Joya: AiR / Mafe Valen / ESP

photo Simon Beckmann

Joya: AiR / Mafe Valen / ESP

“After a few years of writing a screenplay, I arrived at Joya, hoping to shed the weight of endless writes and rewrites that had stiffened my muse into a stone. My time there provided me with exactly what I needed, and by the time I left, my muse had returned soft and flowing, and I was already deep into my next project.

The key was reconnecting with my body. I rediscovered that writing is not only about thinking, but also about living with all the senses. I walked the stunning landscape every day, shared meals with fellow artists, and worked with rocks, trying to get shards of flint. These physical acts unlocked my writing in ways that sitting at a desk never could. Simon and Donna have created something very valuable: a space where artists can rest, play, and reconnect with elemental things. I left grateful, renewed, and ready to dig into the raw materials of my next story”.

Mafe Valen

A screenwriter and visual artist with a multidisciplinary background, Mafe holds an MA in Creative Writing: Screenwriting from the University of East Anglia (2021-2023), where she achieved a Distinction, and a BA (Hons) in Visual Communication: Animation from Heriot-Watt University (2001-2004), graduating with a First Class degree.

Her artistic foundations were laid early, studying Illustration at La Llotja School of Art in Barcelona, a formative period that deeply influenced her visual storytelling approach. Her professional journey spans film, visual arts, and writing. She wrote the screenplay for 'Dry River' (2022), a Western film starring Michael Moriarty, and she is currently developing multiple projects including 'Padre', a drama about a worker-priest in Francoist Spain, and 'She of the Woods', a reimagining of Beowulf from Grendel's mother's perspective.