The Memoir Club for Readers and Writers, 26 November 2013

Patti Miller in conversation 
with Beth Yahp about 
The Mind of a Thief

Tuesday, 26 November 2013, 6.00 - 9.00 PM

The Randwick Literary Institute,
60 Clovelly Road, Randwick 2031

Photo by Tracey Trompf

"Part reflection, part local history and part analysis of the bitter ironies that abound in contemporary Aboriginal politics, Miller's book quietly poses a loaded and complex question: what does it mean to be native to Australia today?" —Anna Maria Dell'oso

For our last Memoir Club meeting of 2013, the inimitable Patti Miller joins us to talk about her search for identity and connection in the land she was born in, a stolen land. "Red-haired and freckle faced as they come", in middle age Patti discovers that she may have "some blackfella" in her (as an Aboriginal elder from her home town suggests), yet by her own admission her "mind is European, the mind of a thief". 

Patti's journey takes her from "identity terror" through the silences, ambivalences and revelations of family, regional and national histories, and the stories and laws of the land and its peoples that have shaped her and her country.

Patti Miller grew up on Wiradjuri land in central west NSW. She is the author of the bestselling autobiographical texts, Writing Your Life (1994) and The Memoir Book (2007), as well as four other books: The Last One Who Remembers (1997), Child (1998), Whatever The Gods Do (2003), and her most recent book The Mind of A Thief (2012), which won the NSW Community and Regional History Prize in 2013. Patti gives memoir workshops in Paris and Writing the Senses workshops in Ubud, as well as teaches 'True Stories' for the Faber Academy.

Beth Yahp is originally from Malaysia. She is the author of a novel, various short fictions and non-fiction, some forgettable poems, and works for the stage and radio. Beth was recently awarded her Doctorate of Creative Arts from the University of Technology, Sydney, for her travel memoir documenting "detours through food, family and politics in Malaysia", which is presently being revised into a more or less palatable version. Beth currently teaches in the Masters of Creative Writing program at the University of Sydney.







When: last Tuesday of every month (new meetings starting next year: 25 March, 29 April etc.)

Time: 6.00 - 9.00 PM (come for a cuppa and help us set up at 5.30 PM - remember to bring your own cup!)

Where: The Randwick Literary Institute, 60 Clovelly Road, Randwick 2031. Tel: 02-9398 5203 (for directions and venue info). Street parking available. Clovelly bus 339 on the doorstep. For how to get there, see: http://randwickliteraryinstitute.com.au/faqs/

What: A communal space to meet other writers and readers and converse about all things to do with reading and writing memoir. We are interested in all kinds of life stories and in different ways of telling them. The genre of life writing and the possibilities of expanding and reworking the genre is exciting to us. Therefore we have a somewhat open and inclusive approach to what makes a memoir, and we hope you do too! Here is a space to connect with others and share ideas, questions and just hang out. Each meeting will start off with a talk, conversation or discussion about a particular topic or book, sometimes with a guest speaker or facilitator, then we move to an informal gathering and catch up.

Donation: $10 at the door for hall hire, refreshments and speakers.

Food: $15 for a plate of delicious vegetarian finger food (different each meeting).

Future Speakers: Look out for next year's program, now being developed. Do post any ideas you may have, with thanks!

RSVP: RSVP to alison.lyssa@sustainabletransport.com.au for room and catering purposes - don't forget to say if you want to order a plate of food.

Look forward to seeing you there! Please do pass information on to anyone who might be interested in this community gathering.

mem·oir /ˈmemˌwär/
Noun. A historical account or biography written from personal knowledge. An autobiography or a written account of one's memory of certain events or people.

"The story of my place might not tell me who I was, but if I could examine its weave, I might at least see what my cloak was made of."                                                                                                                                       —Patti Miller

"It was only then that I was really aware of what had been going on and what I had been a part of without realising it... So when I read this story, it unlocked a volcano of unanswered questions, because the questions had never been asked. It was an opportunity to come to terms with the lot of repressed history—and history of repression."
                                               —Philip Noyce, on reading the script for Rabbit Proof Fence

"What is it like to be a writer in Australia today? Australia is a nation of many Countries. Mine's Wiradjuri, which means of the rivers. I thought about this and in response I am Aboriginal first and everything I do is within that context. In writing as in life, it is impossible to separate the personal from the political. The political context is an integral part of the landscape..."
                                                                                                                                    —Jeanine Leane

Mary Zournazi in conversation 
with Brent Clough about Agnès Varda's 
use of memory and place in film

Tuesday, 24 September 2013, hosted by UNSWriting, 6.30 - 8.30 PM

Cinema 327, 3rd Floor, John Webster Building, University of New South Wales
Next month the Memoir Club moves back to its home at the Randwick Literary Institute



"Memory is like sand in my hand," said Agnès Varda, known as the 'grandmother (and only woman director) of the French New Wave'. "If we opened people up, we'd find landscapes," she said. "If we opened me up, we'd find beaches."

