The Rock Retreat
Supporting emerging writers
Gibraltar’s ‘Rock Retreat’ is a week of creative workshops and cultural exchanges led by children’s publishing experts from 9 countries around the world.
Kusuma Trust supported the event, which took place in May 2023, by funding the schools’ outreach programme. A total of 30 writers and illustrators led workshops at 4 schools in Gibraltar, giving students insight into storytelling techniques including how characters are created.
- 30 writers and illustrators attended the first Rock Retreat in Gibraltar in May 2023.
- Participants came from across the globe – Barbados to Germany, Scotland to Zimbabwe.
- Around 500 pupils – aged 6 to 16 – benefited from the Rock Retreat schools’ programme.
A new generation of stories
As well as inspiring local students, The Rock Retreat schools’ programme gave visiting authors and artists the opportunity to meet their audience, hear their opinions and generate new story ideas for children.
A book of the work created during The Rock Retreat is available at Gibraltar’s Garrison Library.
“We spent three energy filled days in Gibraltar working with young creatives, as well as young people who joined us on zoom from Ghana and Bermuda. The focus of the event was writing or illustrating stories for the Young Writers Competition being hosted by Accord Literary and The Rock retreat. To help give the attendees the broadest understanding of the power of storytelling, we welcomed contributions from writers, poets, song-writers, illustrators, animators and archivists from all over the world. The young people were energized and excited to meet the speakers and to hear their stories about the creative process and in turn used the experience to develop some brilliant ideas of their own. With thanks to Kusuma Trust for making this magical event possible.”
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