How many workshops have you attended, but come away with the feeling of wanting more out of it? A one-on-one interaction or a deeper conversation, perhaps? Paper House hopes that their first Writers’ Retreat won't leave you with these lingering feelings. This experiential retreat that begins on October 10, will span over five days. Janice Pariat, a Sahitya Akademi Award winner, Chintan Ruparel, co-founder of Terribly Tiny Tales, and Priyanka Menon, a spoken-word artist are the mentors who will guide ten selected writers through the process.
"Our aim is to create an experience and build a community for writers in India," says Tara Khandelwal, who started this initiative along with Mahima Sood. Oh, did we mention that the residential retreat is in the beautiful Parvati Valley of Himachal Pradesh? "What could be better than writing in the hills?" asks 27-year-old Tara.
"Very few writers break through to the next level. Some aren't even aware of how to get a book published," rues Tara, a journalist, who is unhappy about the fact that courses and workshops that cater to honing creative writing skills are few and far between. To facilitate this is the mission of this retreat. And when the duo opened applications, they received entries from all across the country, from Hyderabad to Chandigarh and Ahmedabad to Chennai.
The next step included getting mentors on board. Networking and recommendations took care of that and along came the three. While Chintan Ruparel of TTT fame has taken several workshops, Janice Pariat teaches at Delhi University and Priyanka Menon is not new to the line either. "We are very excited to have them on board," says Mahima. If you’ve missed the deadline, don't worry, Paper House is planning to conduct more such retreats soon!
Reach Out: paperhouse.co