Varda's consistently experimental and lyrical films over six decades are famous for opening up spaces between fictional and documentary elements, exploring borderlands, like beaches, between reality and imagination, art and politics, memory and an ethnographic gaze.

Her films include The Beaches of Agnès (2008), The Gleaners and I (2000), Vagabond (1985), Cléo From 5 to 7 (1962), and her first film La Pointe Courte (1955), a "precursor of the (Nouvelle Vague) films that Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Goddard would start making five years later" (Ginette Vincendeau).    

In this month's Memoir Club writer and philosopher Mary Zournazi converses with Brent Clough about Agnès Varda and her notion of reminiscence and remembrance in her films, particularly The Beaches of Agnès.
 
Mary Zournazi is interested in how films feature the ideas of memory and place. She is a Sydney-based writer and philosopher, who teaches in the sociology program at the University of New South Wales. She is the author of several books, including Hope—New Philosophies for Change, Keywords to War—Reviving Language in an Age of Terror, and most recently (with Wim Wenders), Inventing Peace: A Dialogue on Perception (2013).

Brent Clough is a radio broadcaster, known for his documentary, music and creative audio programs on ABC Radio National. He was a recipient of the inaugural Tony Barrell Fellowship in 2012 to document the changing sounds, cultures and demographics of Brixton, South London. Brent is also a writer and DJ.

About the Memoir Club: a meeting place for readers and writers

When: last Tuesday of every month (24 September, 29 October, 26 November etc.)

Time: This month at UNSW only: 6.30 - 8.30 PM (come for a cuppa at 6pm in the foyer on the 3rd floor - remember to bring your own cup!)

Where: This month only: Cinema 327, 3rd Floor, Robert Webster Building, University of New South Wales—enter from the University Mall and go up to the 3rd floor. UNSW campus map reference G14. The Robert Webster Building is located at the midpoint of the Kensington campus, and houses the School of Arts and Media (SAM). There is parking next to NIDA, or in through Gate 14 off Barker Street. Check for signs. Public transport: http://www.facilities.unsw.edu.au/node/94

What: A communal space to meet other writers and readers and converse about all things to do with reading and writing memoir. We are interested in all kinds of life stories and in different ways of telling them. The genre of life writing and the possibilities of expanding and reworking the genre is exciting to us. Therefore we have a somewhat open and inclusive approach to what makes a memoir, and we hope you do too! Here is a space to connect with others and share ideas, questions and just hang out. Each meeting will start off with a talk, conversation or discussion about a particular topic or book, sometimes with a guest speaker or facilitator, then we move to an informal gathering and catch up.

Donation: $10 at the door for hall hire, refreshments and speakers.

Food: $15 for a plate of delicious vegetarian finger food (different each meeting).

Future Speakers: October will feature a "Members Night" of readings and storytelling, and in November Patti Miller (The Mind of a Thief) will join us. Look out for next year's program, now being developed. Do post any ideas you may have, with thanks!

RSVP: RSVP to alison.lyssa@sustainabletransport.com.au for room and catering purposes - don't forget to say if you want to order a plate of food.

Look forward to seeing you there! Please do pass information on to anyone who might be interested in this community gathering.

mem·oir /ˈmemˌwär/
Noun. A historical account or biography written from personal knowledge. An autobiography or a written account of one's memory of certain events or people.

