pitching

SUNSHINE IN PARADISE! Relax and Write Memoir Retreat 2026 Rundown!

/ Edwina Shaw / Leave a comment

Memoir retreat gang 2026!

A glorious weekend of sunshine for our Relax and Write Memoir Writing Retreat this year. Blue skies, towering gums, birdsong and leaves rustling and the feeling of being the only ones left on earth. Peace to write and learn, and best of all, connect with other writers.

Photos by me, and last by Maggie Brown

A recent survey revealed that what most writers crave most isn’t new tech, or writing education or feedback. What writers want most is other writers. A community of writers. Providing a safe place for writers to connect and form solid writing friendships has always been a focus of these retreats. And this retreat was a grand example of how spending a few days away together cements writing friendships faster than years of monthly meetings.

Photos by Maggie Brown

Writing can be a lonely business, but on retreat it’s easy to talk about our stories, to have our ideas heard, to feel seen and valued. Non-writers don’t really understand the dedication and years of work that goes into every book, memoirs in particular, or the courage it takes to say, “My life matters. My ideas count. I deserve to be heard”. Other writers get it! And will keep cheering you on until those stories that have haunted you are finally out of your head and onto the page.

Photos by Maggie Brown – last one by me.

We had a wonderful group, our beloved retreataholics leading the pack, and a whole lot of new writers, testing the waters, trying out their writing chops and escaping the pressures of daily life to hide in the mountains and write. We had a lot of Gold Coast Writers this retreat, who I hope will form their own ongoing writing gang to share work. Our precious Faye came all the way from New Zealand – the retreat a birthday gift to herself. Amelia’s hubby gave her the retreat for her birthday and Angela flew up from Melbourne in search of an affordable retreat. 

Relaxing is just as important as writing, which is why gentle morning movement and deep guided relaxations are a part of every retreat. As is nap time! All activities are optional so you can design your own retreat and either attend everything on offer for an intensive learning experience, or sleep in and attend just a couple of workshops to get some ideas, then enjoy a massage, or grab a cup of tea and some of Gay’s delicious treats, head out with a picnic rug and find a place to lie in the sun and journal, read or just lie down and rest. Other writers came along to finish works in progress. Go Georgina go! Happy to report that her first draft is now complete!

Photos by Maggie Brown

Sunshine for a whole weekend in the rainforest is a rare treat, and we made the most of it. Pademelons grazed undisturbed between writers gazing into the treetops. Daydreaming is an important skill for writers.

We feasted on delicious, healthy meals and treats made with love by our beloved Chief Cookie, memoir author Gay Liddington, whose powerful and uplifting book, Will I Ever Be Who I Am, sold like hotcakes on retreat! (You can buy a copy HERE)

Photos by Maggie Brown (and me)

Monique provided bodywork treatments that left us floating a little above the ground, and miraculously healed Jeanelle’s hip! Thank you Monique, for your gentle touch and the wisdom and healing you bring to these retreats.

Photos of kindy collages by me.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s the people who attend these retreats that make them so special. As facilitator it gives me great joy to watch how women support and nurture each other. We cheer each other on and rush to help those struggling, not with story so much, but with the courage and confidence to tell it.

Each special soul who attended contributed to this beautiful weekend just by being themselves. It is a great privilege to bring these groups together. And in the grander scheme of things, I’m grateful that Dear Madman wasn’t published the first time it went to acquisitions in 2014, because if it had, I wouldn’t have created these retreats, which have become one of my life’s most satisfying and joyful achievements.

Happy campers with their collages. Traditional kindy photo to finish retreat. From top left: me, Anne, Angela, Katie, Faye, Sue, Helen, Liana, Jeanelle, Amelia, Bev, Rebecca and Shannon 🙂

Here’s what some of our retreaters had to say:

‘Edwina’s tuition at the Relax and Write Retreats condenses book loads of info on how to write into a weekend that’s fun, relaxing and, for me, easy to take in.’

