NEWS! In September 2009, Linda Lappin presented Katherine's Wish to the Katherine Mansfield Society Symposium, held at Villa Serena in Menton and organized by the French and New Zealand governments to honor Mansfield's two visits there in 1920. Vincent O'Sullivan , distinguished NZ author and Mansfield scholar, co-editor of Mansfield's Collected Letters ( OUP) had this praise for Katherine's Wish “It's not an easy or simple thing to write fiction which keeps faith with the life it is based on, so the reader will say, 'There is nothing here that falsifies', as well as 'This has the imaginative flair of story telling, the freedom of its form.' Linda Lappin has immersed herself in Mansfield's life,
and emerged from it with a story to narrate on her own terms; a fiction charged with the enthusiasm of a good researcher, and carried through with a novelist's verve.”
For more information concerning the Katherine Mansfield Society, click here
The Katherine Mansfield Society

LINDA LAPPIN'S WRITING WORKSHOPS AT CENTRO POKKOLI FEATURED IN TRANSITIONS ABROAD

The Spirit of Vitorchiano
A Writers’ Retreat Deep Inside Italy
Article by Leah Cano in Transitions Abroad
Approaching Vitorchiano

Before making the trip to Vitorchiano, where I had arranged to spend a writers retreat, various attempts were made in vain to find the village on the map. I had been informed by the host of the creative writing retreat—an American writer named Linda Lappin—that she would be very surprised if the town was to be found on any map. The best she could say was that it was somewhere between Viterbo and Orvieto. In a way, this was rather unsettling. Now I can safely admit that it also intrigued me.

Such thoughts passed through my mind as I sat in the taxi, ambling down the dusty road until the town finally came into view. There it was, like the clenched fist of some benevolent, mythological defender, rising up from the earth from immeasurable gorges on either side—a silent, massive giant that seemed to be awaiting me.

Here it had been for centuries, hidden from the world, invisible to countless cartographers no doubt, yet so majestic in its beauty. How, I asked myself, could anyone have missed this?

A wonder was awakened within that had long been lying dormant. Like Vitorchiano, the spirit in my soul that compelled me to write had always been a part of me, but the space in which I now found myself, the writing center called Centro Pokkoli, whispered it gently to the surface.

Ms. Lappin’s Creative Writing Workshops

Perhaps it is fitting that the workshops Ms. Lappin organizes should be focused on the spirit of place, since for me, Vitorchiano was the setting where my sleeping spirit was awakened. Far from the tourist-choked streets and throngs of museum seekers that is the daily grind of Rome and Florence, Vitorchiano’s tranquil surroundings and unhurried pace is but one of the differences that sets it apart.

Within its immense structure lies a separate presence that is bound not only by the age of its weathered peperino stone foundation or the solid village dwellings constructed above it, but the feeling of a spirit of serenity and enchantment that comes from the natural beauty of the place itself.

Ms. Lappin describes how Vitorchiano became her choice as the location for her vision of Centro Pokkoli as a collective refuge and awakening for writers worldwide:

“I am one of those writers who has been immensely enriched by living and traveling abroad and by coming into contact with the mysterious deity known to the Ancient Romans and Etruscans as the spirit of place.”

Having now seen Vitorchiano myself, I would say that when Ms. Lappin set about to unify that spirit of place with the writer’s spirit, she succeeded when Centro Pokkoli was born.

“I helped create the writing center and retreat at Centro Pokkoli, with encouragement from friends of the Geneva Writers Group,” to make a place where other writers could meet, exchange, and learn from each other. Our original idea was to host writing workshops and writing groups, but we have also organized theater events, art shows, art workshops, and Italian culture and language seminars,” says Lappin.

The Centro Pokkoli is run by the Officina Culturale Pokkoli & Co., a nonprofit cultural organization based in Rome and operating under Italian law. Since 2005, when the first writing workshops were held, over 120 writers have come to Vitorchiano to participate. These have included groups organized by the Kenyon Review Writing Workshop, Converse College in association with its alumni program, Alimentum Literary Journal, and poets from Imprint and the University of Houston, and the Paris Poetry Workshop directed by Cecilia Woloch.”
Photo from a window in the Centro Pokkoli
Photo from a window in the Centro Pokkoli in the village of Vitorchiano.

