Just back from our Bhutanese adventure. It’s hard to come back down to earth. It was a truly inspirational journey in so many ways. A great group, wonderful guide, terrific organisation from Bhutan and Beyond, and new friendships with Bhutanese writers.
View pics here. Read about the trip here. Read some of our Bhutan writing here.
What the writers said about it..
“Creative in Bhutan was a watershed experience in my creative process. Jan’s talented facilitation of workshops, the comraderie of creatives and flawless logistical support was a salve to my work-tattered and discouraged writerly soul. I found inspiration and support for my creative effort. With that wonderful infusion, I am rejuvenated to carry on. ” Ellen Maling, memoir writer, NGO worker. Read her Bhutan blog post here.
Wonderful experience. No glitches in the arrangements. So complex and went so so smoothly….The people in the group, our tutor, Jan, and our guide Tenzin 1, plus driver Tenzin 2 and luggage carrier Tenzin 3 — all logistics worked like a dream. Loved being able to speak with Bhutanese….writers and others. All together a wondrous and important trip after 47 years since my being in Bhutan previously.Thank you, thank you. Tashi Delek. Caroline Josephs, artist, writer, storyteller.
Thanks so much for a great ten days. Hard to articulate the feelings but it feels like a piece of fine silk tucked somewhere in my psyche, fluttering just as a Bhutanese flag, responding to the movement of all that the earth contains. Margot McDonald, film producer, novelist.
Thank you all for great time I had with you. Thank you for all the kind words, for your smiles and laughs, for the way you were behaving with each other, for your readings and for encouragement to do things in different way than I am used to. Jana Kubienova, physician, writer, Czech Republic.
Once upon a time in Bhutan…
This is one of a collection of what might be poems, that I wrote in Bhutan, with a magical group organised and ruled by Jan Cornall, as only Jan can.
It’s the last Monday morning,
And the rice fields are patient,
Unaware that we are leaving,
Unaware we came.
Yet they seduced us anyway.
But all of that is nothing
Beside the alchemy that has changed us
From people
Into something dangerously close
To lovers.
That is the wound
That will not heal.
Peter Bishop, wagyu farmer, short story writer, poet.
Inspiring. Better than a tourist trip. Writing and meeting local writers gave us a purpose; visiting a school, which was arranged through one of the local writers, was both wonderful and real. Loved taking to the locals at the food markets.
Loved the meditation as a stimulus to write. I imagined that the triggers would all relate to the experience in Bhutan. I was surprised that I was able to use the suggested meditation focus/themes to trigger vignettes related to my mother’s memoir project. The discipline of knowing that the work may be read out was helpful in creating something reasonably coherent as a first draft. Looked forward each day to hearing stories emerging from the other writers.
Came away from the trip with not only a collection of impressions of Bhutan but some progress on my ongoing writing project. Jan created an atmosphere in which I wanted to write, not only in the formal sessions. Donald Yates, engineer, poet, memoirist.
As a complete novice, my concern that I would not be able to write at will or partake in the shared readings immediately evaporated into the inspirational environment, through Jan’s guided mediations and the genuine encouragement of the accomplished writers on the shared journey. All that mattered was I was writing and could well continue to do so! Joan Peters, entertainment lawyer, novelist.
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