Writer & Translators at I.W.T.C.R Rhodes

One of my favourite writers left the residence this month. After Eleonore’s departure, house seemed like lonely and void of excitement. It was fun being with her. She stirred up the place, making everyone so comfortable.

Monica is still here. At least, that’s a blessing for me. Two of the writers have relatives in Rodos. Often they are hardly in sight.

A writer fell ill tow days ago. We wish him speedy recovery.

What else? Rodos is great! I enjoyed my two-hour walk last Thursday. I could have done it again yesterday but then, I remembered on time to stay for Eleonore’s send off party.

The sun is out as usual and bright! Today, I must visit the Acropolis and the old city. For so long, I’ve been postponing going out there. You know, first thing first, they say. It means, I just have to focus on my writing and then see the city afterward.

Rodos is like heaven on earth. I can’t describe it all unless you come out here to see the city for yourself. I call it Rodos because it’s the Greek name for Rhodes.

Enjoy your weekend!

Second Week in I.W.T.C.R Rhodes

I snapped these pictures two days ago on my way back from the store. In fact I was already by the residency building (you can see the staircase that led to the house) when I took them.

                Lovely pictures really they are!

Three of the writers were supposed to leave since yesterday; two of them all ready gone. Frauke left this morning and we were missing her during our breakfast.  We were not done when Magnus came and announced Frauke’s back.

What a surprise! Well, she came in later on and announced to us that the flight was cancelled.

Why? The strong wind!

It’s been windy for some days, even in France, which resulted in the death of about 54 people. Today, I knew it would be cold by looking out of the window to see the cloudy sky.

Monica caught the cold since she arrived last week. She’s getting better, I think. Others are doing great too— The writing is flowing!

Well, we have Frauke with us for today. I hope tomorrow she would be able to get back to Dusseldorf. She’s missing her daughter badly.

For now, all is well and I bet things are going fine too. The residence is splendid!

See ya!

First Week in Rhodes

There is no better sanctuary for writers than the International Writers and Translators Centre, Rhodes.

You need to be here personally to agree with me. Rhodes is a beautiful Island in the Dodecanese. Too pretty to explain! And having the centre in the midst is just a blessing. 

I haven’t been anywhere else except the store to grab few things. Maybe I will try but the inviting scenes from the centre are enough to drag me out within the coming days.

Welcome to ‘Rhodos’ with me!

Saying Goodbye to Fundacion Valparaiso

What a beautiful experience! The residency is over from tomorrow, which means we all are going back to our respective homes and family.

Yesterday, we had the final open house. It was fun and more than I expected really. Pilar returned from her trip to Chile so the entire staff members were there. For the next four hours, we shuttled between an artist exhibition to buffet lunch and back to writers’ reading. We finished off with Susanne Jorn’s explanation with her visual- poetry collection.

Jessica Lott left since Sunday back to New York. Mona Dam will be leaving the residence with her husband today but both will fly back to Denmark tomorrow from another city in Spain.

Amy Clay and Susanne Jorn leave tomorrow evening for Almeria, there, Susanne will be heading back to Copenhagen. Amy will get on correspondence to Barcelona and later on to England where she would stay with her son before going on to New Zealand for her new residency. I bet she is not ready to return to the United States.

Bodil Brems is not going directly with us. She’s taking several buses to Malaga where she will take her flight back to Copenhagen.

Julie Scandora, Adriana V Lopez and me will be taking the first Taxi tomorrow. Julie is on her way back to Seattle, Adriana stays in Madrid with her fiancé and I moved on to Paris, back to my family.

Last night, Julie and I discussed extensively about our writings, and the publishing world. Indeed, so much!

Honestly, I can’t wait to get home. I’m already missing my family to bad that often I wish we can all be here together and I won’t have to worry so much. I’m missing my boys so hard!