Authors Electric

That time when you want to read but the peacocks haven't finished their meeting Greetings from the Sacatar Foundation in Brazil ! Two dedicated months to work on my manuscript seemed like a fabulous opportunity (my first two novels were completed in residencies in the US and India). The application was competitive and the website alluring; a writer’s studio on stilts, other studios dazzling white and remote and sea-facing…when I received the offer, I imagined writing to the sound of breaking waves.   Hammocks and a wide verandah This is indeed a stunning property, as you can tell from the pictures. But after two and a half weeks here, I’m not sure it is for all writers. There is only one writer’s studio. In this cohort of six accepted residents -- three Brazilian and three foreigners -- all of us are writers.  So I have been assigned a writing shed. My workspace has a view of the sea fringed by palm trees, but it is essentially a large artist’s studi...

Sunsets behind the El Gabar  I didn’t quite know what to expect from a Joya residency; the description sounded so different from the usual residencies that I applied for an adventure. Joya: AiR is an artist run not-for-profit arts organisation and--most importantly--an off-grid residency in rural Andalucía, Spain. “Off-grid, eh?” said my son, the only member of the family who had been to Andalusia. “If it's all solar panels and water harvesting, they’ll hand you a lota and tell you to go about your business in the fields. Water harvesting sounds like unwashed people to me, and we didn’t shower for days when we camped in Malaga.” I quickly checked that the email said individual rooms had attached bathrooms, and reassured myself that young men camping at seventeen were not the best ambassadors for personal hygiene, whether in Malaga or elsewhere. Almonds within easy reach Getting to off-grid Cortijada Los Gázquez looked challenging through the dirt roads line...