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What could be more inspiring to an artist than Italy’s Amalfi Coast? Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute is offering writers the opportunity to stretch their creative muscles with an exploration into writing and painting in Italy.
The seven-day excursion to Cetara, an hour’s drive from Naples, includes writing workshops led by authors Patricia Dunn and Kathy Curto, as well as afternoon painting sessions with artist William Papaleo. The program is designed for writers and no previous painting experience is needed.
“There is a strong bond between the realms of writing and painting. During this special week, writers will have the opportunity to take a deep dive into the senses to embolden, color, and enliven their own writing acumen,” said Dunn, who also serves as director of The Writing Institute and assistant dean of Graduate and Professional Studies at Sarah Lawrence. “This exploration into the seaside palette and its many textures will unleash feelings and emotions sure to migrate to the pages each of us will write in this Italian coastal haven.”
The program was established in honor of Joseph Papaleo, an Italian-American novelist, Sarah Lawrence faculty member (1960-1992), and former chair of the College’s Writing program. Papaleo passed away in 2004.
Instructors Dunn and Curto will hold daily sessions, including writing exercises followed by sessions with William Papaleo and Elizabeth Tepper, an artist and faculty member at The Writing Institute.
Patricia Dunn received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, where she currently teaches creative writing in and directs The Writing Institute. Her novel, Rebels by Accident, was released in December 2014 by Sourcebooks Fire. Formerly managing editor of Muslim Wakeup!, America’s most popular Muslim online magazine with over 200,000 monthly readers, her fiction has appeared in Global City Review, Salon.com, Women’s eNews, The Christian Science Monitor, The Village Voice, The Nation, and L.A. Weekly, among other publications. Her recent essay, Love at Third Site, appears in Love Inshallah.
Kathy Curto teaches at The Writing Institute, Montclair State University (MSU), and across the metropolitan area, engaging writers of all ages. She was recently chosen to serve as one of the 2016-17 Mentors in the MSU Engaged Teaching Fellows Program. Her work has been published in the anthology, Listen to Your Mother: What She Said Then, What We’re Saying Now, and in publications including Barrelhouse, Drift, Talking Writing, Junk, The Inquisitive Eater, The Asbury Park Press, Italian Americana, VIA-Voices in Italian Americana, and Lumina.
William Papaleo is an American artist who has lived and worked in Italy for more than 25 years. His paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries in Europe and the United States. He has received various awards in international and juried shows in Italy and America.
Elizabeth Tepper is an artist and faculty member for The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College's program in Cetara, Italy. Based in New York City, Liz is director of an established art gallery in Manhattan. She has her BFA in Studio Art from the University of Connecticut and has exhibited her works in the New York and Connecticut area.
Registration for the exploration in Cetara can be completed online. Anyone with questions is encouraged to call 914.395.2205 or e-mail writinginstitute@sarahlawrence.edu.