Left Bank Writers Retreat in Paris is Announced

The Left Bank Writers Retreat, a small-group six-day writing workshop and literary tourism experience held in Paris each June, has some great gift ideas for the hard-to-buy-for writers on holiday shopping lists. "Of course you can't beat a chance to find writing inspiration in Paris firsthand," says Left Bank Writers Retreat founder and director Darla Worden, "so we have to suggest tuition for our Paris retreat as a starting point."

As a holiday gift-giving incentive, anyone signing up for this summer's retreat before Dec. 31 will receive a $200 discount off the $1,999 tuition for a reduced price of $1,799. The Left Bank Writers Retreat will take place June 11-16, 2017, and tuition covers all daily expenses during the retreat from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (breakfast, lunch, admission fees and transportation around the city, as well as writing instruction). Writers are responsible for their own airfare and lodging.

Open to all levels of writers, the Left Bank Writers Retreat in Paris includes morning writing sessions, coaching and one-on-one time with the instructor for a maximum of eight writers, as well as lunch each day, admission to museums and area sights and a picnic on the banks of the Seine. Recommended by the Los Angeles Times as a chance to follow in Hemingway's footsteps and cure writer's block, the workshop includes a literary tourism experience that treats attending writers to many of the sights featured in the Woody Allen movie "Midnight in Paris" as well as some newly opened and off-the-beaten-track literary landmarks.

"If a trip to Paris is larger than a shopper's budget allows," says Worden, "books about Ernest Hemingway and Paris also make excellent gifts." She recommends the following list of titles, old and new, to add to shopping lists:

1. "Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises" by Lesley M. M. Blume
2. "Hemingway in Love: His Own Story" by A.E. Hotchner
3. "Hemingway's Paris: A Writer's City in Words and Images" by Robert Wheeler
4. "Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation: A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties and Thirties" by Noel Riley Fitch
5. "The Nick Adams Stories" (Audible Audio Edition) by Ernest Hemingway, read by Stacy Keach

For more gift-giving ideas for writers, Worden suggests searching on some likely websites. Some of her favorites: Etsy, "where a quick search of the word 'writing' raises a host of ideas from $1.99 printable writing stickers for a stocking stuffer to handmade journals, a literal wooden 'writer's block,' and vintage and handcrafted desks." She also likes "the always intellectually-inspired gifts at the NPR shop, where purchases support public radio programming." One other idea: "Writers can find inspiration in local cultural events too," she says. "Gifts of tickets to local plays or museum exhibitions can be a popular choice."

Still, for the ultimate writer's gift, Worden has to stick with Paris. "I've heard many stories at the retreat from women and men who received the retreat as a gift," says Worden. "It is definitely a gift that keeps on giving - writers leave the retreat with fresh inspiration found in Paris."

The Left Bank Writers Retreat is named for the now-famous writers who lived on Paris's Left Bank during the 1920s. Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald are some of the expats who wrote in Paris, congregating in the city's cafes and bars to share ideas. During the June retreat, participants experiment with many of the Left Bank writers' techniques.

Applications for the June 2017 retreat and registration information are online at http://www.leftbankwritersworkshop.com/register.

About Darla Worden:
Writer Darla Worden lives in Denver, Colo., and Paris. Worden has written widely for magazines and authored several books. She writes the popular blog Frenchophile and is currently working on a book about Hemingway's Paris.

About Left Bank Writers Retreat:
Now in its seventh year, the Left Bank Writers Retreat takes place on the historic Île Saint-Louis in the heart of Paris. Writers arrange their own lodging and transportation to Paris. For additional information, visit http://www.leftbankwriters.com.

Contact: Amy Stark, Word PR + Marketing, amy(at)wordprmarketing(dot)com, 303.777.7667

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