Writers’ Testimonials

New York writer Dahlma Llanos Figueroa, author of Daughters of the Stone (St, Martin's Press, 2009) who participated in Ms. Lappin’s workshop on “The Spirit of Place,” recollects the sense of another time and the unique setting that brought the purpose of the workshop alive:

“There was certainly the natural and architectural beauty of Vitorchiano with its winding streets and potted gardens and ancient walls. There were the scattered medieval towns of Tuscia overlooking the lakes and valleys that few American tourists get to see. But beyond that, there was a heavy sense of a different time and people, that made the location of the workshop so special. Linda's lecture on the Spirit of Place was particularly helpful to me since in my journal writing I try to capture the essence of the place as well as its physical beauty.

I enthusiastically encourage writers who are considering taking this workshop to do so and to be open to all aspects of the experience, a much richer one than I had anticipated.”

Anna Duke Reach, assistant to the Kenyon Review, and participant in a “Spirit of Place” workshop session held during the Kenyon Review workshop in 2006, comments on Ms. Lappin’s guidance connecting the participants with the heart of Vitorchiano:

”Linda Lappin arranged an insider's trip to Vitorchiano that made each and every member of our group feel like we belonged to the town. Centro Pokkoli is an intimate, creative space that inspired literary discussion and offered one of the most perfectly framed window views of bucolic countryside.

Her ‘Spirit of Place’ workshop offered us a moment to pause, savor and reflect upon the layers of inspiration the town offered. Many writers created new work set in the town, but imagination transformed time. The place certainly transformed all of us—it was a wonderful trip!”

California writer, Sandy Sims, Program Chair of the Bay Area Travel Writers association—who took part in the writing workshop led by Peter Selgin—recalls the location of Centro Pokkoli within the walls of Vitorchiano and the surrounding terrain which invoked its spirit:

“Centro Pokkoli is a long room, with a kitchenette and a bathroom. The square window of the main room of Centro Pokkoli overlooks the deep, lush gorge, where swallows glide over hazelnut trees. The view is enchanting.

Linda's ‘Spirit of Place,’ was fascinating. She talked of place having ‘Indwelling Spirit.’ That is spirit indwelling the land itself, and that people, unknowingly, are always communicating with this spirit. That humans are an expression of their landscape. It's good to know the history of a place to understand this indwelling spirit.

I have read several pieces and books of Linda's and she captures place beautifully and deeply with details that bring a place to life. I think a full week working with her would be a major asset to my or anyone's writing.”

As a deeply appreciative recent participant, I would urge you to experience Centro Pokkoli for yourself at one of two upcoming workshops in Vitorchiano for the summer of 2010.

More about Linda Lappin

Novelist, poet and translator, Ms. Lappin is the author of Wintering with the Abominable Snowman poetry from Kayak press in Santa Cruz, The Etruscan, a novel published by Wynkin de Worde, Galway Ireland, and Katherine's Wish, which is finalist for the Foreword Book Award for the year 2008 in general fiction. She can be reached at: linda.lappin@​gmail.com

In addition to the Spirit of Place workshops, the Centro Pokkoli can host workshops organized by private individuals and institutions. They can make arrangements for hotels, meals, workshop space, excursions, events and local transportation. For more information, contact Linda Lappin

-----Leah Cano for Transitions Abroad

WORKSHOP WITH LINDA LAPPIN
MAY 30 - JUNE 5, 2010

Spend a week in a timeless Italian village, nestled in between the hills and gorges of Tuscia, dedicating time to developing new writing skills and gaining a new perspective on your work in the Spirit of Place Writing Workshop.

In this workshop, we will explore place, time, memory as sources of imagery, stories, and memoir using special prompts and exercises developed by Linda Lappin
on the theme of “Spirit of Place”

The schedule includes excursions, readings, meetings with local authors, writing time, and one free day to explore the surroundings, or visit a nearby town on your own.

Participants will stay at the Piccola Opera Hotel in Vitorchiano in single or, upon request, double room, with private bath and full board. Full board includes Continental Breakfast, three -course lunch and three- course dinner, one glass of wine per meal. Coffee and tea provided during the workshop.

Transportation to the hotel from the nearby Orte station will be arranged with the hotel for a fee
Please contact Linda Lappin for more information.

