Linda France is based close to Hadrian’s Wall, near Hexham in Northumberland. Since 1992 she has published seven poetry collections with Bloodaxe, Smokestack and Arc, including The Gentleness of the Very Tall, The Toast of the Kit-Cat Club, book of days and You are Her. She has worked on numerous collaborations with visual artists and musicians, as well as public art projects. Linda also edited the ground-breaking anthology Sixty Women Poets (Bloodaxe 1993).
She is also a practising Buddhist, and has led retreats at Dhanakosa several times. She recenly won the National Poetry competition
http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/npc30/npc2013/npc2013firstprize
If we are going to save the world, we need to love the world. To love the world, we need to be ‘in’ the world. What might this look like? Imagine yourself in close contact with nature, with your eyes and ears, your heart and mind wide-open.
The Summer Solstice is a time to pause and take stock: what will we nurture and harvest and what shall go into the compost?
The combination of creative and reflective writing, meditation and Buddhist teachings will give the opportunity to refresh ourselves, re-evaluate and re-commit to our truest values and to celebrate life in all its wonder and complexity.
For more information take a look here.
Turn to Gaze at the Moon is a retreat for expanding our horizons through integrating the language of the body and the language of the heart. Together we will gather the intention to open to the body's wisdom and find balance between mind and feeling. Taiji, writing & poetry have much in common: form, structure, sensitivity and a striving towards wholeness. Each move in taiji is a metaphor. The structured forms provide an inspiring backdrop for the weaving of rhythmic patterns with words.
Each move is a metaphor – Tai Chi and poetry have much in common: form, structure, sensitivity, awareness and a striving towards essence. Whatever arises in our minds and bodies, inside and outside, up mountains and by lochs – we will move with and write about it then share our stories for the benefit of each other and all living beings.
For more information read the retreat information sheet.
