Who Can Apply
The Italian Diaspora Writing Retreat 2023 is not designed only for professional writers. It is open to anyone interested in improving their own writing and exploring their personal and family history, whether connected to Italy or some other region. The retreat is also an opportunity to be immersed in Southern Italy, in learning about Italy and the Italian diaspora and writing about and visiting places of significance in the emigrants’ story, including places of departure.
There will be a maximum of 20 participants, by invitation. However, we will advertise the program on social media if some places are still available at the end of the invitation round.
Why apply?
The Italian Diaspora Writing Retreat 2023 promises to be a rejuvenating experience. It is a cultural endeavor, an occasion to search for roots and identity, while interacting with well-known writers and scholars, strengthening social bonds destined to last. It is also an extraordinary chance to visit Calabria’s beautiful Northern Tyrrhenian coast in a non-touristy way --- and at the lowest possible cost for a high-quality program.
Our program is carried out in the territories, involving local people (and institutions), better to present their lives and rich history in a place with a long history where diaspora and depopulation left many visible traces. The 2023 retreat is designed to promote growing awareness through immersion – visual, artistic, linguistic, and culinary. It is our hope that the program will profoundly change, in the minds of the participants, the image of Southern Italy and the meaning of Italian origin. It will also give participants of other ethnic backgrounds the tools with which to explore their origins.
Optional Field Trips
Half-day field trips could be organized on an informal basis, depending on request. Some possibilities are: Guardia piemontese (Waldensian Museum), Paola (Sanctuary of Saint Francis of Paola), Diamante, Dino Island, and Praia a Mare.