India, Nov. 30 -- Dear Reader,

"The thing about literary masterclasses is you have to give value - real value," says Alexandra Pringle, former Editor-in-Chief of Bloomsbury, in the authoritative tone of a woman who has spent decades publishing Nobel prizewinners like Abdulrazak Gurnah and bestsellers like Eat, Pray, Love.

We are sitting at a dinner feast under the Moroccan stars, bathed in the light of a thousand candles. Literally. Toasting our togetherness, eating lamb with hot, crusty bread and home-grown greens. This is as dreamy and five-star as a masterclass could be, the equivalent of a luxury cruise for literature, where instead of champagne buffets you get story structure, and instead of on-board entertainment you get lessons o...