Interested in joining us on retreat in Europe? While we don't have active dates on the calendar just yet, we are always dreaming up future possibilities across Italy, France, and beyond.
Join our notification list below to be the first to know when new retreat offerings take shape.
The Retreat Experience
Imagine waking up to scenic views outside your window, taking in the quiet beauty of the morning. Wander down for coffee and breakfast, or explore the surrounding trails as the day gently awakens. From there, we gather for inspiring, interactive sessions—diving into craft, discovering fresh perspectives, and bringing your writing to life.
Your afternoons are yours to shape: stroll the grounds, find a quiet nook to write up a storm, or simply rest and recharge. Later in the day, we regroup for an insightful Q&A focused on the daily lesson, followed by a delicious communal feast paired with exceptional local wines—the perfect chance to connect with fellow writers or quietly reflect on the pleasures of the day.
Literary Nourishment
Our retreats offer a balance of inspiring teachings and the plentiful space and time we need to see our writing with fresh eyes and replenish our creative well.
Bestselling author Alison Wearing will offer focused daily teachings on the critical elements of memoir and how to employ them in our writing, as well as small group sessions and informal Q&As, ensuring that all participants have a chance to discuss and explore their ideas and projects in depth over the course of the week.
The aim of the retreat is to provide writers with inspiration and insight, as well as the direction, focus, clarity, enthusiasm and energy they need to move forward with their writing projects. This retreat is dedicated to literary nourishment: feeding the creative spirit in an inspiring and supportive environment.
Just to clarify: if you are looking for direct feedback on your manuscript, this is not the retreat for you. But if you are looking to deepen your understanding of the essentials of memoir and what you need to consider and employ when crafting your story or book; if you are looking for inspiration and direction, clarity and companionship, joy, beauty, literary nourishment and balm for the soul — this will be a good fit for you. :)
Prepare While You Wait
While our retreat planning takes place behind the scenes, you can start laying the foundation for your project right away through our Memoir Writing Ink course.
If you’ve already taken the course, remember you can always refer back to your course portal and revisit key lessons to keep your draft sharp.
If you haven't taken the course yet, completing it ahead of time is a wonderful way to develop the writing you bring to Europe—and ensures everyone arrives on the same page (literally and figuratively!) as far as memoir essentials are concerned.
Current Offerings
If you’re ready to pack your bags sooner, you may wish to take a peak at our current upcoming retreats for available dates and open registrations.
A portion of all proceeds will be put toward tree-planting efforts with TreeCanada, which has planted more than 83 million native trees in urban, rural and wilderness areas and sequestered millions of tons of carbon pollution in the process. This ‘carbon calculator’ calculates carbon use (per flight) and estimates the number of trees that need to be planted to offset that use [somewhat]. Obviously, this is an imperfect solution, but it does, at the very least, add more trees to this world.
Interested in future retreats?
To join the waiting list and receive updates and advance notification of future retreats,
please complete this form.
