If you’ve already been here, you know there is so much to write home about.

In these two-day workshops we’ll work on one-two-three simple goals:

1. Crafting and streamlining a creative, publishable travel story.

2. Listing the many outlets and publications, both hard copy and online, where you can send your work for serious consideration.

3. Getting your work sent out now.

• The workshops will be given in the beautiful Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, near easy public transportation, hotels, restaurants, and great shopping. (It’s a $30 taxi ride from Ezeiza Int’l Airport.)

• These workshops will be fun, no-pressure, and full of inspiration. Each one is limited to no more than eight participants.

• Each workshop lasts two full (eight-hour) days, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A typical Argentine lunch (for omnivores and herbivores) is included in the price, along with free beverages throughout the day.

• The workshops are given by me, Camille Cusumano, journalist, book author, and editor with 30 years in publishing. See my Home Page.

February is summer’s end in Argentina and the living is easy and exciting. March is like September in the eastern United States – still warm and pleasant.

Price per workshop:

$195 (for two eight-hour days of instruction)

Choose from any of three sessions:

February 11–12, 2010

March 9–10, 2010

March 17–18, 2010

Extra, at no further charge: Each participant is entitled to a private follow-up consultation on your progress, in person, by phone, or email.

Reserve by December 30, 2009, below, with a $50 deposit, refundable up to a week before workshop starts. Balance due a week before workshop starts. Email me with any questions and tell me a little about yourself: ocaramia@earthlink.net or ocaramia@mac.com.

Workshops by Dates

February 11-12 $195.00 March 9-10 $195.00 March 17-18 $195.00

Mendoza, Argentina, July 25 to August 1, 2009

Camille Cusumano has been invited to teach a travel writing workshop in Mendoza, Argentina’s sunny wine country at the base of the Andes. Space is limited so if you’re interested see below for details and sign up soon.

There’s no more inspiring way to practice travel writing than to immerse yourself in a foreign culture. You find yourself crafting image-rich journal entries or lyrical postcards and emails. But how do you fashion prose with style and substance — that give your words broader appeal, longer shelf life, and publishing opportunities?

Learn how in a workshop, “Substance and Style in Travel Writing” from July 25 to August 1, 2009 while immersing yourself in the vibrant Argentine culture in Mendoza, the lovely wine country, located at the base of the Andes Mountains.

Think world-class wines, grass- fed beef, small-farm produce, and tango. Camille Cusumano, author of Tango, an Argentine Love Story, will lead the workshop, which is sponsored by the Mendoza Intercultural Association (MIA), a non-profit association whose purpose is to promote intercultural exchange between Argentina, the U.S. and other world cultures.

Your lodging and the workshop is at Posada de Rosas, a boutique inn in Mendoza, perfectly situated for exploring the lively town that is sure to inspire many story ideas. Your lodging hosts are American writer Ellen Hoffman and her artist partner, Riccardo Accurso.

In the first group session, participants will set a personal goal to accomplish during the workshop. In subsequent sessions, Camille will guide participants through topics including: the art of reporting and researching, how to pitch your article or book to an editor, how to find your own voice as a writer, self-editing, and more. More on the instructor.

Class sessions will alternate with a series of activities including visits to local wineries, a full-day excursion into the Andes mountains, and an opportunity to meet with local Mendoza writers. Camille will also be available for individual consultations.

WORKSHOP DATES: July 25- August 1, 2009
PROGRAM COST: $1,495.00 U.S., double occupancy; $350.00 U.S. single supplement. (Fee covers lodging, tuition and excursions, most lunches and some dinners, but not airfare).
REGISTRATION Deadline: June 1, 2009. Space is limited, so reserve early.
TO REGISTER AND FOR MORE INFORMATION ON COST, LODGING, MENDOZA: contact Ellen Hoffman at
ellen@mdz-intercultural.org or 304.876.2243 in the U.S.

INFORMATION ON THE WRITING WORKSHOP: Contact Camille at ocaramia@earthlink.net.

Space in the workshop is limited, so reserve now by contacting Ellen at Posada de Rosas:

ellen@mdz-intercultural.org .

Book Passage Bookstore
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
(415) 927-0960
(800) 999-7909

“Rolls of veal or horse and tomatoes,” the translation read.

There it was.

In that moment, when I expected to feel delight, a seed of doubt arose. I was not certain whether I could actually eat an equine. I had never owned a horse; my personal experience of them was not unlike my experience of cows, visible chiefly in rural fields, and from a distance. I eat steak occasionally, but I began to worry that horses might somehow be different. Could I actually consume a Seabiscuit steak? A Black Beauty roast? Filet o’ Flicka?”

This event is free. Location:

Book Passage Bookstore
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
(415) 927-0960
(800) 999-7909

Kraig Lieb and Michael Shapiro celebrate the publication of Guatemala: A Journey Through the Land of the Maya. Lieb, a photographer for Lonely Planet, will show slides illuminating the land, traditions and celebrations of the Maya in Guatemala. Shapiro, who wrote the text for this pictorial book, will address questions about traveling to Guatemala and the best places to see there. Saturday, Nov. 8, 7pm at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, Calif. 415-927-0960 or 800-999-7909 (toll free). Free.

