![\"salt-cay-writers-retreat-bahamas\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/salt-cay-writers-retreat-bahamas.jpg\")
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For visitors who travel near and far to our sandy shores, it doesn\u2019t get much better than a day at the beach with a good novel. Recently, the second annual Salt Cay Writers Retreat took things up a notch with a week of writing workshops, panel discussions, structured writing exercises and one-on-one feedback sessions with international and New York Times bestselling authors and their agents \u2013 all on the shores of a crystalline lagoon.<\/p>\n
The successes of the 2013 inaugural Salt Cay Writers Retreat made the decision to return to Salt Cay \u2013 better known as Blue Lagoon Island \u2013 an easy one for retreat administrators Karen Dionne and Christopher Graham. The organizers know their stuff \u2013 and they ought to, given the fact that they coordinated the notable Backspace Writers Conferences in New York City for nine years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something that we would absolutely love to be doing every year,\u201d said Graham.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe setting is fabulous, and the students are eager to learn,\u201d added Dionne. \u201cNothing but positive comments is what we\u2019ve heard for the teaching and the fun activities, free time to swim in the lagoon, writing instructions \u2013 it\u2019s been just wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Returning among the seven faculty members this year were Robert Goolrick, Jeff Kleinman and Erin Harris. New instructors included authors David Ebershoff and\u00a0T\u00e9a\u00a0Obreht and literary agents Jill Marr and Erin Niumata.<\/p>\n
Niumata, a Bahamian, expressed her excitement about the opportunity to return home for the retreat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was thrilled because it is The Bahamas, and I\u2019m a Bahamian, and I get to come home and talk to Bahamians about the craft of writing and spread what knowledge I have to the Bahamian people, which makes me happy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Thirty students traveled to the retreat \u2013 which has been acclaimed across social media as a refreshing source of guidance and inspiration \u2013 from as far away as Australia.<\/p>\n
Caroline Graham flew more than 20 hours in total, all the way from Down Under, to hear what the pros had to say on her novel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s paid for itself already a hundred times over,\u201d she said. \u201cGetting so many perspectives on my writing has been incredible, as well as solving different problems in the manuscript and making contact with other writers. I think the other lovely thing is I feel like I\u2019m leaving really inspired to go back and write and work on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, the retreat offered its single-day registration for Bahamians on Saturday, and 10 local wordsmiths showed up to share and receive feedback on their works. Ria Newbold, a self-help and inspirational writer, was one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping to get some further insight into the publishing dos and don\u2019ts,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just excited and I\u2019m grateful for the opportunity, as a Bahamian author, to be able to learn from international professionals, because I\u2019m sure there\u2019s so much that they can offer us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reaching out to the Bahamian community, this year the Salt Cay Writers Retreat partnered with local organizations to benefit local adult literacy program, Project Read, in an evening of readings by David Ebershoff, Robert Goolrick and\u00a0T\u00e9a\u00a0Obreht. Held at the Old Fort Bay Club, the event, titled A Novel Evening, was an outstanding success with approximately 115 literary enthusiasts turning up in support.<\/p>\n
Robert Meister, managing director of Dolphin Encounters, Blue Lagoon Island, expressed his pleasure at hosting the 2014 retreat. “Blue Lagoon Island (Salt Cay) has a long history with writers, and several books have been authored here, including\u00a0\u2018Sophie’s Choice\u2019\u00a0by William Styron,\u201d he said. \u201cHosting the retreat was a return to our writing roots and we hope to continue this tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information on the 2014 Salt Cay Writers Retreat or to stay up-to-date on news about future retreats, visit the Salt Cay Writers Retreat website at\u00a0saltcaywritersretreat.com.<\/p>\n
PHOTO CAPTIONS<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Salt Cay Writers Retreat Panel Discussion: Salt Cay Writers Retreat Students attend a panel led by faculty members. (Photo: Karen Dionne)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Salt Cay Writers Retreat A Novel Evening Signings: (From left) Robert Goolrick, David Ebershoff and\u00a0T\u00e9a\u00a0Obreht sign copies of their novels at the A Novel Evening event hosted at the Old Fort Bay Club. (Photo: Karen Dionne)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Salt Cay Writers Retreat Group Workshop1: A group of Salt Cay Writers Retreat students exchange feedback on their respective works in a small group workshop led by Robert Goolrick.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For visitors who travel near and far to our sandy shores, it doesn\u2019t get much better than a day at the beach with a good novel. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":90629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[204,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}