​The Aegean island of Hydra holds an important, affectionate and unique place in both the history of Australian literature and the fabled decade of the 1960s. During this time Hydra was home to the Australian literary couple Charmian Clift and George Johnston, who became the focal point for a celebrated international colony of writers and artists, which included Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen.

 

In what has now become a renowned example of post- war bohemianism and expatriation, this group of young like-minded individuals came together to pursue their artistic desires in a place of singular beauty and existential freedom.

As Clift wrote of her Hydra years:
"I was glad we had chosen to live in the sun. To live in the sun is reassuring. Here are no deceptions but the bare truth of things. I think that no beauty has ever been as true for me as the beauty of rocks and sea and the beauty of mountains that rush up between the blue and the blue, skirted only with the austere white terraces of houses simplified to the purest geometry of planes and angles."

To this day Hydra is frequently singled out as a place of great beauty and as an artist’s island. It is a car-free sanctuary where time and artistic engagement offer the possibilities of a contemplative, creative life in a culturally and socially rich space.

The purpose of this journey is to give you the chance to both learn about and experience this unique island setting. You will walk in the footsteps of not only Clift and Johnston but alsoother writers such as Leonard Cohen, Henry Miller, Giorgos Seferis, Elizabeth Jane Howard ,Lawrence Durrell, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Brenda Chamberlain and Tim Winton, as well asartists including Sidney Nolan, Nikas Ghika, Marc Chagall, Jeff Koons, and Pericles Byzantios

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This journey offers you the chance to both learn about and experience this unique island setting with seminars, writing workshops, excursions and of course free time to write, relax and explore.

 

Spending your week with writers, and the opportunity to write on an island with no traffic ,... feeling inspired?

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This week of literary exploration on Hydra will see us focus our attention on a time and place unique in history: a waterless rock in the Saronic Gulf which became the epicentre of 1960s bohemianism, forging a legend defined by some of the Twentieth Century’s literary and artistic giants.

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As we unravel how and why that transpired, you’ll meet those artists and writers, poets and lyricists, photographers and filmmakers whose works were inspired by, or were about, Hydra.  

 

With our focus on Charmian Clift and George Johnston, we’ll visit ‘The Australian house’, as well as lesser-known parts of Hydra, and consider Clift’s place at the nexus of travelogue and memoir by stepping further afield, onto the mainland of Peloponnese, where the fascinatingly charismatic travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor spent his post-war years.

 

Along with its iconic role in the history of the modern Greek nation, we’ll consider Hydra’s social life, then - and now, and what made it so unique as to have lodged in modern imagination as an ‘artists’ paradise’.​

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You will engage with the many ways in which Hydra has been represented—in travel narratives, fiction, memoir, poetry, songs and art. And should you wish, you will be encouraged and assisted to reflect on your Hydra experience by writing or creating images of this unforgettable island.

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Hydra is a place that was never far from the minds of those visitors for whom it was the crucible of their artistic development.

As Leonard Cohen fondly recalled:

" I felt very much at ease in Hydra. Whatever you saw, whatever you felt, whatever you held was beautiful, and you didn’t have to say those words to yourself, it was just when you picked up a cup you knew by the way it fitted into your hand that itwas the cup that you always had been looking for. And the table that you sat at, that was the table that you wanted to lean on, and the wine was the wine that you wanted to drink, the price you wanted to pay."

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Your time on Hydra will be all the more meaningful and inspiring for hearing its stories through the words and images of those who knew it best as you experience its landscape.

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Your writing, poetry, or imagery created in any medium is an important part of what this week is about.

Each day will feature a 'round table' opportunity to share your work, and Dr.Paul Genoni and Prof. Tanya Dalziell  look forward to responding to your creative voice ... if you have any queries about this please contact us!

 

You’ll delight in the diverse culinary experiences, boat rides, panoramic walking paths and perhaps even a horse-riding trek to a mountain monastery, all best enjoyed in these limpid days of Autumn, when the temperature hovers around 24 C and the sea temperature remains at a summery 23 C.​.

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How will this week unfold?

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• Each morning you'll explore the island through literary seminars and on-location expeditions, reached by picturesque walks, water taxi or even donkey!

• If the weather is inclement, we have a seminar space in our hotel, or we will reverse the morning and afternoon program to take advantage of the best conditions.

• We'll broadly focus on various aspects of one of these genre each day:

• Narrative

• Poetry

• Memoir

• Song

• Photography and Film

• Each seminar will include a guided prompt, inspired by the literature of, and about Hydra

• Break for Lunch - enjoy a taverna meal in our various destinations, or bring a picnic or bakery speciality - a Greek cheese pie is hard to pass up!  

• Afternoons are free for exploring, swimming, relaxing and writing or responding to the 'guided prompt' in whichever way you enjoy

• Meet for a sunset drink and a 'round table' to share our creative responses

• Dinner is for you to enjoy in any way you like.

• And individual coaching by experts Prof. Tanya Dalziell and Dr. Paul Genoni is available for those who would like to take advantage of this unique opportunity​​

• Evenings will feature gallery visits, film showings and traditional live Greek music

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