Workshop in Tanger

Wanna dazzle like Burroughs, challenge like Ginsberg, lounge like Capote? Only one city offers a taste of the legendary journey these literary giants took. That city is Tangier.

Debauched, delightful, ancient, modern, few cities merge so casually with the past and the present. Tangier's unique literary history is in part due to its spell as an international free zone, from 1923 to 1956. During this time, its lawlessness was infamous. Burroughs described it as a magnet for 'junkies, queers, drunks.'

William Burroughs is the writer that links Tangier and the Beats. He arrived in 1954 and wrote his masterpiece in room 9 of the Hotel Continental which overlooks Tangier port. Ginsberg and Kerouac visited. As did Timothy Leary. Their crazy adventures together often found a way into Beat books. Burroughs was not alone in finding inspiration in Tangier.

The Tangier canon includes America by Allen Ginsberg, Let It Come Down by Paul Bowles, Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac, The Thief's Journal by Jean Genet and more recently, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Paul Bowles, the writer who is inextricably linked with Tangier was unlike the Beats. Always dressed impeccably, he once found Burroughs and Ginsberg sat amidst a sprawling pile of dirty pages and was horrified to discover it was Burroughs's manuscript.

For Bowles the fascination with Tangier lay in the city itself. He loved its peoples, its diversity of life, its literature. He dedicated a vast portion of his life to translating many authors, effectively giving Moroccan literature to the western world. Of the dozens of books he translated, Mohammed Choukri's For Bread Alone is amongst the most renowned.

Other writers that enjoyed decadent respite in Tangier include Tennessee Williams, Jack Kerouac, Samuel Beckett, Gertrude Stein, Gore Vidal, Walter Harris and Ian Fleming. If these eminent writers could carve celebrated careers taking inspiration from this enigmatic city, imagine what it could do for you? Delay no more, discover an essential literary past. Discover Tangier.

Trip to Chefchaouen

Morocco has many faces. A trip to one city is not enough to get a flavour of the rich and vibrant history of this ancient land.

As part of the IN THE WRITE LIGHT trip to Morocco, we will venture up into the mountains. Chefchaouen is the antithesis to Tangier. Rural, laid back, small and artisan, life here has not changed much in the last few hundred years.

A visit to 'Chaouen', as it is known locally, was chosen to give those who don't know Morocco a glimpse of the diversity of life here. As a developing country, Morocco's modernity lives in harmony with its heritage, a fact the locals proudly uphold.

Workshop

The workshop will take place over four days; two mornings in Tangier and two in Chefchaouen. That's a total of 16 hours tuition. There will be plenty of time for group and individual sessions.

In Tangier, the workshop will take place in the cosy salon of La Tangerina. In Chefchaouen, the lounge of Casa Aladin will be our classroom; after class we shall retire to the roof terrace of this beautiful restaurant for lunch.

Accommodation

In Tangier, the IN THE WRITE LIGHT group will stay at La Tangerina, Tangier's most exquisite Riad. Located in the Kasbah, but near the port and the medina, its boutique en suite rooms will serve as a lush haven for course participants.

click here for photos of La Tangerina

In Chefchaouen, we will spend two nights at the Hotel Aladin. Tucked away at the back of the Kasbah. Hotel Aladin is a palatial hideout, straight out of, well, Aladin. High wood-beamed ceilings, heart-shaped doors and windows, Berber rugs and private terrace conspire to make the hotel's six en suite double rooms authentic and comfortable.

click here for independent review of Hotel Aladin

Activities

The trip to Morocco will be non-stop! Arriving in Tangier International Airport on the 22nd, a courtesy car will be available all day to collect you and bring you to La Tangerina.

Session one completed, we will take a tour of Tangier, visiting places like Hotel Continental (where Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch), Café Hafa (where the Beats hung out and got stoned), Café de Paris and Central Café (where writers drank coffee watching the world go by). We will also visit the American Legation where we will find the Paul Bowles museum. A local expert will also give a talk on Tangier's literary history.

Dinner that night will be enjoyed at Restaurant Hamadi, one of Tangier's finest traditional restaurants (the food is to die for!).

After session two and lunch, we will hop in car and head for Chefchaouen. With its colourful medina, varied stalls selling art, crafts, jewellery and ethnic clothing, it will be impossible to resist spending. Remember to brush up on your haggling skills. A trip to one of Chefchaouen's hammams (baths) will provide refreshing rejuvenation. Chefchaouen has numerous restaurants; we will eat at the best.