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Writing in Bali
with Patti Miller

Writing tour

The Art and Craft of Writing the Senses

Dates for 2012

A Balinese Writing Retreat
With Patti Miller and the Sydney Writers’ Centre
in association with Bookshop Travel

Writing in Bali 2012 is now BOOKED OUT.
Please call us on (02) 9929 0088 to go on standby.

Dates for 2012:
Saturday 21 July to Saturday 28 July 2012

Come with writer Patti Miller to the highland town of Ubud, the artistic centre of Bali, for a unique writing enrichment course. Whether you are writing from actual or imaginary life – memoir, autobiography, short stories or novels – The Art and Craft of Writing will show you how to create the colour, texture and weave of lived experience on the page.

This is a very special writing course, uniquely focused on developing the sensory richness of your creative expression. Immersed in the natural beauty and rich cultural heritage of highland Bali, mind, heart and body all engaged in the writing process, you will explore how to translate the physical world of the senses into words.

The Art and Craft of Writing will reveal how the secret of powerful writing is to create a world our senses will believe is real. Brimming with both creative and sensory delights, Ubud is the perfect place to ‘write the senses’.

Staying in your own room at a beautiful resort set on the outskirts of Ubud, you will be able to write every day and explore the ancient culture of Bali. We will have welcome and farewell meals together and breakfast and morning tea are also included.

The Writing Course

In the peaceful, creative and luscious atmosphere of Ubud, long regarded as a cultural capital of Indonesia, this writing course will re-awaken your senses. You will taste, touch, see, smell and hear the world again. You will read and discuss extracts from a wide variety of writers such as Annie Dillard and Patrick Susskind, and participate in exercises designed to revitalise and extend your creativity.

Each morning for five days, from 10am to 1pm, the workshops will offer readings, discussions and writing exercises designed to re-awaken the senses and heighten observation, to explore the rich symbolic world of sensory images. You’ll learn how to use the senses to convey – or create – scene, characters and texture. You’ll also discover how sensual writing can be used to further narrative and even to convey ideas.

If you want to move from more factual styles of writing – academic, journalistic, technical or report writing – or simply feel your writing needs revitalising, then this workshop will help you make the leap into the rich textured world of powerful writing. This workshop is for both memoir and fiction writers and, whether you feel you are a beginner or more experienced, it will extend your creativity and enrich your writing.

Cultural experience

In the afternoons you will be able to write in the solitude and quiet of your own room, or you can head out to explore the fascinating town and countryside of Ubud. You can walk in the Monkey Forest and rice paddies; visit local temples and enjoy the vibrant colour of ritual and ceremonies; immerse yourself in the arts and crafts at the famous Neki Gallery or at nearby artist villages. If you like, you can take a cultural tour arranged by our tour manager to explore more of the richness of Bali.

In the evenings you can attend a performance of the traditional Barong or Kecak dances or simply enjoy some of the exquisite local cuisine. And of course, there are also the delights of the Ubud market, the rejuvenating pleasure of a therapeutic Balinese massage, or a quiet coffee at the Lotus Pond café, whenever you need a break from writing.

Your Tour Director and Writing Teacher – Patti Miller

Patti Miller is a highly experienced writer of both memoir and
fiction, and a writing teacher. She is the author of the best-selling Writing Your Life, The Last One Who Remembers, Child,
Whatever The Gods Do and The Memoir Book.

She has taught writing at university and writers’ centres for over 20 years
and has taken a number of writing workshops in Paris and Fiji. Her inspiring approach to writing is both passionate and attentive to the art and craft of
writing. For a list of publications and further information on her work see her website: www.lifestories.com.au.

Your Tour Manager – Kaye Higgins

Kaye Higgins is passionate about travel and photography. She
has been able to combine the two for more than 30 years and
quite frequently travels the world. Kaye has travelled to all of the continents - South America, Europe, Africa, Asia. She has been
to Antarctica and Russia, walked the Inca Trail, cycled in France,
walks in Italy, Switzerland and New Zealand, and attended the Grand Slam
Tennis circuit in one year.

She has lived in New York and also backpacked, hitch-hiked and driven
around the UK, Chile and the USA. She has managed to see both sides
of the waterfalls Iguaçu Falls (Argentina/Brazil), Victoria Falls
(Zimbabwe/Zambia) and Niagara Falls (Canada/USA). Kaye has been a
teacher for more than 25 years.

More information

To download the course itinerary, including information about costs and accommodation, please complete this form.



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Click play to watch a short video of
Patti Miller talking about Writing in Bali.

Click play to watch a short video of
Valerie Khoo in Bali talk about the tour.

RAVE REVIEWS ABOUT
WRITING IN BALI

"Ever had a week so special you don't know what to say about it?".
Read the full blog post by 2011 participant Kerry Martin here.

"While the Bali location provided an endless amount of inspiration for 'Writing the Senses', the most valuable part of the experience for me was sitting in the classroom each day and learning from each of the unique, talented participants. Our wonderful, dedicated and inspirational teacher Patti Miller was so generous. I am saving up to attend the Writing Workshop in Paris."
- Rachel Cuthbert

"Patti's expertise, thoughtfulness in the structure of the program, seamless flexibility, and sensitivity made for a wonderful, informative, experiential time where I learnt so much.

"Nothing was too much trouble for tour manager Kaye. Her organisation and flexibility with constant changing requests, all done with such good grace, was fabulous. She also brought a sense of fun to the total program. The tour blew my expectations away. A brilliant program."
- Barb Hawes

"Patti is an amazing writer and tutor. She led us through the workshop easily and imparted so much. Kaye went above and beyond in her duties as tour guide and she made the whole experience so much easier.

"The course has given so much in relation to writing the senses and enriched my writing. I found the opportunity of being away and getting space to write very useful. The course was an awakening of the senses and Ubud the perfect setting."
- Georgina Makalani

"I've already forgotten what it cost, but whatever it was, it was worth every cent. Patti did a fantastic job, was totally with the course and committed to participants. It gave me a kick in the right direction and I've moved out of a sense of apathy and discouragement about my writing that has lasted a few years. Extremely valuable, enjoyable, interesting and creative."
- Jennifer Thurstun