Lorenzo de' Medici - art, language and culture since 1973

Throughout history, Italy has inspired writers to wax lyrical in ways that few other countries have done. Countless English-language novels, stories and poems have created a ‘bel paese' of words around the Italian experience. This two-center course allows participants to live in and write about the vibrant and cosmopolitan world of Florence, and to contrast their experiences there with those of Tuscania, a hauntingly beautiful hill-top town poised between Lake Bolsena and the Mediterranean, surrounded by archaeological sites that bear witness to Italy's most ancient civilizations.

This course provides an opportunity for participants to focus first-hand on the art and craft of travel writing, with particular emphasis on Italy, but also with excursions into other worlds - real or imaginary. Through reading, writing, and visits in and around Florence and Tuscania, students will explore places of historic, artistic, cultural and personal interest. They will learn "by example" from a selection of great travel literature from the world in general, and from Italy in particular. And they will learn "by doing", via a series of guided exercises and assignments that explore the distinctive qualities of travel writing - its combination of history, culture, information, rumination, musings and memory - and the ways in which this particular art can lead to a deeper understanding of their own experiences and cultural identity.

Dates for Summer 2010: May 27 - June 26.
Please "click here" to download the brochure for the LdM Workshops for 2010 and read more about LdM's Florence and Tuscania Travel Writing and Literature Workshop.