Join award-winning writer Terry Tempest Williams and Dean Robert Newman from the College of Humanities at the University of Utah for a contemplative retreat in gorgeous and relaxing Provence where memory becomes the centerpiece of story. Participants will work in a mutually supportive workshop atmosphere, surrounded by blooming lavender and Van Gogh landscapes, with the exquisite hospitality and culinary offerings of Georgia Perrin Ball at Le Lavandin . Retrieval of the personal and the poignant to spark imagery and bring meaning to experience will be the method and the theme of the workshop. Participants will be asked to read some inspiring examples of the genre before arriving to inspire each other and themselves.

EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE!
BEAUTIFUL COUNTRYSIDE!!

Guests will stay in the luxurious rooms at the exquisitely landscaped and beautifully appointed Le Lavandin. Each morning will begin with a petit dejeuner---a French breakfast featuring the delectable breads, pastries and special morning offerings of Provence.

Leisure time will provide opportunities for visits to the rich farmlands and the ancient villages of the Luberon and the Vaucluse --- one may choose to see the quaint hill towns of Gordes and Roussillon or perhaps go to Avignon where the Pope built a palace and moved from Rome in the 14th Century. It is a pleasant drive to ancient Arles where Van Gogh painted and where there is a 2000 year old coliseum still in use; one can stop in St. Remy on the way and visit the hospital where Van Gogh lived and painted during the last period of his life. Aix en Provence is a marvelous shopping destination in addition to having the "most beautiful boulevard in all of France" according to many---the Cours Mirabeau. A guided visit can be arranged to the famed Chateauneuf de Pape wineries and then over to those of the Cote de Rhone and the Cote de Ventoux. Museums, lively markets, breathtaking landscapes, romance and beauty are everywhere!!

And, of course, the Provence and Le Lavandin are perfectly located for trips before or after the workshop by car or train to Paris, Saint Tropez, Monaco, Florence, Rome, Venice to mention only a few of the possibilities.

Terry Tempest Williams has been called "a citizen writer," a writer who speaks and speaks out eloquently on behalf of an ethical stance toward life. A naturalist and fierce advocate for freedom of speech, she has consistently shown us how environmental issues are social issues that ultimately become matters of justice.

Williams, like her writing, cannot be categorized. She has served time in jail for acts of civil disobedience, testified before Congress on women's health issues, been a guest at the White House, has camped in the remote regions of Utah and Alaska wildernesses and worked as "a barefoot artist" in Rwanda.

Known for her impassioned and lyrical prose, Terry Tempest Williams is the author of the environmental literature classic, Refuge - An Unnatural History of Family and Place; An Unspoken Hunger - Stories from the Field; Desert Quartet; Leap; Red - Passion and Patience in the Desert; and The Open Space of Democracy. Her new book Mosaic: Finding Beauty in a Broken World, was published in October of 2008 by Pantheon Books.

In 2006, Ms. Williams received the Robert Marshall Award from The Wilderness Society, their highest honor given to an American citizen. She also received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western American Literature Association and the Wallace Stegner Award given by The Center for the American West. She is the recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in creative nonfiction.

Terry Tempest Williams is currently the Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Orion Magazine, and numerous anthologies worldwide as a crucial voice for ecological consciousness and social change. She divides her time between Castle Valley, Utah and Moose, Wyoming, where her husband Brooke Williams is the executive director of The Murie Center.

Robert D. Newman has been Dean of the College of Humanities and Associate Vice President for Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Utah since 2001. Under his administration, development funding to the College has increased by a 300% average annually for a total of approximately $30 million over six years and external grant funding by a 1300% average annually. In addition to raising private funds to build a new Humanities building, Dr. Newman has raised funds for the most lucratively endowed chair in the University's history and endowed the new Environmental Humanities program. Under Dr. Newman's leadership, faculty recruitment, retention, diversity, salaries, and research support have been significantly enhanced. An innovative and successful first generation scholarship campaign also has elevated the level of student diversity on campus and numerous community partnerships have been forged. Dr. Newman was awarded the University's Equity and Diversity Award in 2008.

Dr. Newman earned his Ph. D. at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill in 1982 and his scholarship has been focused on James Joyce, twentieth century literature and culture, and narrative theory. He has published six books, two of which have been nominated for major national awards, and numerous articles and reviews; and has been the recipient of distinguished teaching awards. He also serves as General Editor of the "Cultural Frames, Framing Culture" series published by University of Virginia Press and as Executive Director of The Human Experience Information Coalition, which is building a comprehensive web-based resource for global Human Rights communities. He previously held faculty positions at the University of South Carolina, Texas A&M University, and The College of William and Mary.

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