“I would call The Beaches of Agnès an autobiographical documentary even though it's about more than just me. It shows the people who have surrounded me, who have helped me exist, who have inspired me. There's a Gertrude Stein Book called Everybody's Autobiography. That's the kind of feeling I wanted to convey in the film.”                                                                                                                                     —Agnès Varda

"Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything."
                                                                                                                                —Aaron Sussman

"A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet."
                                                                                                                                    —Orson Welles

The Memoir Club for Readers and Writers

Next Memoir Club Meeting: Tuesday, 30 July 2013
at the Randwick Literary Institute

joanne burns in conversation

with Barbara Brooks

Renowned as an experimental poet and writer whose "seemingly contradictory hybrid of yarn and the vision" is "time and again made manifest through a rather laconic, sceptical and straight-talking voice", joanne burns joins the Memoir Club this month to discuss how memoir and autobiographical moments sometimes influence and infiltrate her writing.

Her "distinctive stance towards the world" has been described as "humourous, unsentimental, never pompous or prophetic, immersed in fleeting experiences..." and her poems are said to illustrate "the idea of poems being built out of the detritus of existence".

Can poems be considered a form of memoir? And, as Robert Frost claimed, can they "make you remember what you didn't know you knew"?

joanne burns writes poetry (including prose poems), monologues, and short futurist fictions or farables. Since 1972 many collections of her work have been published, the most recent being 'footnotes of a hammock' (Five Islands Press, 2004), 'an illustrated history of dairies' (Giramondo, 2007) and 'amphora' (Giramondo, 2011). 'kept busy', a CD of joanne burns reading a selection of her work, was released in 2007 (River Road Publishing). She is currently working on assembling a Selected poems collection, and on a new poetry collection, 'brush'. The ironic, satiric, the ludic and absurd feature strongly in her work.

Barbara Brooks is a Sydney writer, independent scholar and teacher of writing. She has published short stories, essays and a biography, Eleanor Dark: A Writer's Life. Her memoir Verandahs, which crosses into fiction, won the UTS Chancellors Award as an outstanding thesis.

About the Memoir Club: a meeting place for readers and writers

When: last Tuesday of every month (27 August, 24 September, 29 October, etc.)

Time: 6 - 8.30 PM (come help set up chairs etc. from 5.30pm if you can - more hands make lighter work! And at the end of the evening, help tidying up is much appreciated too...)

Where: The Randwick Literary Institute, 60 Clovelly Road, Randwick NSW 2031

Tel: 02-9398 5203 (for directions and venue info). Street parking is available. Clovelly bus 339 on the doorstep. For how to get there, see: http://randwickliteraryinstitute.com.au/faqs/

What: A communal space to meet other writers and readers and converse about all things to do with reading and writing memoir. We are interested in all kinds of life stories and in different ways of telling them. The genre of life writing and the possibilities of expanding and reworking the genre is exciting to us. Therefore we have a somewhat open and inclusive approach to what makes a memoir, and we hope you do too! Here is a space to connect with others and share ideas, questions and just hang out. Each meeting will start off with a talk, conversation or discussion about a particular topic or book, sometimes with a guest speaker or facilitator, then we move to an informal gathering and catch up.

Donation: $10 at the door for hall hire, refreshments and speakers.

Food: $15 for a plate of delicious vegan finger food from Rosada's Kitchen (different each meeting).

Future Speakers: Drusilla Modjeska (The Mountain), Mary Zournazi (on filmmaker Agnes Varda), Adam Aitken (Eighth Habitation) and Patti Miller (The Mind of a Thief) will join us at future sessions to talk about their memoirs or the memoir aspects of their work.

RSVP: Please RSVP to Beth at bywritingworks@gmail.com for room and catering purposes

Look forward to seeing you there! Please do pass information on to anyone who might be interested in this community gathering.

mem·oir /ˈmemˌwär/
Noun. A historical account or biography written from personal knowledge. An autobiography or a written account of one's memory of certain events or people.

“Breathe in experience, breathe out poetry.”                                                           —Muriel Rukeyser

"Robert Frost said that poetry can make you 'remember what you didn't know you knew'... In a way that is much more open-ended than prose writing, poetry destroys walls between private and public thoughts, between private and public emotions, between private and public motivations... You can truly describe personal events that may involve your familial readers with a power that is not necessarily stark, blunt, naked or offensive. A good poem is not always 'accurate' but just the same, is always 'true'."
                                                                                                                                   —Carl G. Schott

"cixous writes of her childhood experience of the story of jacob's ladder. how she was drawn to the images of descending angels. she writes of the dream ladder. going down. growing into the earth. the descent on the ladder of writing will be tough. down through the body of flesh and earth." 
                                                                                                                                     —joanne burns

NOW FULL! Memoir/ Fiction/ Travel Writing Masterclasses beginning 27 July 2013

There are still a few places left in my new series of six Memoir/ Fiction/ Travel Writing Masterclasses beginning 27 July 2013, so do contact me if you'd like to participate. It looks like a good group is shaping up, and there may also be a second set of masterclasses beginning 3 August 2013.

