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An original Experiential Workshop of Empirical Writing through a historical flashback to the summer of 1816, a landmark date that was to change world literature. It is a carefully designed workshop, using the temporal coordination of the seasons (coincidence of actions or events in terms of time) and the aesthetic coordination, in terms of the atmosphere of the seasons.

We invite you to a voluntary confinement, like in the good old days, at Kalliergon Headquarters, even if the seasons outside the house are confused with each other. 

We invite you to share unique moments of inspiration and creativity, through an extremely atmospheric environment that will recall that day that began to give birth to some of the most important masterpieces of world literature.

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*  During the workshop you will be offered homemade treats and tea made from pure, aromatic herbs from our garden.

- How were the most important "monsters" of world literature born under the same roof? 

- What does Lord Byron have to do with Ali Pasha of Ioannina and what does Ali Pasha of Ioannina have to do with Count Dracula? 

- What happens to the copyright of an idea when it is conceived by two "parents"? 

- The adjective "Shelley" and the gender behind the publication of the novel Frankenstein. 

- The Romantic Movement and its darkness

- The games of confinement and the games of fate.

Then the lights will go down and inspiration will take its turn. We will supply you with paper, pen, oil lamps and candles, creating the appropriate atmosphere that will inspire you to record your nightmares, awake. At the end of the workshop, whoever - admittedly - will have written the best history will be the winner of "Mary Shelley Award" and will have the honor of opening Mary Godwin Shelley's personal wooden trunk and discovering what she is hiding inside!!!

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"Mary Shelley Award" is awarded by voting or lottery. Each time, the way is depending on the wishes of the participants. Thus, anyone could be a winner. You do NOT need to be a writer or have writing skill. All it takes is your willingness to live and share a unique experience. Luck and timing are the main criteria here. "Mary Shelley Award" is another one invention of Christina Tzialla in the context of the workshop. We leave the reward with a purely literary criterion for our other kind of workshops, maybe, in the future!

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It will add a special touch to our workshop if you come fully or partially dressed in period clothing and accessories.

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The Script – The Plan – The Idea

Summer of 1816.The writer Mary Shelley and her husband Percy Shelley are guests in a villa in Switzerland rented by their friend Lord Byron. They are joined by Mary's cousin Claire, who is married to the poet Lord Byron. Lord Byron's personal physician, John Polidori, was also in their company. Together all five stay locked in for days, due to the frequent rainfall.

That summer, many described it as a long and endless winter in its appearance. So, locked inside the villa, they spend their time playing various games. One night, Lord Byron comes up with a creative game. He proposes that each of them write a terrifying story.

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Mary had already lost her prematurely born child and at the same time, for some time now, she was spending her evenings sleepless with thoughts that haunted her. A conversation with Lord Byron's doctor, and also a writer, John William Polidori, was a catalyst for her. The debate revolved around the possibility that electricity would bring a man back to life. That's when Mary Godwin Shelley gives birth, through the erebus of the Romantic Movement and her personal grief, to a masterpiece that was destined to change world literature and, of course, restore feminist writing. In Villa Diodati, then, the "Modern Prometheus", Frankenstein, is born.