I have already been back from my Freefall writing retreat for three weeks, so I feel shockingly remiss not to have written about it sooner. I think that, because it was such a fabulous experience, I wanted to leave it happily in my memory box. Barbara Turner Vesselago came from Canada to lead us, in a beautiful place near Lagos (Agarve) called Monte Rosa. There was something very liberating about writing without editing. I did feel as if shackles had fallen off me and somehow managed to write 5 poems every morning. Of course, they now need editing to knock them into shape, but that wasn't the purpose of the exercise.
The mornings were spent in silence and you write until mid-day and then print it out and give it in to Barbara. In the afternoons we would meet and Barbara would read out the work anonymously - a bit tricky if you are the only poet! We had a wonderful group of people, 4 from Portugal, 3 from Canada, 1 from Sweden and 1 from France, all writing in English. They were wonderful writers as well as being supportive and funny.
The picture above is of the cork forest over the road where we would go for walks. The trees are wonderful shapes and look like chorus girls. As it was April the wildflowers were in full bloom, especially the giant rock roses.
I haven't been exactly lazy since my return, but feel as if I've been fiddling about. I've been editing work and looking at all the impending competitions. I know they are such a long shot but it is exciting to have poems on the move, even a rejection can be exciting, as there is always a chance! I'm also trying to decide which poems to read at our first Stanza group reading at the end of June.
