To start off the year on the right foot, I was lucky enough to take part in a residency at Faberllull Olot, developing a project I have been working on for the past three years. My day-to-day life, which is more focused on the social sector and activism, didn’t leave me much time for writing. At Faber I found just the right place to stop and focus on my manuscript. My idea was to spend the fifteen days of the residency finishing my novel and getting the manuscript ready to possibly be promoted and published. My novel, in Catalan, is about the experiences of three women at different points in their lives (teens, twenties and thirties). It is a reflection on the price of identifying as a woman and having to choose to fit in a place and a body when this choice isn’t always conscious or even possible.

Thanks to the marvellous stay at Hotel Riu Fluvià, I was able to achieve the goals I had set. The place was perfect, helping me concentrate and organise my time in the way that suited me best. The room where I worked was comfortable and spacious, and there were other places at the hotel where I could work, read or just relax. Plus, there was a small flat where I could cook and do laundry. The hotel is very close to gorgeous rural areas, so I got to hike out into nature in the middle of nowhere. And you can also walk to shops or the city centre when you need to. The truth is, I had everything I needed and this comfortable setting allowed me to focus exclusively on working on my manuscript.

During my stay, I was lucky to coincide with other people doing individual residencies (we met up when we fancied it, and ate dinner together). Artists from around the world working in various disciplines, we shared experiences and meals, enriching our days and surely my creative process. It was great to be there with people who, when we wanted to, were open to doing activities or having a chat. This way the residency didn’t get lonely or boring. Each of us was at a different point in our creative process and it was helpful to see how others organised their work, to share impressions, experiences and interests, and to discover other creative processes and references. This really helped me and motivated me to work.