I'm on a solo writing retreat in Venice

Part One: settling into my rooftop garret.

Dear subscribers, as promised, the pigeon is at the window, ready to carry this missive from my writing garret (in Venice) to yours.

I won’t go into detail about the dramas I had before I set off or how arduous the twenty-six hour trek to get here was. How had I forgotten the torture of long haul flights so quickly? Needless to say I arrived, took to the number five bus from the airport to the island, found the correct vaporetto (public boat) to jump on and followed my host’s directions to her front door.

I chose my Venice garret because it is an attic room in an occupied house, and number one consideration — it has a roof terrace with a view over the Venice rooftops.

Those who have done my writing meditations know the view is the most important thing when we conjure up our imaginary writer’s den. We imagine the view, rest in its stillness and then start our visualisation. When we are lucky to have a real view, it serves not only as a grounding point but inspiration too. To have a real view is a real treat as you can follow the cycles of the day and in a place like this hide away above the crowds but still feel part of it.

One of the important preparations I do when I go on a solo retreat ( we all do when we travel) is to tidy and essentialise all my belongings into one small suitcase and a day pack, so when I arrive in the new environment it will be all clean surfaces, no distractions, just me, the writing space and the view, which in this case is….

this extraordinary clock tower of the Santi Apostoli Church which dates from the seventh century, and whose bell rings out the number of hours (and sometimes more) every hour, on the hour. The chapel of this church, Google tells me, is the burial place for prominent members of the powerful Cornaro family. Cornaro!? Could they be distant relatives? It’s certainly a nice coincidence.

See the smaller clock tower on the other side? Still just as loud.

Then comes another peel of bells from a clock tower over the way and I’m immediately back in Jogjakarta, Java where the call to prayer from all the different mosques echoes at approximately the same time creating a wonderful atonal cacophony across the neighbourhood . I Google and find out that the complex pattern of bells rung twice a day in Venice is called the Marangona. It originated as a call to work by carpenters in the sixth century. How extraordinary that it is still calling, hundreds of years later. I think writers and artists, in fact all creatives, should have a special bell pattern that rings out across the city reminding us to pick up our instruments and even more importantly, to enjoy our work!

So what am I going to be working on this retreat?

Apart from writing to you, the plan is to get back to editing my draft of Looking for Duras, Finding my Mother, which includes the edits I’ve been making to the chapters I’ve been sharing here on Substack. It really has been a useful exercise. Things that have been sitting safely in the draft for years are suddenly exposed and changed or chucked as I prepare each week to put it out. Added to that is the feedback I’ve been getting from you my readers, all of which leads me to understand how the performative nature of presenting my work in this way really suits me. After all I’m a performer first and foremost. That’s where I come from and that’s where I’ll end up. Maybe writing is the something that happens in between, on the way to where I’m going. A means to an end but not the end. Mmm… I’ll keep working on this idea…

So will I write any new stuff here in Venice?

If I do, you will be the first to know about it!

Step One: I have to get over my jet lag! Today I’ve been awake since 1.30 am, it’s now nearly 9 pm, Venetian time. I have to try to stay awake til at least 10 pm so I don’t keep walking around like a zombie.

And I’ve got to get some sightseeing in. This morning I went walking and found San Marco Square. Wow, that was something, coming out of a small laneway as the view suddenly opened into a huge square with the San Marcos Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and the Campanile. Only trouble, it was swarming with tourists. Did I mention the tourists? There are many….

and…

I’m one of them.

More coming soon!