Writing By The Sea in Hydra
HYDRA - An Island in The Mind
a unique retreat for readers, writers & travellers
Become immersed in Hydra's past as an epicentre of 1960s bohemianism as the Australian award-winning authors of Half The Perfect World introduce you to Charmian Clift, George Johnston and other creative giants of the time, including Leonard Cohen, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Sidney Nolan.
This is an immersive experience for travellers, readers, writers and anyone interested in this unique moment in C.20th histrory.
You will encounter this unforgettable island through memorable words and images created by those who knew it best, presented as a series of stimulating, and often on-location seminars and workshops by Paul Genoni and Dr Tanya Dalziell.
By Paul Genoni
and Dr Tanya Dalziell
About Our Retreat
At Writing By The Sea in Hydra, we provide a peaceful haven for writers to delve into their craft. Our retreat offers writing workshops, individual coaching, creative writing classes, and guided writing exercises.
Nestled on Hydra Island, Greece, our retreat combines the beauty of the sea with a conducive environment for writers to flourish. Join us to explore your creativity and improve your writing skills.
Why Hydra?
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.
This journey will give you the chance to both learn about and experience this unique island setting, and its unique importance in the history of 20th century literature and art.
You will walk in the footsteps of not only Clift and Johnston but also other 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.
Meet Your Presenters
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Paul Genoni has worked as a librarian and academic, most recently with the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University, Western Australia.
His research and publishing spans Australian literature and culture, including travel writing; expatriate memoir; and pilgrimage narratives.
He has published a book on Australian explorer narratives and co-edited a collection of essays on Thea Astley.
With Tanya Dalziell, he co-authored Half the Perfect World: Writers, Dreamers and Drifters on Hydra, 1955-1964, which received the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction.
Tanya Dalziell teaches and researches in English and Literary Studies at the University of Western Australia.
She writes on topics related to Australian literature, film, music and modernism.
She has published books on Australian writers Joan London and Gail Jones and co-edited a book of essays on the musician Nick Cave.
With Paul Genoni, she co-authored Half the Perfect World: Writers, Dreamers and Drifters on Hydra, 1955-1964, which received the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction.
She currently holds these positions
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Professor Tanya Dalziell FAHA SFHEA
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Chair of the Department of English and Cultural Studies
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Chair of Discipline/Major, English and Literary Studie
