FAQs

Literature Wales has prepared thoroughly for your stay, and an up to date Risk Assessment can be viewed on request.

Reduced capacity: We have reduced the number of guests on each course by removing shared-room and shared-bathroom options. Every guest will now have their own bedroom and bathroom, and we suggest avoiding using the common bathrooms where possible. Capacity numbers are provided for the common rooms, and signage at the centre reminds guests of the need to stay two meters apart at all times. Office staff will also be reduced in number, with only essential staff on site during your visit.

Cleaning: the site has been cleaned thoroughly by professional cleaners before your visit using virucidal disinfectant, and the laundry has been washed and prepared by a professional laundry company. We have reduced clutter, including the removal of cushions and throws. As much as possible, we have left windows open to encourage the flow and circulation of fresh air. During your stay, staff members will follow a cleaning rota to ensure that door handles, light switches, banisters, kettles etc. are regularly cleaned.

Hand Sanitizer, disposable gloves and face-masks have been bought for you to use, and we will ask you to sanitize your hands on entry – and wash your hands often. Please help yourselves to gloves and masks if you’d like to use them on your walks and day trips, and use the hand sanitizer when on site – but please leave the bottles for our next guests. Staff members will be wearing face-masks.

We are up to date with official guidance, and are keeping a close eye on any local news and announcements to do with the coronavirus. We will tell you if there is anything you should know about. We also operate a contact tracing system. Please let us know if you fall ill with the virus within two weeks of your stay with us. Information sheets will be available at the centre reminding guests of symptoms, and giving instructions on what to do should you – or others – fall ill during your stay.

New procedures: one-way systems, new arrival procedures and new catering procedures are in place to ensure the safety of guests and staff. See below for more information.

Yes. Contrary to our usual environmentally friendly request that our guests use public transport, for the time being you are encouraged to travel by car. If this is not possible, remember that wearing a face mask on public transport is required by law, and frequent hand-washing during your trip is advised.

Please make sure that you are healthy before your visit, showing no symptoms of coronavirus nor having been in contact with anyone with the virus or showing symptoms. We would urge you to try and isolate and/or social distance as much as possible before your visit to Tŷ Newydd to reduce risk.

On arrival, please enter through the conservatory front door, where you can see whether there are other guests and staff present: please avoid crowding into the conservatory lobby, remembering the two meter rule. We will take your temperature on arrival with a contactless thermometer gun; and there will be hand sanitizer by the door (and in various other locations around the house) for you to use.

Staff members will be wearing face masks.

A staff member will show you to your bedroom but will not be able to carry your luggage unless you have any access needs – and if so, please let us know so we can make arrangements beforehand.

To protect our guests and our neighbours, we kindly ask you to consider avoiding local shops, cafes, restaurants, and pubs during your stay – especially those that do not offer an open-air service.

However if you do go visit local shops, attractions and eateries – please consider wearing a face-mask, sanitize your hands before entry, and remember to keep two meters apart from others. We encourage you to sign Visit Wales’ pledge to visit Wales safely.

Yes. To ensure that our guests do not transmit the virus to others, we will allow a discretionary refund of all fees if a guest needs to cancel their space on a course or a retreat, as outlined in our Booking Terms and Conditions. We kindly ask that guests do not take advantage of this clause, and consider the catastrophic impact the pandemic has had on some charities and artistic venues.a

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

• a high temperature: this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature, but a thermometer will be available to use)
• a new, continuous cough: this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste: this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

If you develop one of these symptoms, you should:

• Immediately isolate in your bedroom, and call the staff member on duty to report your concerns. We can discuss the best course of action on the phone.
• If you are well enough to drive, we would then encourage you to safely return home, and arrange to get a test.
• The staff member will notify all the other guests, who will be offered the option to return home and arrange to get a test.
• The suspected patient should report the result of his/her test to Literature Wales as soon as possible, who will then share the information with the group.

This is up to you to personally decide. Everyone is at risk for getting COVID-19 if they are exposed to the virus, but some people are more likely than others to become severely ill.

This FAQ page should give you information on the procedures we have taken to minimise the risk of the virus spreading and infecting guests at Tŷ Newydd, but unfortunately we cannot guarantee anyone’s safety – especially considering that the group might be made up of individuals from a range of different destinations.

We encourage you to start a conversation with us if you’d like more information, or if you would like to visit Tŷ Newydd and avoid being in a group how about a stay at our Nant Writers’ Retreat Cottage and enjoy a solitary stay?

Gwynedd local authority is currently not in local lockdown. We will contact guests if the situation change. Please follow Welsh Government and your own local authority’s official advice and restrictions before planning to travel.

Yes. We encourage anyone who feels the urge to write to attend a course at Tŷ Newydd. Your experience will give you a clear idea of what it means to be a writer and, hopefully, you will leave with a toolbox of skills to get you started. Whether you are a poet who wants to develop the craft, or a literature enthusiast who has never put pen to paper, everyone is welcome at Tŷ Newydd.

Yes – most courses will be relevant to you, and most courses will offer one-to-one tuition which will push you individually. Many published writers acknowledge Tŷ Newydd’s unique role in their career development, and return as participants on courses year after year. Our course programme is available to view and book here.

