We would love to welcome writers to Brittany for residentials — there’s a forest to walk in, a big garden by a river with spaces to write in, and gorgeous (and rather luxurious) hobbit huts to sleep in (courtesy of our neighbour who has a renovated mill with a gite and very swish ‘huts’). But times are strange and uncertain. Conditions for travel are changing frequently and the requirements are often confusing and can add extra expense and time. Some of us are vaccinated, some not — whether from choice or from contraindications. And we’re aware that even amongst those who are vaccinated, many are still cautious about travelling.
All of this means that live residentials and launches at the moment would exclude many writers. And, of course, we’ve realised that online residentials and launches mean that people can join for less cost, from anywhere in the world and while juggling caring responsibilities, so the online courses and events are more inclusive in so many ways.
We hope in the future to be able to provide both options, but at the moment it feels right to steer a course that is as simple and inclusive as possible by keeping all the residentials and launches online. (Though we will list local events that authors are able to arrange where possible)
We’ll keep this under review and hope offer in-person residential later in 2023, we’ll let everyone know via the newsletter. However, we have a strong duty of care to our writers, guests and to ourselves, so we will remain cautious.
In the meantime, we are putting a lot of thought and work into more ways we can interact in the virtual world to deliver excellent courses, encounters with books and unique opportunities to connect around a passion for words while staying safe. In particular keep an eye on our Events and Courses pages for ways to keep connected.