Testimonial:
A Ph.D. clinical psychologist for the past 30 years, and former psychology professor who had minored in English as an undergraduate, I signed up for a writing course from Linda Lappin. It was a fabulous experience. Getting us to take risks presenting our writing to the class, she showed an acute sensitivity in dealing with the self-consciousness of novice writers. Though I started out reluctant, and insecure about my writing, I ended up feeling that not only could I write somewhat decently, but I enjoyed writing, hearing what others had written, and presenting my own bits. My latent creative writing juices were unleashed! I continue my writing and am working on a title for my collection, which someday I'll give to my daughter. I salute Linda Lappin for her creativity, skill and dedication as a teacher.
---Roberta Fergusson, Reno

"Linda Lappin's "Spirit of Place" workshop encouraged me to climb into the attic of memory to discover writing riches. Her prompts evoked
details of rooms and places, friends and relatives, sights and scents which poured onto the page. This workshop has given me a wealth of new ideas for story writing,"

Anna Duke Reach, Kenyon Review Program Assistant

Testimonial

by Virginia Ripley, recent participant in the Spirit of Place Creative Writing Workshops

As the bus turned onto the main highway leading us away from Vitorchiano and back towards Rome, I knew the experience there had somehow opened a doorway in my mind and cleared a passageway through which memories of a new clarity could travel. Writers are rememberers. It’s part of the craft. Linda Lappin’s Spirit of Place Workshop leads the writer to locate the heart of memory, where one is able to mine her own soul for material. As the landscape I experienced in person, as well as through Linda’s novel, The Etruscan, slipped away, I began to recall the first part of Linda’s Spirit of Place Workshop.

Linda sent us all out into her neighborhood, the oldest part of Vitorchiano, the walled village, with the mission of silently seeking out the corners that spoke to us. I stepped into a courtyard of potted geraniums, lichen covered walls, and a single pillar set into a corner. I allowed the landscape, a collage of different eras, the past as constant as the present, to speak to me. Linda provides the writer with a lens through which to view the porous stone walls, the thick block window ledges, the sagging staircases, and the layers of reality reveal themselves. You wander further into the small streets and turn a corner that opens out to the gorge, a valley of infinite shades of green. When we reconvened in the Centro Pokolli we each returned with stories, all different, since we had each seen through our own unique eyes. An endless number of stories can sprout from one corner of the world. We share the physical world, but what we each bring to it creates the difference. It is the sharpening of this ability to use our senses that will enrich our descriptions and understandings of place.

Linda discussed character as a “function of the landscape,” and my mind was instantly brought to the mysterious count in her novel The Etruscan. Count Federigo del Re’s stout, olive toned body seems to have risen out of the landscape; he is part of Vitorchiano, body and soul. To eat the porcino mushrooms and to walk among the overgrown brush, watching out for vipers is to get to know Federigo del Rey. The characters we write must give our readers this desire to return to the landscape of our writing, to drink in the very air the characters breathed. How our characters interact with the environment can mirror their inner-beings. As writers, the more conscious we are of how our characters experience their surroundings, the more real our characters become. The Spirit of Place workshop provides the space and the tools for writers to explore their own ways of perceiving and connecting with our surroundings.

During our second workshop we focused on the richness of our own memories. As we sat around the table each writer seemed a vessel for an entire universe, an abundance of memory in need of a method of making its way to the page. Linda gently draws her workshop members into a place where they attempt to capture memory as not just a flat, visual thing but a three dimensional, multi-sensory experience. Steeped in memory, the writer can render both places far away and directly in front of her. I left the session feeling full of possibility and connected to other writers who also seek meaning in the world.

---Virginia Ripley

Centro Pokkoli’s co-director, Linda Lappin ,originally from Kingsport, Tennessee, is a novelist, poet, essayist, and translator. A graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, she holds an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Her first novel, The Etruscan semi-finalist for the Three Oaks First Novel Award given by Story Line Press of Eugene, Oregon in 2000, was published by
Wynkin DeWorde publishers in Galway, Ireland in 2004. This novel, a literary gothic tale selected as Book of the Week, by Book View Ireland in July 2004 , has been acclaimed by Italian critics as a new classic in American writing about Italy. Poet Charles Wright has called the book “A haunting story and a great read.” David Lynn, editor of The Kenyon Review has praised it as “a wonderful achievement.” Says poet Andrew Frisardi, “The Etruscan delight the way dreams do. It’s a tale like a labyrinth.”


Lappin has created a special series of writing workshops entitled “Tapping into the Spirit of Place” addressed to writers of fiction, travel writing, memoir, and poetry which a unique and stimulating approach to memory, place, and identity. She has taught these workshops for students of the University of Tuscia, Converse College, the Kenyon Review Creative Writing Workshop in Italy, the USAC study abroad program in Viterbo Italy, and for Feltrinelli International in Rome.



Work in Progress: The Diary of JH, a novel based on the life of Jeanne Hébuterne