Ann Abineri

Its less than two weeks since I returned from the Iceland Writers Retreat and I think I left part of my heart in Iceland.

The Retreat is in its fifth year and is organised by Eliza Reid and Erica Green. The participants come from all over the world - US, Canada, Argentina, Denmark, Austria, Nigeria, UK and many more countries.

There is no doubt that its an expensive jaunt so I aimed to get as much out of it as possible and, working from the Retreat's reading list and my own explorations, I read a lot of Icelandic literature before I went. I even tracked down a subtitled Icelandic thriller, Jar City, which painted a bleak picture of the landscape and culinary delights ahead of me!

However, when I arrived at the conference base, Icelandair Natura, the food was superb, as were all events and meals that were part of the conference. Being looked after so well (breakfast, elevenses, lunch and supper on the 'workshop' days) plus breakfast and evening functions with sit down meals helped mitigate the cost of the trip.

A particular highlight was a visit to the President's residence Bessastadir where we were greeted by Gudni Th.Johannesson and his First Lady, our Retreat's very own Eliza Reid.

One day of the Conference comprised a Literary Tour - I selected Literary Borgarfjordur on which we visited the beautiful home of Nobel prizewinning writer Halldor Laxness and met the detective thriller writer Yrsa Sigurdardottir. Later on the tour, following a visit to a war museum and lots of amazing views, we spent time at one of Iceland's most important historical sites, Reykholt, where Geir Waage, the incumbent Lutheran priest, talked to us about Snorri Sturluson, the 13th Century writer and chieftain.

Spectacular waterfalls and Iceland's most powerful hot spring also featured on our tour.
On Workshop days back at the hotel we were treated to a range of intenational writers including Lina Wollf, Susan Shreve, Gwendoline Reilly and Hallgrimur Helgason. I was very pleased with the workshop selections I made and also enjoyed the panel events.

The joy of the itinerary was that in addition to schedule freetime, particularly on the Write and Relax extension days, one could head off on one's own or in small groups and I spent an amazing evening at a Bjork gig and also went on two boat trips. The whale watching trip was highly successful but the Northern Lights eluded us. I loved Reykjavik's old town and the tiny history of punk museuam.

I learnt new things almost every step of the way - including how frustrating it is to choose an overlong piece to read at an Open Mic event in probably the most beautiful environment that I will ever have the opportunity to read, the bistro at Floran Garden. Still, I hope I left my audience wanting more!

An urge to see the Northern Lights is just a small part of my decision to  return to the Retreat on a future occasion but my prime immediate aim is to type up the poetry and flash fiction that I scribbled in my precious notebook and add local detail to work in progress.  Yes, herring are involved - lots of them.