Kraig Lieb and Michael Shapiro celebrate the publication of Guatemala: A Journey Through the Land of the Maya. Lieb, a photographer for Lonely Planet, will show slides illuminating the land, traditions and celebrations of the Maya in Guatemala. Shapiro, who wrote the text for this pictorial book, will address questions about traveling to Guatemala and the best places to see there. Friday, Nov. 7, 7pm at Copperfield’s Books, 138 N. Main St., Sebastopol, Calif., 707-823-2618. Free.

Sunday, October 12, 2008, 1 p.m to 4 p.m.

at the MUSEO ITALOAMERICANO,

Fort Mason Center, Building C, San Francisco
(415) 673-2200
sfmuseo@sbcglobal.net

A Tango Party

Writer Camille Cusumano will read from her latest book, Tango, an Argentine Love Story

In honor of the fact that Museo ItaloAmericano has offered to host the launch of her travel memoir, the author will talk briefly about how Italians put the go in Tango. Most seasoned travelers know that Buenos Aires is more Italian than anything else. But did you know that the most esteemed tango composers—DiSarli, D’Agostino, D’Arienzo, Biagi, Piazzola, Pugliese, to name but a few—whose music is played even today, were Italian?

Watch tango demos by well-known local tango dancers from the troupe, Libertango. Dance or just watch and listen to tango music from the Golden Era and contemporary composers. There’ll be refreshments and many literati, all in a beautiful venue on the San Francisco Bay, the Museo ItaloAmericano. View its latest exhibition for free while there (donations welcome).

Parking is easy and cheap in the Fort Mason lot.

The author wishes to express her deepest gratitude to the MUSEO ITALOAMERICANO, not only for its superb artistic and cultural contributions to the community, but for its continued support of her literary efforts. In 2000, the Museo hosted a huge book party for her first novel, The Last Cannoli, serving—what else?—several hundred cannoli and wine to the many satisfied patrons in attendance.

Click here for directions and to learn more about the Museo ItaloAmericano.

Praise for Tango

(Click on the names of these esteemed authors to learn more about them at their Web sites.)

“Tango is a remarkable addition to contemporary dharma literature. It reads like a thriller, a romance, and above all it shows the redemptive potential of a sincere spiritual practice.”
— Sylvia Boorstein, PhD, author of Happiness Is an Inside Job

“Camille Cusumano has lived out many a mid-life woman’s fantasy: packing her bags, slit skirts, and tango shoes and spending a year in Argentina. The result is a memoir that is like the dance itself: smooth, absorbing, and erotically charged.”
— Laura Fraser , author of An Italian Affair

“The transformative power of the tango embrace beautifully captured. Bravo!”
— Marina Palmer, author of Kiss & Tango

“I feel like a gangster,” an Irish fellow mutters, struggling to close his wallet around a fat wad of kip. We’ve congregated, with an ark-worthy queue of assorted foreigners, at the one ATM we could find in Luang Prabang. The most cash you can withdraw in a day is 700,000 kip: about 76 bucks. Within two days, you can be a kip millionaire.

Strangers talk to one another here, people who’d never strike up a conversation when touring London or Rome. It’s one of those clues that tell you this Mekong River town in northern Laos is an outpost. The atmosphere is part “Star Wars” bar, part “Casablanca.” Backpackers descend from the surrounding mountains or step ashore off slow boats, clutching tattered Lonely Planet guides. Europeans, Australians, Thais and a few Americans wing in on prop planes. Members of ethnic hill tribes, particularly the Hmong, appear at sunset, spreading their wares along the street. And everywhere you turn there are Buddhist monks in blazing-orange robes.  READ MORE >>

Judges were Beth Parke (Executive Director, Society of Environmental Journalists) and Gail Lash (Executive Director, Tourism for Peace).

The Itinerants won top awards:

• Laurie King won the Best Travel Article/Essay for Planet Earth Gold Award for Of Lemurs and Leeches

• Camille Cusamano, editor, won the Best Travel Book for Planet Earth Gold Award for Greece: A Love Story: Women Write about the Greek Experience

Newspaper Travel Articles: In this category, judged by Catharine Hamm (Travel Editor for the Los Angeles Times) and Georgia Hesse (award-winning travel writer; 19-year Travel Editor, San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle), winners were:

• Bill Fink: Gold Award for Accidentally Enjoying Albania, (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Laurie King: Silver Award for Of Lemurs and Leeches, (San Francisco Chronicle Magazine) and Bronze Award for The Anti-Ugly American (San Francisco Chronicle Magazine)

Travel-Related Essay/Article in an Anthology: In this category, judged by Kathryn Ettinger (Senior Editor, Moon Handbooks; Series Manager, Avalon Travel Publishing) and Carol Canter (travel journalist; Gold Award winner, Magazine Travel Article BATW Best 2005), we had another winner:

• Constance Hale: Silver Award for Cutouts: the Night Once Had a Thousand Eyes (Travelers’ Tales: The Best Travel Writing 2006)

Magazine Travel Article: Judges Al Bonowitz (Features Editor, Westways/Hawaii Westways) and Don George, (Editor, RECCE: Literary Journeys for the Discerning Traveler; former Travel Editor, Salon Wanderlust; former Travel Editor, San Francisco Examiner) chose:

• Constance Hale: Gold Award for Last of the Waimea Cowboys (National Geographic Adventure)