The council periodically hosts one-day mini-retreats that feature lively discussions in congenial settings. In recent years mini-retreats have often been held in February at the Mechanics Institute Library, 57 Post Street, San Francisco. Recent events have typically featured discussion of a novel in conjunction with viewing of a film adaptation.
The next mini-retreat will take place on February 6, 2010.
Since this event sells out every year, notices are sent only to a list of previous attendees and those who have expressed interest in attending. If you have NOT received a notice in the past and are interested in attending, please email event chair Claudia O'Callaghan at callcoc@aol.com, and include your mailing address. The event announcement will be mailed in November.
Mini-retreats in recent years have featured discussions of great works of fiction as well as discussion of works on human rights and privacy. These have sometimes been paired with tours of our surroundings, including the Academy of Sciences, the Arboretum, the Main Library and the Museum of Modern Art, or with film adaptations of the works being discussed, which have recently included The Unbearable Lightness of Being, 1984, The End of the Affair, Death in Venice, Lolita and The Painted Veil.