the transfer to the hotel in Assisi for participants will be sent in advance of your arrival.
Transfer to the Hotel Giotto in Assisi (Mc-I will include a link to the hotel’s web site on the newsletter and all communications, on line, about the workout schedule, just FYI)
(The transit time between Rome’s Fiumicino airport and the hotel in Assisi is about two hours, with stops as needed along the way.)
Register and check in to rooms at hotel
Afternoon open for explorations or relaxation
6:00PM Group reception, terrace, Hotel Giotto, Assisi
Clients are on their own for dinner this evening
Thursday, May 16, 2013
8:00AM Group breakfast and opening remarks by Mc
9:00AM – 10:00 Group meeting with Mc
10:00AM – 12:00 Noon Individual Writing Coaching meetings with Mc (30 minutes each)
12:00 Noon – 1:30PM Lunch (included with the workout for this day, at our hotel)
2:00PM - 8:00PM Individual Writing Coaching meetings with Mc
Participants are on their own for dinner this evening
Friday, May 17, 2013
9:00AM – 11:30AM Group One Writing Workout
12:30PM – 1:30PM Lunch (on your own)
2:00PM – 4:30PM Group Two Writing Workout
5:00PM – 8:00PM Writing Assessment sessions with Mc
Participants are on their own for dinner this evening
Saturday, May 18, 2013
9:00AM - 12:30 Noon Individual Writing Coaching meetings (30 minutes each) with Mc
12:30 Noon – 1:30PM Lunch (on your own)
2:00PM – 3:00PM Individual Writing Coaching meetings (30 minutes each) with Mc
3:00PM – 5:00PM Open time
5:00PM – 8:00PM Special Arrangement Coaching Sessions (1 Hour each) with Mc.
Participants are on their own for dinner this evening
Sunday, May 19, 2013
9:00AM – 11:30AM Group One Writing Workout
12:30PM – 1:30PM Lunch (on your own)
2:00PM – 4:30PM Group Two Writing Workout
5:00PM – 8:00PM Special Arrangement Coaching Sessions (1 Hour each) with Mc
Participants are on their own for dinner this evening
Monday, May 20, 2013
“The Hills of Umbria”- A visit to Gubbio
Depart Assisi at 9:00AM (Mark Smith, group leader, will provide an overview of Gubbio’s history as we travel to the town)
10:45AM Arrive Gubbio
“Mc” presentation (“Disegno: How Writers Think about Invention and Imaginative Transformation”) at the Roman amphitheater on the outskirts of Gubbio. Bus transfer to Main Square in Gubbio at conclusion of presentation
Lunch – participants are on their own for lunch, then free to explore the village on their own
4:30PM Return to Assisi
7:00PM Dinner-participants are on their own for dinner this evening
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
9:00AM – 11:30AM Special Arrangement Coaching Sessions with Mc
12:30PM – 1:30PM Lunch (on your own)
2:00PM – 8:00PM Special Arrangement Coaching Sessions with Mc
Participants are on their own for dinner this evening
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
9:00AM - 12:30 Noon Individual Writing Coaching meetings (30 minutes each) with Mc
12:30 Noon – 1:30PM Lunch (on your own)
2:00PM – 3:00PM Individual Writing Coaching meetings (30 minutes each) with Mc
3:00PM – 5:00PM Open time
5:00PM – 8:00PM Special Arrangement Coaching Sessions (1 Hour each) with Mc.
Participants are on their own for dinner this evening
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Open day for writing and explorations
5:30PM – 7:00PM Reception for group at hotel
7:00PM Dinner - Group farewell dinner on the terrace of Hotel Giotto
Friday, May 24, 2013
Early morning bus departure from hotel with transfer to Fiumicino Airport in Rome for
return flights to the United States
Participants not scheduled for feedback sessions are encouraged to use their time to explore the village of Assisi or take advantage of this open time to write
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Workout Costs and Logistics
Your Workout includes:
Airfare between Atlanta, GA and Rome, (see below for those traveling from other areas of the US)
Hotel double/twin accommodation, shared, with breakfast each day
"Meet and greet" at the Rome airport by group leader
Transfers to/from the Rome airport
Welcome reception for the group on the first and last evenings at the hotel
Mc's expertise for the general group sessions and for each of the thirty minute critique sessions scheduled during the workshop
Lunch at the hotel on the first day of the workout
Transfers to and from Assisi and the Rome Leonardo da Vinci - Fiumicino - Airport
Farewell dinner on final night of the workout
Full-time dedicated group leader for all logistics needs during your time in Assisi
Meals: Please review the daily schedule (above) for full details about meals during
the workout
Single Supplement:
For those wishing to have a private room, a single supplement of $600.00 will be added to the total cost of the workout
Airfare:
Cost of the Workout includes airfare from Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport to Rome’s Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci airport and return to Atlanta. For participants traveling from other areas of the United States or Europe to Rome, please read "Add-on for travelers . . . " below.
Those who meet with the group in Atlanta will be routed to Rome on Delta’s flight leaving Atlanta at 3:40PM, arriving the next morning at 7:30AM local time. Those flying from other time zones will be routed to arrive in Rome prior to 10:30AM on May 15, 2013. (Timetable subject to change by Delta airlines)
Our group’s van transfer will depart Rome's Fiumicino airport no later than 12:00 Noon on May 15, 2013. Additional details about specific meeting location will be provided prior to the departure date.
Add-on for travelers from other areas of the United States: (Cities listed are examples only)
Central Time Zone (Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City) $150.00 per person
Mountain Time Zone (Denver, Butte, Albuquerque, Phoenix) $200.00 per person
Pacific Time Zone ( Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland) $250.00 per person
$4400.00 per person
INCLUSIVE OF AIRFARE and SERVICES LISTED ABOVE
$600.00 DEPOSIT DUE AT TIME OF BOOKING
For non-writers who wish to join writers on this Workout the cost is $3950.00 per person, which includes airfare between North Carolina cities and Rome, hotel double/twin accommodation shared with the attending writer, breakfast each day and transfers to/from the Rome airport. Other city airfare add-on applies as shown above.
FOR ANSWERS TO ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE, INCLUDING DEPOSIT AND RESERVATION INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Mark Gordon Smith
President, Private Italy Tours
910-575-6735
or
Kevin Mc McIlvoy
Workout leader
828-318-4456
What additional costs should you keep in mind about this Workout?
With most lunches and dinners on your own in Assisi, you should plan between Euro 20 and Euro 30 per day total per person for your lunch and dinner meals such as pizza, salads, sandwiches and soft drinks, etc. Wine of course adds some additional cost to the meal prices.This is a very conservative estimate. If you choose to enjoy a more formal meal, meal costs per day can be Euro 35, and higher, per day.
All of the gratuities for the driver of the transfer bus from Rome Fiumicino/return, for our day in Gubbio and for the hotel staff are included with the workout cost.
Gratuity for the group leader - average per day gratuity for the group leader is Euro 20.00 per day.
If you are interested in visiting any of the many churches and basilicas in Assisi, entrance to all of these remarkable buildings is at no charge.
Travel Insurance is available for participants. Please contact Private Italy Tours for details.
The Heart of Italy, Writing Inspiration on Italian Soil is supported by Private Italy Tours, Ltd, a tour operator with over eight years of experience in the Italian Travel Market.
Mark Gordon Smith, President and owner, is the author of several books about Italy and works with Mc on a regular basis for writing critique and support.