Join Jeannine Ouellette at Atelier Clos Mirabel for a creative writing workshop in the foothills of the Pyrénées mountains. The focus of this workshop will be all about non-fiction and memoir writing.
About this course:
In this lively and inventive memoir writing course with Jeannine Ouellette, you’ll use the tools of fiction and write from the inside out to bring lived stories fully onto the page. With embodied writing practices combined with tried-and-true fiction principles, you will explore how memory lives in the body and how craft brings that memory into form.
Together, we’ll shape lived experience into scenes that breathe, voices that feel true, and stories that invite readers all the way in. We’ll work with memory, sensation, image, and emotion while studying elements like scene, voice, character, tension, and structure. The result is memoir that feels alive and immediate, shaped with intention, and grounded in truth without sacrificing art. In other words, stories that see and sing and capture the attention of editors and readers alike.
This class is for all levels and appropriate for both book-length work and personal essays.
Creative Writing Outline Programme with Jeannine Ouellette:
Saturday
4.00 – Check-in time from 4pm onwards
Guests arrive, settle in and explore Clos Mirabel.
6.00 – Welcome drinks and dinner
Sunday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Writing workshop: Memory, the Body, and Stories that Live and Breathe.
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 5.00 Independent work
5.00 – 7.00 Writing Workshop: Internalizing the External through Image, Subtext, and Silence (with an aperitif around 6pm).
7.00 – 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Monday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Writing Workshop: The Power of Place
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Atelier Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 5.00 Independent work
5.00 – 7.00 Writing Workshop: Speaking & Moving – The Art of Dialogue and Action (with an aperitif around 6pm)
7.00 – 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Tuesday
8.30 – 9.15 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
9.30 – Depart for a half day in the mountains (gentle or intermediate hike) or simply relaxing in inspiring landscape, with lunch in a local village restaurant and generative place and sensory based writing exercises through the five senses en plein air – bring your notebook. Transport provided.
6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Please note this programme may be subject to change depending on the weather. Also, please ensure that you bring sensible walking shoes, layers, waterproof jacket, water bottle, sunscreen and a hat.
Wednesday – Free day (Lunch is not included)
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
Free time to explore Pau or beyond. The Clos Mirabel team is available to provide suggestions and organize transport.
6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Thursday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Writing Workshop: Conflict & The Art of Powerful, Dynamic Scenes That Move.
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Atelier Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 5.00 Independent work
5.00 – 7.00 Writing Workshop: The Necessity of Surprise (with an aperitif around 6pm)
7.00 – 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Friday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Dynamic Q & A & Revision Workshop
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 6.00 Time for Revising Work for Evening Reading & Drop In Hours with Jeannine to discuss work
6.00 – Reading night: Students share their work in the double living room of Clos Mirabel followed by aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House or on the terrace
Saturday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast and departure (Check-out 11am)
Non-Writing Guests: we are more than happy to welcome non-writing guests, accompanying partners, family or friends. There are plenty of activities to experience around Clos Mirabel, that will make your holiday unforgettable Click here for more information.
The Creative Studio offers a spacious open plan layout of 75 m2. It is available at all times during your stay. Click here for more information.
