A review from an Irish poet

Artisa, the perfect ambiance for creative production

In June John Fitzgerald, an award winning Irish poet came to Artisa to join our open (writing) retreat.  Upon returning home he wrote the following review:

Following a very efficient and amiable conclusion to our initial discussions around my application to stay at Artisa, I felt welcomed before I arrived; and I could not have experienced a warmer reception from Celeste on my actual arrival. The two weeks were characterised by harmony and peaceful companionship with the other participants, the place, and my work. Artisa provides a perfect blend of the social and the solitary to enable you to work alone without for a second feeling lonely.  It provides the ideal combination of peace and purpose to enable you to be creatively productive in any medium or discipline.

The approach is very discrete, allowing one almost complete freedom to establish the work methods and patterns that best suit the task to hand.  The location affords freedom to roam locally or spend time on the grounds, including at the beautiful shingle strand. In addition, the availability of bicycles and the proximity to the beach and village meant that it was possible to take short adventurous and refreshing breaks when needed.  I found the other participants and Celeste to be receptive to cross-reading of my work, which proved fruitful. I had the opportunity to read my work to the group: this was a great personal privilege for me and I received useful feedback.

The accommodation, food and location are all excellent. The perfect balance of functional and comfortable. Every aspect of the physical facilities and catering, accommodation, etc. were simply superb.  Celeste’s guiding presence and her equal skill in exceeding our dietary needs with stunning dishes mean that she is the mainstay of the place.

I came to Artisa to prepare a selection of my poetry for publication. I now realise that this would not have been possible to achieve in such a short amount of time and with such fulfilment had I attempted to do this while staying at home.
In addition, the peace and time I found in such abundance at Artisa offered opportunity for deeper reflection about many aspects of my writing, which reflections have since pressed me to work even harder to improve my craft.

I found in Artisa, not only the perfect ambiance and ethos for the sustained concentration I needed to muster to my particular task, but also a beautiful and resonant place which even inspired fresh new creative work…the Muses are Greek after all!

Celeste, what you do in stewarding Artisa, its retreats, visitors, brings benefit to so many lives that you should be justly proud of your work there. I think yours is one of those rare roles of which it can be truly said to advance the happiness and well-being of humanity.

John Fitzgerald, Cork, Ireland

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