The topics, themes, genres, forms and styles covered in the Tŷ Newydd programme vary hugely. We understand the time and financial commitment of attending a writing course, so please feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss the course descriptions further and we will advise you, or put you in touch with the tutors.

Residential week-long courses usually run from Monday evening to Saturday morning, but check every course listing for individual course details. You will enjoy group workshop sessions, readings and individual tutorials. But there’s always time for your own writing, for walking and exploring this beautiful part of north Wales. Find out more about a typical week at Tŷ Newydd.

While the tutored courses offer an intensive development of your craft, our retreats allow you to take things at your own pace. Perhaps you want to start a novel from scratch, add the finishing touches to your poetry collection, or try out a new idea somewhere different, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. On a retreat, you will have the calm and the solitude to work on your project. Nature is on your doorstep, so you can explore freely, and without restrictions. There will no doubt be opportunities to discuss your work with fellow writers over supper should you so wish. You will have your own room, and home cooked meals will be provided for you. Our Retreats are now available to book.

There is an application process for Masterclasses so that we can select writers who have similar levels of experience and expertise. Check individual Masterclasses for the closing date to apply, and the application requirements.

Course numbers vary depending on the type and format of the course. The maximum number of participants on a residential course is 16; on a retreat, it is 14.

Nobody will force you to read, but we are told time and time again by course participants about the benefits of doing so. Listening to others read their work is one of the many ways in which you will be inspired.

We do suggest that you attend all workshops. Each course will be structured as a progressive journey, so missing sessions might mean that you lose an important, linking topic. If you don’t like the sound of the workshops, perhaps a Retreat would suit you better.

This is up to you. Tutors will sometimes set tasks where you are expected to write something to a deadline, usually for the purpose of a workshop.

There are two spaces in the house which together house the literary collection: the main library on the first floor and the Lolfa Lên (Literature Lounge) on the ground floor. Our eclectic literary collection includes fiction (novels and short stories), poetry, biography, autobiography, drama and creative non-fiction. During your stay at Tŷ Newydd, you are welcome to borrow books from the library collection. All books should be returned to the relevant library at the end of your stay.

If there are any specific ways in which you need to prepare, we will let you know beforehand. Sometimes tutors will give out a reading list, or ask participants to bring an example of their work or work in progress.

You can choose a single room, or a shared room – depending on availability. Unfortunately we can’t accept requests for specific rooms.

This depends on your location within Tŷ Newydd, some rooms have private bathrooms and others have shared bathrooms.

We suggest bringing a small towel. One bath towel is provided at Tŷ Newydd for you. If you require a fresh set at all during your stay, we ask kindly for a £5 contribution to cover these.

A towel, [Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

Yes. There is a lift and mobility impaired access to the main communal areas within the house – with the exception of the kitchen. We have a specially adapted bedroom located to the front of our outbuilding just across the yard from the main House. It is suitable for wheelchair users and those with limited mobility, with a specially adapted wet room next door with a shower, washbasin and W.C. For further information on accessibility, please click here or call 01766 522811 to discuss your specific requirements.

Yes. Please contact us on 01766 522811 or tynewydd@literaturewales.org for more information and to discuss your requirements further.

There is one communal computer and printer on site for your use. We suggest you bring your own writing materials, so the computer is kept relatively free for printing and quick research. There is also free Wi-Fi throughout most of the house and grounds.

Due to Tŷ Newydd’s rural location, mobile telephone coverage can be sporadic on site.  If your family or friends need to contact you they can call the Tŷ Newydd office (01766 522811) during office hours (9.30 am – 5.00 pm).

Tŷ Newydd is located in a beautiful part of northwest Wales. For full details on how to find us, click here.

On retreats and weekend courses, meals are prepared for you. On week-long residential and educational courses, however, you are invited to help prepare a meal with your fellow course participants for one night of your stay. If you aren’t confident with cooking, there other things you can help with – clearing up, washing the dishes, laying the table, and so on.

Breakfast, lunch and an evening meal daily. You may help yourself to fruit, biscuits and other snacks throughout the day too. Breakfast is self-serve, with lots to choose from; lunch is buffet style; and the evening meal has plenty of options to suit everybody. On week-long residential courses, school and university courses, participants help with the cooking.

Yes. Please let us know what your requirements are when booking, and we will make sure that there are plenty of options to suit your needs. Our catering team have years of experience of catering for a variety of complex dietary requirements.

Tŷ Newydd offers complimentary wine with the welcome meal on the first evening of a residential course. We don’t have a licence to sell alcohol, but there are a number of local shops that sell wine in Cricieth and a friendly village pub, Y Plu, in Llanystumdwy just a short walking distance away.

If you have decided on a course, you can book quickly and easily online on our website. If you’d rather have a paper form and pay by cheque, please contact us for more details.

All the booking terms and conditions can be viewed here.

When booking, we ask for a deposit of £100. This deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable once the booking is confirmed. The balance is due six weeks before the course start date. If you cancel after this date the balance will only be returned if your place on the course is filled. It is advisable to arrange your own insurance to cover this eventuality. Literature Wales reserves the right to cancel up to two weeks before the start of the course. In these circumstances, a full refund will be made.