International Writers' Retreat 2022
January 5-15, 2022 | Sicily & Rome
With Professor Liz Abrams-Morley and MFA Program Director Carla Spataro
The MFA in Creative Writing program at Rosemont College will offer its annual International Writers' Retreat in January 2022. This year we will be traveling to Sicily and Rome. MFA in Creative Writing graduate credit, non-credit, and companion prices are available. Airfare is not included.
STUDENTS WHO WANT TO TAKE THE TRIP FOR CREDIT MUST REGISTER FOR CRW 7185 OR CRW 7186 WINTER WRITING SEMINAR ON THE iWAY. This registration form is for non-credit students and companions only!
Cost to Attend
Graduate Credit Price: $3650 (includes tuition)
Non-Credit Price: $2900
Companion Price: $2550
Advanced Reservation $500 Deposit Due: October 15, 2021
Balance Due: December 3, 2021 (After December 3, program fee is not refundable.)
There are a limited number of single rooms for an additional fee of $400. This is due with your deposit. If you are interested in a single room, please email the MFA program director for availability at cspataro@rosemont.edu This trip has a limited number of spots available. Once the trip is full, registration will close. Anyone interested in attending the trip after December 3 should contact the MFA program director for availability. The entire program fee would be due at the time of registration.
Pre-trip Meeting: Friday December 10 at 6 PM Lawrence Hall Faculty Lounge
January 4 Tuesday: Departure from Philadelphia
Transportation: (walking and private coach transportation in Italy)
January 5 Wednesday
- Arrive Catania (Sicily); Transfer to Siracusa by Taxi
- Welcome dinner
January 6 Thursday
- Orientation breakfast at EXEDRA Center followed by Ortigia Tour - including market and cathedral
- Lunch
- Afternoon Workshop
January 7 Friday
- Visit Neapolis Archaeological Park & Catacombs of San Giovanni
- Afternoon Workshop
January 8 Saturday
- Meet for early breakfast at Temple of Apollo
- Private Bus to Agrigento - Valley of the Temples and museum
January 9 Sunday
FREE DAY
January 10 Monday
- Meet for early breakfast at Temple of Apollo
- Bus to Taormina and the Ancient Greek Theater
- Wine tasting
January 11 Tuesday
- Castello Maniace and Jewish Baths
- Afternoon Workshop
- Farewell dinner - home-made pasta “cavateddi”
January 12 Wednesday
- Am Fly to Rome (COST NOT INCLUDED)
- PM Visit Rome
January 13 Thursday
- Visit Central Rome
- Afternoon Workshop
January 14 Friday
- Vatican Museums and St Peters
January 15 Saturday
- Departure from Rome
Airfare and flight registrations are the responsibility of the attendee. Direct round-trip flights (recommended) are available from most major East Coast airports to Rome. Flights can be cheaper from New York Airports, but you will need to factor in the transportation to and from and or long-term parking. There is an internal round trip flight between Rome and Cantania, Sicily. This means you will need to book two separate round-trip tickets. The final leg of your round-trip from Cantania to Rome must on the morning of January 12.
Here are some recommended flights from Philadelphia and JFK in New York. Special Note: Booking two separate roundtrip tickets will require you to pick up your luggage in Rome and manually check it through to Catania. Booking your flight before the fall may give you the best price. In these uncertain times Travel Insurance is a MUST!
| Airline | Date | Depart City/Airport | Time | Arrival City | Time | Cost |
| Alitalia #AZ609 | 4-Jan-22 | New York/JFK | 4:25 PM | Rome/Fulmicino | 6:40 AM | $689.44 |
| **Ryan Air #FR4852 | 5-Jan-22 | Rome/Fulmincino | 9:00 AM | Catania/Fontanarossa | 10:25 AM | $36.54 |
| Ryan Air #FR4855 | 12-Jan-22 | Catania/Fontanarossa | 8:30 AM | Rome | 9:45 AM | |
| Alitalia #AZ608 | 15-Jan-22 | Rome | 10:40 AM | JFK | 2:15 PM | |
| Total Approximate Cost | $725.98 | $725.98 | ||||
| Airline | Date | Depart City/Airport | Time | Arrival City | Time | Cost |
| American Airlines #718 | 4-Jan-22 | Philadelphia/PHL | 6:40 PM | Rome/Fulmicino | 9:10 AM | $1,112.60 |
| Alitalia #1711 | 12-Jan-22 | Rome/Fulmincino | 12:45 PM | Catania/Fontanarossa | 2:00 PM | $82.00 |
| Alitalia # 1710 | 12-Jan-22 | Catania/Fontanarossa | 10:15 AM | Rome/Fulmicino | 11:40 AM | |
| American Airlines #4659 | 15-Jan-22 | 12:00 PM | Philadelphia/PHL | 4:10 PM | ||
| Total Approximate Cost | $1,194.60 | $1,194.60 |
Faculty
Liz Abrams-Morley’s collection, Beholder, was published by Word Poetry in April, 2018. Inventory, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2014 and Necessary Turns was published by Word Poetry in 2010 and won an Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in
Small Press Publishing that year. In 2020 Liz was named the Passager Poet in Passager Journal’s annual contest. Her poems and short stories have been published in a variety
of nationally distributed anthologies, journals and ezines, and have been read on
NPR. A former faculty member in the Rosemont College MFA program and frequent visitor,
Liz is co-founder of Around the Block Writers’ Collaborative . Any given Tuesday at noontime (when not sheltering in) you can find her at the corner
of 2nd & Chestnut streets directing her resistance toward the walls behind which her
phantom Senator Pat Toomey may or may not be hiding from his constituents. Please
visit her on the web at www.lizabramsmorley.org
Carla “C.J.” Spataro is the MFA program director at Rosemont College and the editorial director of Philadelphia Stories and PS Books. She is an award-winning short story writer and a Pennsylvania Council
on the Arts grant winner. Her short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Sequestrum, Exacting Clam, Phantom Drift, December Magazine, Italian Americana, Iron Horse Literary Review, Pithead Chapel, Permafrost, The Baltimore Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, and others. Poetry has appeared in Ovunque Siamo. Her work has also been anthologized in Another Breath, Forgotten Philadelphia, Extraordinary Gifts, 50 Over 50 and Taboos & Transgressions.