I have attended a few poetry writing retreats over the years, at Ty Newydd (in Criccieth) and Totleigh Barton (in Devon). All of these retreats have been inspiring and helpful, with some extremely knowledgeable and encouraging tutors (including Pascale Petit, Will Harris, Daljit Nagra, Owen Sheers, Paul Henry, Martha Sprackland, Will Burns and Jonathan Edwards) but this year I needed something different. In early September I spent a week in Corwen, in the Dee Valley, at Bron y Graig – A Place to Write, taking part in an untutored writing retreat.

An untutored retreat gives you the support and structure of a writing retreat, but with an opportunity to focus on your own project. The writing retreats at A Place to Write are much smaller than those run by Arvon or Literature Wales (perfect for introverts), and the accommodation is a little more luxurious, with tea and coffee making facilities in the bedrooms, more like you’d get in a B&B.

Each morning Nic (who runs A Place to Write, with his wife Wendy) asked us to set writing goals for the day. Then we went off to write in whichever space we found most helpful (communal or private), joining the group again for tea/coffee breaks, meals, and conversation.

My plan for the week was to focus on poetry (which has been sidelined a bit over the past year). I had been feeling stuck for many months, unable to do more than occasionally scribble a few words or lines down on a piece of paper, and I hadn’t been able to face the idea of reading these scrappy notes, typing them up, forming them into proper poems, or editing.

It is perfectly normal to encounter writer’s block at various times, but this particular poetry-block had lasted a while, and I was hoping that not only would I be able to decipher these handwritten, scrappy notes, but that some of them might even turn out to contain nuggets of inspiration…

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that (under the right circumstances, with support and encouragement, and excellent food) several of these scribbled handwritten texts have developed into fully fledged poems. It is a timely reminder not to throw such scraps away in future!

And that week of writing (with just the right amount of fresh country air and peer support) has continued to inspire – with a few additional poems emerging in the weeks since.

I am grateful to Sputnik for providing a grant to cover some of the cost of this retreat.