These workshops would be a chance for participants to work with me (and other members of a small workshop group of 6) over a sustained period (3 months) in the development of your writing towards a larger piece of work - e.g. a travel book, a memoir, a novel, a collection of stories.

The masterclasses feature indepth workshopping and detailed written editorial feedback from me each meeting, as well as a lesson focussing on an advanced writing skill (e.g. structure, transitions, point of view) and in-class writing exercises.

The masterclasses are for people who have previously attended writing workshops or classes, or have already published their writing, and therefore have some experience of writing craft. They are strictly limited to 6 participants to ensure that everyone has adequate time for discussion and feedback on their writing projects.

The emphasis is on supporting your writing, creating new work in a safe and nurturing environment, as well as learning to read as a writer and give constructive critical feedback on each other's writing. I find that deep learning and understanding can occur when people are engaged in other creative works, as much as their own. I also emphasize the rituals and practices of writing: it's practice, after all, that invites the muse to appear. And when we are working on a big project, we need to pace ourselves, with support and kindness, in order to carry the work the distance it needs to go. It's lonely and difficult working on one's own!

The meetings are fortnightly on Saturday afternoons and run for 5 hours (with a break and lots of cups of tea/coffee and snacks to keep us going!). They are somewhat intense but on the whole rewarding (as past participants have found - see comments below).

When:        6 fortnightly Saturday meetings, beginning 27 July 2013

Dates:        27 July, 10 & 24 August, 7 & 21 September, 5 October 2013

Time:         1.30 - 6.30pm (including  breaks)

Where:      Bronte 2024 or Randwick 2031 in Sydney 

Cost:          $1000

You will get: Six 5-hour workshops (30 class hours in total) and mentorship of you and your writing over the course of the masterclasses. Six detailed copy and structural edits/feedback on your writing from me (up to 2500 words to be submitted per class) - these edits alone would cost $400. A reader of course readings and writing craft notes, in-class writing exercises, presentation/ discussion of particular writing/ editing skills & techniques. Each meeting you will also receive verbal feedback and detailed discussion of your work from me and other members of the group. You will also get access to a safe space in which to test out your writing and exchange ideas and skills - a community of writers, engaged in a similar writing journey. Tea/ coffee/ snacks also provided.

Course covers: In-depth writing and editing skills for fiction (short stories or a novel) and creative non-fiction (memoir/ travel narratives/ personal essays, nature writing); generation of new material through writing exercises and reading/ discussion of  samples of particular craft skills; advice on writing craft and sustaining your writing life, as well as publication strategies; how to give and receive feedback/ criticism that is supportive and helpful to yourself and others as writers.

Application Process & Registration: Due to the small number of participants, there will be a selection process based on whether I consider I can be of assistance to you and your writing project; quality of work; and how the different projects in the group will resonate with each other. Selection will be based on a half page description of your project, as well as a two page example of your writing, which should be submitted to me by email ASAP.

Closing Date for Applications: 15 July 2013 (but as places are limited, it would be a good idea to send me your work ASAP)

Contact:     For more information, please contact Beth at: bywritingworks@gmail.com

Topics Covered:

Masterclass 1: Critiquing, Workshopping, Intent

Masterclass 2: Editing, Description, Scenes

Masterclass 3: Transitions in Place and Time, Show and Tell

Masterclass 4: Structure: Plot Shapes and Sequences

Masterclass 5: Foreshadowing and Subtext

Masterclass 6: Polishing, Publishing and Sustaining Your Writing Project/ Writing Life

SOME COMMENTS from past participants of Beth's Memoir/ Fiction Masterclasses 2010-2011:

Kate R: You are such a gifted teacher and editor, Beth, and my classes with you have opened up for me a new way of writing and thinking. You have helped me solve the impasse I'd come up against before beginning classes with you. This was, of course, the question of narrative voice. I feel I've found the voice of the book, and I really didn't expect it would take so short a time to do so, and I have you to thank. (2013)

Odette S: I liked being in a ‘safe space’ around other writers sharing our work, learning together, guided by a fabulous teacher; improvement in my craft; being inspired by the group; reading some amazingly good work (and even commenting on them!); being REQUIRED to write AND read (that discipline has long been overdue); ideas from the others’ work and the reading. I was given confidence that I ‘could do this’. The course exceeded my expectations. The tutor, teaching method and materials were excellent and the masterclass stoked my dream [of writing my story]. The course was very good value.