Vivienne Wynter, author of the forthcoming Sunny (Hawkeye Press)

‘A soul-warming, inspiring weekend of connection, learning and love.’

Shannon

‘I loved the supportive, inclusive atmosphere and left feeling nourished and inspired.’

Angela

‘I love the quiet setting and variety of spaces to read and write. Meeting so many other writers was a bonus. I was able to disconnect and made progress on my writing.’

Maggie

‘Relax and Write is a rewarding experience. Should to shoulder we sit with authors in all stages of writing and the encouragement is strengthening from uncommon places. You will leave nourished in so many ways, it is unfathomable.’

Helen

‘Edwina is a wealth of knowledge who is extremely generous with her time, suggestions and guidance to help you develop your craft. ‘

Jeanelle

‘Want to write a book? When you don’t think you can, let Edwina prove you wrong. A wonderful retreat in every sense of the word, nurturing, enlightening and filled with love and encouragement.’

Beverley Young, author.

Thank you all!

The next Relax and Write Writing Retreat is our Feedback and Revision, Second Draft Retreat for those with a major project underway. August 7- 9,2026. All the info HERE! Plenty of spaces still available but book in fast before the retreataholics fill it up!

My next memoir retreat is a Transformational Writing Retreat in collaboration with the indefatigable Kerstin Pilz, author of Loving my Lying Dying Cheating Husband, in beautiful Byron Bay – September 19 – 25/2026. Two teachers. Five nights in paradise. Writing workshops, yoga and movement sessions, pranayama and deep relaxation, sound bowl healing, special dance therapy session, tarot readings, feedback and a whole lot more! Check it out HERE. Bookings now open! Imagine relaxing and writing for five whole days. Who knows what could happen? All genders are welcome at Transformational Writing Retreats.

Thank you to all the very special women who came along to this first retreat since my burnout. I couldn’t have dreamt of a better gang to bring me back into retreat mode. Thank you to my darling chief cookie and retreat partner, Gay for all you do with such great love and kindness. Thank you to our special helpers too, Vivienne, Tash and Jill. You made everything run like clockwork. Love you all.

Thank you to all my wonderful, inspirational 2026 memoir retreaters, for your energy, enthusiasm, talents and willingness to share. Thank you most of all for having the courage to write your stories. The world needs the stories of working women, of mothers, grandmothers, wise elders, carers and survivors. 

With lots of love,

Edwina xx

Photos by Maggie Brown, Beverley Young and me.

PS. Dear Madman event at Books@Stones this Saturday 18/4/2026. 2 – 3pm. Think of a question to ask me! I’d love to see your smiling face. BOOK HERE.

DEAR MADMAN IS BORN! If you can’t open the door, smash it down!

/ Edwina Shaw / 4 Comments

One week until my true crime memoir, Dear Madman, is officially launched into the world at Avid Reader. YAY! To say it’s been a long time coming is an understatement. Not for want of trying, either. Over the past twelve years, Dear Madman has been submitted hundreds of times and even made it to a few acquisitions meetings with big publishers, but never quite made it over the line. 

As all writers know, rejection is part of the job description. What non-writers don’t know is just how much each rejection hurts. A LOT. I knew this project was good – compelling, dark yes, but with a kind and hopeful heart – and couldn’t understand what was stopping publishers taking that last step and accepting it for publication. The decision usually came down to the marketing folk not being able to see where it fitted on bookshelves. HINT: The memoir section! Or True Crime! Two for the price of one.

Cover image of Dear Madman

I was first told about the man who killed my beloved Nana’s sister when I was a child. Since then, I’ve carried this story, always in the back of my mind. Trying to make sense of it, to shape it into a story, to create meaning from this senseless tragedy, seeking a way to understand it and the man himself so I could attempt the forgiveness rejected by my forebears. 

The story weighed heavily upon me, and I knew I had to be an experienced writer to attempt it. I also had to wait, until Nana and her generation had all passed. Nana’s been gone 30 years and her sister, the last of them, 24. All my life, whenever I tried to write the story or drew another picture of a girl with blood in her hair, my mother told me, “Whatever you do, don’t show Nana.” So I waited and carried the darkness of this story with me through life.

