Writing Workshops and Cultural Journeys

Kathryn Abajian and Dr. Glenn A. Long offer week-long writing workshops in France’s remote and romantic places where intellectual and aesthetic inspiration can be found. Spend a week off the beaten path to write and immerse yourself in good company, good food, and local culture.

The Heart of Memoir Writing Workshop
October 14-20, 2012

In the Languedoc Region of France, in the medieval village
 and Gallo-Roman town of Sommières

Allow yourself the time and seclusion to create literature from your life experience in first-person narrative nonfiction—travel, food and memoir essays.

Reflect on moments of change or loss and reconnect to individual purpose.

Renew your spirit, unfold identity, and awaken your writing.

Experience the south of France as the French do: a place where Celts made wine for the ancient Greeks, where local cheeses, breads, olives and meats are in abundance in village markets, and where stories seem etched into stone walls, cobbled streets, and private gardens.

FiOW Program Director and Guide

Glenn earned his B.F.A, and M.F.A. in art and photography, and his Ph.D. in the history of painting, sculpture and music at Ohio University.  He was the Chairman of Education at The Baltimore Museum of Art, Program Officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities, Executive Director of Sunrise Museums, Adjunct Professor in art history and drawing at the New World School of the Arts, the Maryland Institute, College of Art, Florida International University, Adjunct Associate Professor and Director of the Program for Religion and the Arts at the South Florida Center for Theological Studies, and recently served as Consulting Administrative Director for Monte Lauro Vineyards in Montaud, France.  His professional and personal relationships with the noble Montlaur family and area residents and with the wine makers and vineyard owners of the region will facilitate your immersion into the art, history, culture, and joie-de-vivre of the Languedoc. Photo credit: Beth Della Rocco

FiOW Instructor

Kathryn earned her M.A. in English at San Francisco State University and taught composition, literature and creative writing in the Bay Area for thirty years. She was honored by the San Ramon Rotary Club as the Educator of the Year in 2008 and recently retired as a tenured professor at Diablo Valley College. Kathryn facilitates writing workshops at home and abroad and edits manuscripts. Her research into the life and art of a Utah landscape artist resulted in her 2005 book, First Sight of the Desert: Discovering the Art of Ella Peacock, a blend of biography and memoir. Her travel, memoir and arts essays have appeared in various publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, American Art Review, Salon.com, and Travelers’ Tales anthologies. Kathryn and her colleague, Helen Free, launched Italy, in Other Words in 2009, and now she is pleased to offer The Heart of Memoir Writing Workshop for the inaugural year of France, in Other Words. Sign up for Kathryn's newsletter here. Photo credit: Christine Mallet

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover." Mark Twain