Elizabeth B: I think more than anything the course provided the discipline to keep going with my project… now I have a much clearer view of the structure of what I'm writing and how the content can evolve inside it. I knew that the tutor would be fabulous… (that was part of the inspiration for taking the course!) and the writing materials were excellent… I would absolutely recommend it to someone who has a project and is looking for support and feedback to help them along what is otherwise a pretty lonely road… the community it provides has been invaluable to me.

Karen W: I gained more confidence and trust in my work; practice at critiquing; an avenue which allowed experimentation and a response to it; consolidation of writing skills; a group I am excited about continuing to work with. [The course] fulfilled all my expectations, which I must add were very high. Beth inspired, challenged and encouraged her students. She created a supportive, respectful, ordered and safe environment. The material was highly relevant and interesting. I have already recommended this course to everyone who will listen.

Leanne M: I liked the detailed feedback... The range of input was helpful - the variety of perspectives was very valuable. Giving feedback also helped me to start to look at my own work more objectively. The discussions and exercises on different topics related to writing craft helped me to see some of what I need to do and an inkling of how to do it. I feel that I am well-equipped now to take my first draft to the next stage. That was my goal and it has been reached. The tutor was knowledgeable, friendly and kind, also encouraging and supportive. Firm when that was needed in terms of feedback/constructive criticism points. Teaching methods are very immersive and experiential and therefore effective. Materials - the handouts each session - are helpful and valuable references for the future… a good mix of inspiration, examples and practical guidance. I would recommend the course, but emphasise that each participant has to be prepared to work and give of themselves. It was so good I didn't want the series to end! Mind you I was exhausted - like a marathon runner perhaps. Thanks for a great course.

Angela R: I loved being part of a community of writers; hearing from Beth about the views and approaches of other writers in the world; being entrusted by others in the group to read and comment on their precious work; the warm, professional atmosphere; learning from Beth’s great bank of knowledge and her insights; Beth’s critiques, delivered always in a gentle, respectful, enquiring, and competent way. The course has strengthened my commitment to my project, given me more confidence, and forced me to meet a regular ‘deadline’ – otherwise it’s too easy to ease off, attend to other demands etc. etc. I’m still fending off that critic that tells me to be a more attentive friend, mother, blah blah, but the course has emboldened me to honour an early vision I had (i.e., as a child): to write novels.                                                 

Greg W: Just want to thank you for being such a fabulous writing teacher, and for selecting such a great class of writers. It was a privilege being involved. I have learnt so much. As mentioned, I need to digest all you have passed on to me, which will take several months. You have created a great learning environment, and opened 'the darkroom of my mind'. Thanks so much. [Greg is a photographer by profession.]

On Not Keeping A Notebook

I've been thinking lately how I've stopped keeping a regular journal (despite telling everyone it's imperative!) - how does it happen? You don't write one morning because you wake up too tired, or you have an early meeting, or a pile of papers to mark, or you forgot to put out the rubbish last night and now you have to run out and catch the garbage truck… and when you get back the moment has passed and your day of necessary tasks already begun. There are other reasons on day two and three, and then one day you find it's been weeks since you've written anything.

Joan Didion wrote in her essay "On Keeping A Notebook" that "It is a good idea, then, to keep in touch, and I suppose that keeping in touch is what notebooks are all about … keeping those lines open to ourselves".

She's talking about keeping "on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise, "she says, "they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind’s door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were".

But what if, like Nietzsche's dyspeptic, you'd rather not take note of those things, the things swallowed down from the past, and have them rise up to trouble your daily present? Nietzsche compared the “inability to forget” (that is, to actively engage in forgetfulness) to the man [sic] suffering from dyspepsia, always repeating on himself, trapped by the past, held in its constructions—which could lead to conditions of repression and self-division. A little "tabula rasa of the consciousness", he claimed, was necessary to a healthy constitution. A stern and fully-functioniong "porter at the door" of the mind, of memory.

