Writers have always come to Loutro - situated within the inspiring natural resource of South 
West Crete and bounded by its positive liberating energy, our writing courses bring together people, 
experts, ideas and artistic creativity. Arriving off weekend flights for the orientation dinners on 
Sunday evenings, the Courses & Retreats run from Mondays to Fridays, with ample free time outside 
the schedule. The writers dine together again during the week, with a closing dinner on the Friday 
evening at a nearby bay for readings of course work, food, wine, moon, stars… then heading for their
return flights over the following weekend, the room changeover days being Saturdays and Sundays. 
Respect for individual space is central to the Loutro writing proposition and all writers are accommodated in their own en suite sea view rooms, situated variously around the small village. 
There are 8-9 restaurants and 4-5 café bars to choose from, with food, drink and accommodation 
all reasonably priced.

'Follow the Creative - Return to the Creative'

Mimi Khalvati - one of the most inspirational and revered Tutors of the Poetry world, has published nine collections with Carcanet Press, including ‘Child: New &Selected Poems’, a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation, and ‘The Meanest Flower’, shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Mimi is the founder of The Poetry School where she teaches. She received a Cholmondeley Award in 2006 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her new collection of sonnets, Afterwardness, is a PBS Winter Wild Card.

Getting in the Zone - When you’re in the zone, writing can be 
exhilarating, surprising – sometimes even startling. But all writers 
experience times when it’s harder to get – or to keep - going. It might be a
stalled project, or simply a lack of inspiration or loss of drive. In the 
workshops this week we’ll be aiming for freshness and fun, exploring 
strategies for unblocking, getting those words down – and maybe even 
surprising ourselves.

Lesley Glaister is the author of sixteen novels, most recently Little Egypt, 
The Squeeze and Chosen. She’s also writes short stories, poetry and drama 
for stage and radio. Lesley currently teaches Creative Writing at the 
University of St Andrews 

Jane Draycott has published five collections with Carcanet Press including The Occupant (a Poetry Book Society Recommendation), Over (shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize) and Prince Rupert’s Drop (shortlisted for the Forward Prize). Her translations include the medieval dream-elegy Pearl, winner of a Stephen Spender Prize, and Storms Under the Skin: poems by Henri Michaux, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Jane is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and an experienced tutor for the Arvon Foundation, the Poetry School and Oxford University 

David Swann is a Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing at the University of Chichester. His collection, The Privilege of Rain (Waterloo Press, 2010), based on his experiences as a Writer-inResidence in a prison, was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award. Starting out as a journalist, covering Accrington Stanley's matches for the local rag, his stories and poems have won many awards, including eight successes at the Bridport Prize and two in the National Poetry Competition.

Kathryn Maris (Course) is an American-British poet and critic who has 
published three poetry collections and a pamphlet. Her work has appeared in Penguin Modern Poets 5, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, The Best British Poetry, The Forward Book of Poetry and elsewhere. A selection from Kathryn's recent collection, The House With Only An Attic And A Basement (Penguin 2018), won the Ivan Juritz Prize for creative 
experiment and was the subject of an exhibition by artist Pete Swann. She works at City & Guilds of London Art School through the Royal Literary Fund.

Maurice Riordan was born in Lisgoold, Co. Cork, and lives in London. 
His fifth collection from Faber, The Shoulder Tap, will be published in 
October. Among his previous books are The Water Stealer (2013), The 
Holy Land (2007), Floods (2000) and A Word from the Loki (1995). He 
edited The Finest Music (Faber, 2014), an anthology of early Irish poetry in translation. He is a former editor of The Poetry Review and is Emeritus Professor of Poetry at Sheffield Hallam University. 


Tutored Retreats

Streaming - Free