Situated in the hills above Loch Ness, the Moniack Mhor Writers' Centre is a magical and inspiring place to be, whatever the weather. But it has to be said that this year, the Pushkin Prizewinners were particularly grateful for the warmth and cosiness of the converted farmhouse buildings! Between showers though, everyone (well, almost everyone....) made the most of the beautiful countryside and of tutor Gerry Cambridge's extensive knowledge of the local wildlife.

Cathy MacPhail was the other tutor and even though she and Gerry are 'old-hands' now, each year the Pushkin Prizewinners surprise, impress and entertain them anew with their talent, enthusiasm, humour and ideas. And the Class of 2009 was no exception. Gerry and Cathy guided the prizewinners through a series of seminars and individual tutorials designed to build on their existing writing skills and occasionally to challenge them to venture out of their comfort zones. This year local author, Barry Hutchison popped in mid-week to share his experience of being a writer and everyone had plenty of questions to ask him about the publishing process. The final session on Friday morning when everyone shared their work and utilised Cathy and Gerry's tips on presentation, demonstrated how much progress they all had made during the week.

In addition to the writing element of the course, we had our traditional trip to the picturesque ruins of Castle Urquhart on the shores of Loch Ness; went rambling - weather permitting; scared ourselves silly with ghostly tales; staged a 'Scotland & Russia Have Got Talent' ceilidh; shared favourite stories and poems; and cooked and enjoyed truly delicious meals. Polina, our winner from St Petersburg, impressed us all with her English, but sadly, despite Polina's patient teaching, our Russian didn't progress much beyond 'privyet' (hello) and 'do svydaniya' (goodbye/till we meet again). Perhaps most importantly, firm friendships were established, which will be sustained by shared happy memories and the wholesale exchange of email addresses.

Another memorable Pushkin Prizes year. Perhaps you'll be with us in 2010?

Do svydaniya!