Is my journal or notebook, then, where I "store" all those things (and events and grumbles and wishes and people, including several versions of me) that I haven't the time now to deal with because of my more urgent and necessary daily tasks? (Which, incidentally, seem to be growing - is that a sign of our times, or just me?)

When I look back at my old journals, I'm astounded by the obsessive attention to detail, the lists, the automatic recording of weather and names of cafes and coffeeshops I'd been writing in, the random description of strangers, the sad spiralling of doomed love affairs, the dizzy or ponderous working out of what I was thinking and feeling. I read them with interest - and sometimes sadness - it doesn't at all seem like me. Thank goodness. Maybe.

In the end, I think I fall on the side of Didion - better to keep on terms with who we used to be, and equally importantly, the times we used to live in, that slung and arrowed us then. Fortune turns, and we forget, and if we forget too well, we are doomed to the effects of tabula rasa - fifty first dates? (That's up there with my other top nightmare: being trapped in a dimly lit multi-storeyed car park, driving round and round unable to find either a park or an exit…)

You can shut your journal, put it in a box in the furthest corner under your desk. You can take a break from it - weeks or months of blank pages. But when you need it, it's good to be able to return. To make sure it's there, to hand - by that I mean this private space that's yours and yours alone, in which you conduct your practice of writing, your record-making and re-cording of the self. And you begin again.

To "record" comes from the Latin recorder, to "remember, call to mind," from re-"restore" re- ("back to the original place, again", also with a sense of "undoing") + cor (genitive cordis) "heart" (as the metaphoric seat of memory, cf. learn by heart). [Online Etymology Dictionary].

I like the thought of the heart as the seat of memory; and of recording as a kind of travelling back to an original place, the heart of something, and of that travelling as a kind of undoing. Unseating. Shaking something loose. But I also like the idea of confining that initial unseating and shaking within the pages of a journal - until, months or years or even decades later, I open it again.

MOVED FORWARD TO 2014: Writing Trek to Nepal

Dates To Be Announced (October 2014)

Remember that the Earlybird Discount expires at the end of February 2014!

Day 1: Kathmandu 
 

Arrive in Kathmandu. Transfer to hotel. Rest. You will be staying in the heart of the tourist area of bustling Kathmandu in an eco-guest house decorated in traditional style. Walk out the front door and into atmospheric Thamel, where you can shop for presents, or just soak up the atmosphere. There will be a brief orientation session and introductions.  

Day 2: Kathmandu

We will begin the day with our first workshop session, and preparations for the trek, followed by a tour of some of the famous Kathmandu World Heritage Sites.  There is so much to see in Kathmandu, and you won’t have time to see it all. However, Day 2 gives you a chance to whet your appetite and visit some of the sacred and world heritage sites; to look, take photos or write.

     Options include: 

• Patan Durbar Square –world heritage site, with ancient temples and well laid out museum
• Monkey Temple (Swayambhunath) or Boudhanath Stupa—two soaring Buddhist stupas, pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, especially the Tibetan Community
• Pashupatinath Temple—world heritage site, one of the 4 top pilgrimage sites for Hindu Pilgrims around the world

Day 3: Kathmandu to Lukla to Phakdin
 

       In the early morning, step onto the twin otter plane at Kathmandu, and be transported as if in a time capsule to the village of Lukla in the Khumbu region (2827m). Here you will begin the acclimatization process and the first mountain session while you enjoy breakfast and plenty of hydrating liquids.

--> Even if your mind is still racing at city pace, your body will remind you that it is time to slow down –particularly when you find yourself puffing more than usual when climbing stairs, as you become aware of the first effects of the altitude.

After breakfast in Lukla and a recap on mountain safety, the trek begins with a 3 to 4 hour walk to Phakdin. Sometimes you will be sharing the trail with yak trains, other trekkers, and local traders on their way up to Namche Bazaar.  Such rich material for your photos, writing and memories. You will also get your first close up glimpses of the mountains, weather permitting. We will spend the night at a lodge situated in a valley right on the Dudh Koshi River. 

Please Note, Lukla’s weather is variable, and planes can’t land in the mist (when you get there you’ll see why). So be prepared for potential delays in the flight, sometimes even cancellations due to the weather.  This applies for the return journey from Lukla to Kathmandu also.

