Meredith Hall: author of the NYT bestselling memoir Without a Map; writer-in-residence at the University of New Hampshire; winner of A Room of Her Own Foundation's $50,000 Gift of Freedom Award and the 2005 Pushcart Prize; published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Good Housekeeping, The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, Fourth Genre, The Spoon River Poetry Review and others.

Thordis Simonsen: specialty independent travel guide in Greece since 1995; author of Dancing Girl: Themes and Improvisations in a Greek Village Setting and You May Plow Here: the Narrative of Sara Brooks; recipient of awards from the Ella Lyman Cabot Trust and the Kittredge Educational Fund; part time resident of a village in Greece where Thordis single-handedly restored an abandoned roofless house used to stable sheep.

Astra Writing in Greece is an eleven-day program beginning and ending in Athens and featuring an 8-night stay on Naxos Island in the Cyclades. There, in the home of the Muses and homeland of legendary writers—among them Homer, Sappho, and Kazantzakis—you will be inspired and transformed by the sun-drenched landscape and glistening seas, the rich cultural history, and a people renowned for their hospitality. Working with acclaimed author Meredith Hall, you will engage daily in two or more hours of guided writing. The program provides additional time for independent writing and an informal meeting each day at sunset to reflect on your travel experience and to share the writing it generated. Our itinerary includes visits to select museums and historic sites, among them a tour of the Acropolis and the Benaki Museum in Athens. Because walking and hiking are integral to the trip, participants must be comfortable walking/hiking rough paths in hilly terrain. Astra Writing in Greece is designed to ensure a balance between structure and spontaneity, between activity and serenity, between society and solitude. Application required.