The idea for the workshop was born many years ago, probably the first time Ben Rosenbaum visited me in Stuttgart. We started tossing around the idea for a face-to-face workshop for English-language speculative fiction writers in Europe. But then a few years and some continent-hopping went by ...
Many years later, I started to contact various writers I'd gotten to know through online workshops, to see if there would be any interest. There was, and I began researching venues and created the list, but it all dragged out, as things tend to do when I'm in charge. I credit Jeff Spock with giving me the necessary kick to actually get the workshop off the ground. Unfortunately, last minute complications prevented him from being with us in our original castle. But he made up for it by organizing our largest incarnation to date, at Villa Diodati 3 in southern France:
Back: Floris Kleinje, Steve Gaskell, Ben Rosenbaum, Sara Genge, John Olsen.
Front: Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Aliette de Bodard, Ruth Nestvold, Jeff Spock, Catherine Morrison, Deanna Carlyle
Not only do we write well at Villa Diodati, we eat well, we live well, and we play well:
The brag page
The recipe page
Past workshops
Participants
The nitty-gritty:
Villa Diodati is a workshop for neo-pro speculative fiction writers in English. We define neo-pro as 1)
professional publication 2) semi-pro publications in critical mass or 3) professional level workshop experience, such as Clarion, Clarion West, Odyssey, or Boot Camp. When in doubt, contact us to see if you qualify.
We have a mailing list for discussing future dates and venues.
If you're interested in joining or perhaps someday participating in the workshop, contact
web at ruthnestvold.com