Meet the team and find out more about the stunning location that will be your home
JANE FLETThas been published in over 70 literary journals and translated into Polish, Croatian and Japanese. Her poetry features in the Best British Poetry anthology and her fiction has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4. She was also voted Berlin’s best English-language writer in 2015 by Indieberlin. Jane has recently been awarded residencies in New Orleans, Croatia, and the Spanish mountains, and thinks that everyone should get out of Berlin to write now and again.
VICTORIA GOSLING is the founder of The Reader Berlin and The Berlin Writing Prize. Offering manuscript assessments, mentoring, expert feedback and guidance, she has consulted on a wide range of publications currently available in print and online. Alongside directing The Reader’s day-to-day activities, she works as a freelance editor, writer and consultant and is a former contributing editor of Berlin Stories for NPR. In 2012, her novel LETTERS TO G. was selected as one of the winners of the Mslexia Novel Prize. She is represented by Judith Murray of literary agency Greene & Heaton.
Art-historian, bibliophile, gardener, chef, master-builder – CLARK LAWRENCE is a man who wears many hats. At Halloween, La Macchina Fissa’s biggest festival, he’s also known to wear the odd mask and wave a chainsaw. The founder of Reading Retreats in Rural Italy, Clark is the most wonderful host you can imagine – sharing his love of books (there are over 5000 at La Macchina Fissa), whipping up delicious food, telling stories… Since starting out in 1996, Clark has moved venues (his previous home was destroyed in an earthquake), but his warm, welcoming spirit remains the same – as thousands of book lovers have discovered.
LA MACCHINA FISSA is the current home of Reading Retreats in Rural Italy. A former pump house, the rambling property offers over twenty rooms where you can explore, read, write, lounge about, browse the book collection, make yourself a coffee, or just stare out of the window at the Italian countryside. The extensive grounds are home to Clark’s beloved plant collection, lovely, shady spots to linger, and a family of playful goats. You can read about the story of the association here, take a look at the gallery here, or check out the garden blog here. Quiet, roomy and providing plenty of secluded spots to write in as well as larger workshop areas, La Macchina Fissa is the ideal place for a writing retreat.
