Wild Island writers’ retreat

Alderney Literary Trust has teamed up with a boutique hotel to bring a top travel writer to the island for a two-day retreat combining guided workshops, island walks, quiet writing time, shared meals and optional evening experiences.

Entitled ‘Wild Edges: Writing Place in Alderney’, the retreat is led by author and creative writing tutor Gail Simmons (pictured) whose work explores travel, landscape and place. She recently wrote about Alderney for a feature in The Times on the island and The Blonde Hedgehog, where the retreat will be headquartered.

Alderney offers an exceptional setting for writing with its windswept bays, dramatic clifftops, tranquil inland lanes, Roman remains, Victorian fortifications, wartime traces and constantly changing coastal light.

Participants in the retreat on September 20 and 21 will explore how to write ‘place’ not only through description but also through atmosphere, history, sensory detail and personal reflection.

“It’s a small-group retreat for adults who want to slow down, look closely and write in response to place,” said the Trust’s Isabel Picornell. “It’s ideal for those drawn to travel writing, memoir, journalling and place-based creative nonfiction.”

Highlights include a first day exploring The Nunnery, Longis Bay and Longis Nature Reserve, with a second outing on the west coast around Fort Tourgis and views towards the uninhabited bird-sanctuary island of Burhou.