Thursday 18 August 2016

Structured Writing Retreats at Launde Abbey - additional date for 2017

Students and academic can find it difficult to plan writing time - and even when the time is planned, distractions occur and time is lost to other more immediate tasks and meetings. Writing retreats are one way of providing opportunity to prioritise writing and progress with research outputs.

This year, alongside the day retreats I run for NTU and other universities, I am also organising more residential retreats at Launde Abbey in Leicestershire.These are 48-hour retreats with several writing slots, good food and fresh air.

Last year I attended Rowena Murray's Training for Retreat Facilitators and the structure of these retreats is modelled on Rowena's research.  
Click dates to book now for:

Wednesday 15th - Friday 17th March 2017 

Friday 15th - Sunday 17th September 2017


The aim of the retreat is to use dedicated writing time to progress our writing. The retreat is designed to support students and lecturers in their writing projects such as thesis, articles or reports. This is a supportive environment, where we use most of the time for writing, all of us in the same room. There is time during the retreat to discuss papers and share ideas. This will be a useful event for colleagues to meet up and talk in a relaxed environment. 

How is the retreat structured?
The retreat starts on day 1 at 4pm and ends on day 3 at 4pm. All writing sessions, meetings and meals are in Launde Abbey. We use most of the time for writing, all of us in the same room. Brief scheduled discussions between writing slots often generate solutions to writing problems, develop drafts, lead to research-oriented conversations and provide feedback on writing-in-progress.
Retreat Programme
Day 1
4 - 4.30          Arrive at Launde Abbey
4.30 - 5          Refreshments and setting up
5 - 5.30          Introductions, writing warm up, setting goals
5.30 - 6.30     Writing 
Day 2
9.15 - 9.30     Planning 
9.30 - 11        Writing
11 - 11.30      Break 
11.30 - 12.30 Writing 
12.30 - 2        Lunch and a walk to stretch out legs
2 - 3.30          Writing 
3.30 - 4          Break 
4 - 5.30          Writing
Day 3
9.15 - 9.30     Planning 
9.30 - 11        Writing
11 - 11.30      Break 
11.30 - 12.30 Writing 
12.30 - 2        Lunch and a walk
2 - 3.30          Writing
3.30 - 4.00     Break, taking stock, outputs, feedback, next moves
Where is the venue?
Launde Abbey  is a residential retreat centre in Leicestershire, 6 miles from Oakham and 13 from Leicester. Its a few miles off the A47, the link road between the M1 (Leicester) and A1 (Peterborough).


Launde Abbey - Launde Road East Norton, LE7 9XB - View Map
What refreshments are included?
Full board: all meals, morning coffee and afternoon tea
Non-residential: morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea. If you would like to have dinner on the first evening please email Alison for details. 
Want to know more about writing retreats?
Read: Murray R & Newton M (2009) Writing retreat as structured intervention: Margin or mainstream?, Higher Education Research and Development, 28(5): 527-39.
For more information
Contact: Alison Hardy alison.hardy@hotmail.co.uk
Alison has attended Rowena Murray's Training for Retreat Facilitators and the structure of this retreat is modelled on Rowena's research.  

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