Back like we never left: nourishing our crafts and bellies, exploring Southern Italy, and growing a little community doing it.

When: Saturday 7/30 to Sunday 8/7.

Where: Tufo, Campania, in the pink house of my forebears.

Cost: $1400.

There’s some financial aid available (more below), but that price includes pretty much everything outside of airfare, food, and souvenirs. Wine and espresso are extremely on the house, and I price in all our day trips and some big dinners as well.

I’m Patrick, by the way.

Writers can still expect to share the house, write in the mornings, workshop in the afternoons, and eat a lot pasta. We’ll hang around town with our favorite Tufese, drink plenty of Greco di Tufo, the delicious, minerally white wine the town is renowned for, and hit up some nearby hot spots like Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, and Naples for the best pizza you ever had.

I should say it’s going to be a little different from the last few retreats in that it’s going to be a smaller group. Where in the old, pre-pandemic glory days I would squeeze as many as I could into the house and van, I’m going to take a half step back, keeping our numbers to what feels comfortable.

And where I used to bring in brave and generous workshop leaders to, well, lead the workshops, I’m going to run them myself this year. Besides having a few retreats under my belt by now (check them out right here) I’ve been organizing Philadelphia’s very own Backyard Writers Workshop for 8 years.

Re: COVID: to attend WRIT, you have to be vaxxed. I visited in Summer 2021, and you can’t get into any museums or restaurants without proof of vaccination. Plus it looks like Italy is still requiring a 10-day quarantine period for anyone not vaccinated.

Re: financial aid: it’s still super important to me to make WRIT as inclusive as I can. If you are a member of a marginalized community and could use some help to make it out, say that in your application email. I’ll try and make it happen.

To apply: send me an email by May 1. Write to me a little about yourself, your writing pursuits, and why you want to come to Tufo. Attach a sample of your work.

That’s it. I did kind of glaze over what all we fit into our time in Southern Italy, but you can read all about past retreats here, or just scroll down for the vibes. It’s the best thing I know about.

In perpetuity!

Patrick