In 2010, I finally gave myself permission to start researching the truth behind the family myth. What I discovered took me down many deep rabbit holes and revealed a story with more twists and turns than the river that ran through the family farm where Nana grew up. Four years later, I took a suitcase stuffed with 15 kilos of printed research materials to Varuna House in the Blue Mountains where I’d been awarded a second book fellowship, determined to write my memoir. 

However, once I started to write another stronger voice demanded to be heard – the voice of the murderer. He was so loud and insistent he would have stolen the story for himself, so I made the decision to also include the multiple voices of Nana and her siblings and parents. I wanted to bring back to life the little girl who’d been murdered so young, to free her from the darkness that had entangled her with the bad man forever. After two weeks on retreat, I emerged with a full first draft – a novel recreating the events of the crime.

After this novelistic version failed to fly, I wrote an extended memoir piece talking about my research and what I’d discovered and the meaning I’d created from this tragedy. I intended to publish this separately as a companion piece as Kate Grenville did with her, Searching for The Secret River. That didn’t work either. 

More rejections. Argh they hurt! But year after year I kept scraping myself back up off the floor, continued teaching writing and started running writing retreats to share all I’d learnt. 

Then in the early 2020s I attended my friend, the incredibly talented writer, Kristina Olsson’s memoir course at QWC. Her award-winning book Boy Lost had been my model for Dear Madman, especially the way Kris had recreated scenes from her mother’s life. After the course, I met up with Kris and asked for her help with Madman. All those rejections had brought me very low. I was back down on that mat, and the referee was already at eight by the time I saw Kris. She reached a hand down to drag me back up to try again. Thank you Kris!

More drafts. I stopped counting how many after ten years. More submissions. All requested full reads. Agents loved it but didn’t know where to try (a hard ask as I’d tried just about every trade publisher in Australia), publishers read and sent brief, “not for me” messages without any further feedback. Another draft. Another rejection or two. 

Until I’d had enough and called my friend Matthew Wengert at AndAlso Books who published both Queersland and Bjelke Blues. Hooray for the little guys who are willing to take a gamble on a powerful story. 

British artist Tracy Enim once famously said, “If you can’t open the door, smash it down!” So with Matthew and his team on board, that’s what we’re setting out to do. I’ve been writing solidly these past 24 years and submitting to big Australian trade publishers the whole time. No matter how hard I tried, that door wouldn’t open. So now I’m blasting it down!

But for that door to really be smashed to smithereens, I need your help. Reviews, recommendations to friends, requests from your local bookstore, pre-orders, blog posts, social media photos – each small action will help the magic start to work. For months now my Heavenly Support Team has been cheering and partying up there like something wonderful has happened. Hopefully they’re right!

If you’d like to pre-order a copy you can do so HERE.

The launch on Friday March 6 is officially booked out but I have other events coming up. 

APRIL 18/2026 2 pm: Dear Madman, in conversation with the super lovely and talented Fiona Robertson at Books@Stones. Book HERE

APRIL 26/2026 11 am: Dear Madman at the Police Museum in Roma Street (Ha! Last time I was there was under very different circumstances!! Joh era). No link to the event, as yet.

How long does it take to write a book? As long as it takes! 

I held a copy of Dear Madman for the first time on my birthday last week. It felt good. Very good. Relief initially, but as the days have passed I’ve experienced a great lifting of this dark burden, a new lightness being born within me. 

At last, this story I’ve carried most of my life is out of my head. I no longer need to bear its weight. Now it’s outside me in a book I can put down and pick up again. A book that is born and is now in the hands of you, the reader (and the heavenly support team). Phew!

Thank you for travelling this long road with me. I hope you’ll enjoy the fruits of my labours. See you at one of the events, I hope! Come and say hello. 

Lots of love,

Edwina xx