When did you come on a retreat at the Writers’ Cabin?
I came in September 2024 (time flies!), just when summer was tipping into autumn. Chilly mornings, fantastic skies, and sun-warmed sea just a short drive away. When I arrived it was that lovely kind of steamy, pin-straight rain that made it feel like I was in the Welsh rainforest.
How did your time at the Writers’ Cabin influence your writing or thinking?
I arrived in the early stages of a new project, a little overwhelmed with the swirl of ideas I hadn’t yet managed to pin down. The cabin gave me so much stillness and mental space that I was able to sit comfortably in my ideas and explore them. I ended up spending most of the time reading: thinking, and reading. It was so productive in that way, though. There’s no point getting thousands of words on a page if they’re not the right words.
What role does place play in your writing?
It plays an essential role – it’s everywhere. Even when I don’t quite realise it. When I was at the cabin I was also in the middle of creating This Place – a podcast series which came out of my first book, Seaglass. In writing that essay collection, I had begun to understand how place and landscape can shape not only a creative work, but (inextricably) a person, too. I was interviewing other creatives wanting to hear about the importance of certain places in their own life and writing. Julia and I sat together and talked about this in a very literal sense: when it comes to writing, your environment, and the act of moving yourself, physically, from one place to another, can be oh so powerful. Retreat, whatever it may look like, is a wonderful thing for busy minds.
So while place is often at the heart of what I write, it can also be crucial in terms of where I write. As a place and nature writer, the inspiration is often obvious, but sometimes it’s the special stillness, the meditative quality of a space – rather than, say, it’s beautiful view (though that certainly helps!) – that results in new epiphanies and deeply considered words on a page.
What surprised you most about going on a solo writing retreat?
How tired I was by the end of it! I would expect my battery to run low on something like a group, tutored retreat at Tŷ Newydd where you are among other minds all week. But in fact, we are not at all accustomed to spending so long alone with our own thoughts. It was wonderful, but the place facilitated such deep, sustained focus and reflection that I found myself entirely worn out by the end of it… in the best way, though.
What particular details or features best supported your creative practice?
That glorious porch! I spent so much time with a blanket and a hot drink, accompanied by a book or notebook or laptop or nothing at all – and that sweeping view of the valley and the hills beyond. I could be out there rain or shine, thanks to the cover. I especially loved it at dawn, and in the falling dusk.
I also loved how small but perfectly formed the space was. It was cosy and functional, and kept my world simple while I was working and thinking so much about the world beyond.
What advice would you give to someone considering a self-led writing retreat?
Don’t be afraid of totally retreating. Being entirely alone with our thoughts and ideas can often be uncomfortable – but try to resist TV, your phone, etc. Take some good books with you – preferably things related to what you’re working on; great writing that will spark off thoughts of your own. Embrace the quiet. Sit on the porch with every cup of tea. Keep your notebook near and, for god’s sake, disable your Instagram for the week.
What writing project are you working on now?
I’m working on the same thing! It’s been a real journey since that visit, but my time at the cabin laid the very necessary foundations for what is proving to be a long and tangly project. I’m loving it though. The essays I’m working on are for my next collection, and all orbit the central theme of change and the many forms it takes – on a deep-time level, and in the dizzying transformations of our present world, too. I’m lucky, now, to have some ACE funding to support the excavation of all these rabbit holes… So: onwards. And I’m sure I’ll be back to wrangle with a few of these pieces in the calm and stability of the Writers’ Cabin soon.
Kathryn Tann is a writer, editor and creative producer from South Wales. She is the co-founder and co-editor of Folding Rock Magazine, and the author of Seaglass: Essays, Moments and Reflections. Her work has been published in The Guardian, The Scotsman, Simple Things, Porridge Magazine and more, and she runs the monthly Substack series Dwell.
Instagram: @kathrynellentann
Substack: @kathryntann
Author website: https://kathryntann.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-tann-574076150/
Photo credit: Rob Irish