Day 4: Phakdin to Monjo
 

A couple of hours walk through lush vegetation, past agricultural fields and Buddhist monuments takes us to Monjo, a Sherpa village bordering Sagarmatha National Park. Opportunities for word pictures.  You’ll want to capture every blink of your eyes. 


Day 5: Monjo to Namche Bazaar

Namche Bazaar is situated approximately 3440 metres from sea level. At this point you will definitely start feeling the altitude, although most people acclimatise within a day or so.  Nestled at the top of a cliff, Namche is a traditional trading place, with traders coming from Tibet, India and Nepal to the small hill top village.  

When the clouds part, views of Mount Everest, and several other 8000m peaks are visible.

There is a steep climb into Namche Bazaar—and this section of the trip will be dependent on the health and fitness of our group.  The alternative will be day trips and writing sessions in and around Monjo and Phakdin

Day 6 - 9: Namche Bazaar activities

We spend 4 days in Namche Bazaar, with writing workshops every morning or afternoon. For those missing the comfort of home, there are bakeries with reasonable coffee and apple pie with a view—a legacy of early German climbers. 

There are three museums to explore—the main one covers culture/ geography/ flora and fauna of the Everest Region. Two smaller ones specialise in Sherpa Culture and Traditional Himalayan Medicine. 
 

There is also a traditional Tibetan Healer available for consultation at the Himalayan Healing Centre, a Tibetan monastery and the Tibetan market to explore. 

 

Day 10: Namche Bazaar to Phakdin

Day 11: Phakdin to Lukla

At Lukla we say goodbye to our ever- smiling porters, who head back to their villages while we catch our early flight back to Kathmandu.

Please remember, getting out of Lukla is dependant on weather. Sometimes it can take several days to fly out.

Day 12: Lukla to Kathmandu

After the mountain lodges, now you have the opportunity to be pampered at the majestic Hyatt Hotel.  This luxury five-star hotel overlooks Boudathnath Stupa—one of the largest Buddhist temples in Kathmandu.  At dawn and dusk, you can join the throngs of Tibetans encircling the stupa reciting their pujas. You may choose to have some additional pampering at the Hyatt’s day spa, such as a healing Ayurvedic massage.

 

The Hyatt provides a serene environment to continue our writing. 

Day 13: Kathmandu

The final full day in Nepal has some time for shopping, and optional sightseeing, and our last writing workshop and party/ evening reading of our work at the Hyatt.

a. Bhaktapur Durbar Square- World Heritage Site

b. Changu Narayan Temple- World Heritage Site

c. Shopping, relax around the Temple

d. Visit to orphanage

Day 14: Departure

Writing Trek in the Himalayas: Cost and Inclusions

Earlybird Booking EXTENDED! 

Discounted Rate (book prior to 28 February 2014):
Writing Trek land only + full writing course (earlybird) = $US 4,350.00 (discount of $US 250.00)

Late Booking Rate (book after 28 February 2014):
Writing Trek land only + full writing course (late) = $US 4,600.00

We use highly qualified guides and reliable porters to carry our luggage for our trek and we pay them well to ensure they are not exploited.

In Kathmandu accommodation is comfortable, with Kantipur Temple House (eco friendly and traditionally built hotel) on arrival, and five star Hyatt at the end of the trip, arguably the best hotel in Nepal.

During the trek, we use clean and eco friendly lodges which have hot showers, attached bathroom, and hygienic food.

Email to request full itinerary with details of Writing Trek Inclusions and Exclusions.

Please Note: This is NOT a backpacker experience but for the traveller/ writer who delights in that little extra comfort after a day of challenge and creativity. 

CONTACT AND BOOKINGS:
To secure your place, a non-refundable deposit of US$550 per traveler is required.

“When we reconnect who we are with what we do,
we approach our lives and our work with renewed passion, commitment, and integrity.”

- P. Palmer

We look forward to welcoming you on this special expedition.

Sanjaya Tripathee
Managing Director,
Sacred Journeys Nepal Treks P. Ltd.
Kathmandu, Nepal
Email: sjnepal@wlink.com.np or sanjayatripathee@yahoo.com.au
Web: http://www.sacredjourneysnepal.com/
Mob: (0011) 977-9851112953

For Information:
Beth Yahp at bywritingworks@gmail.com

For Bookings:
Sanjaya Tripathee at Sacred Journeys Nepal sjnepal@wlink.com.np
or sanjayatripathee@yahoo.com.au