The retreat gang – August 2023

Yes! We’ve been holding retreats in the misty mountain rainforest of Springbrook for several years now, and it’s always been cloudy, if not pelting down rain. But this time for our latest retreat, the sun shone bright and beautiful for our whole weekend for the annual FEEDBACK AND REVISION SECOND DRAFT RETREAT– a special blessing!

How wonderful it was to see new writing buddies clustering together on blankets out in the sun, writers propped up against tree trunks scribbling in journals, others basking on rugs dozing and daydreaming of their stories. 

We started early on Friday for this retreat, with more time for solo writing in the afternoon before our welcome and first workshop where we drilled down into the heart of our stories and worked on our story premises and the all-important central quest or question. A delicious home cooked dinner, provided by our unstoppable Chief Cookie and talented writer Gay Liddington, filled our bellies, followed by fireside chats and early to bed. The mountain was chilly once the sun went down but we were cosy and warm with our electric blankets and the fire in the hall.

Saturday on these weekend retreats is always busy, packed full of workshops, individual and group feedback sessions and yoga. Early birds started with yoga to calm and centre ourselves and prepare for creative outpourings. The workshop focused on structure and how to create narrative drive, because if we can’t keep readers turning pages, we’re not doing our job as writers. We brainstormed ideas as a group and in smaller feedback buddy gangs and learnt about how to use sequences to break the huge jigsaw puzzle of full length MSs into smaller more manageable sections. 

After Gay’s amazing Cauliflower Bake for lunch, we had excursions to the waterfall lookout, individual feedback sessions and feedback groups, and miraculous and deeply healing bodywork treatments by Monique De Goey who sorted us all out and tended to problem areas. 

In the evening, we wound down and got out of our busy heads with some yoga breathing exercises – pranayama – that had us all floating over to the hall for dinner. Indian feasting was in order, followed by chocolate brownies for dessert, readings around the fire and for the night owls a bonfire with ghost stories that had them all planning to sleep in the same room! Sausages!!

Sunday started with yoga, with guest teacher Monique showing us ways to release tension through our shoulders and arms – much needed for those of us typing away all day, every day. Sunday’s workshop covered Publishing Pathways, writing a synopsis and a pitch, goal setting and my favourite – collage! My phone battery died on camp so I don’t have the traditional collage photos, but we have lots of laughing group shots instead.

I love hosting these retreats. I am always reminded that it’s the process not the product that’s most important. Repeat retreater and talented prose writer, Liana Brown, wrote her first poem, which flicked the switch in my head from despairing over a recent rejection to relishing the joy of being a writer, a creative artist surrounded by and assisting other artists, to create our best work and live our best lives. Here’s Liana’s poem. I hope it inspires you too.

Liana busily writing and planning. Index cards anyone?

UNFINISHED

By Liana Brown

I am a work of art, only unfinished.

I am a block of marble at which to chip way

I am the dawn, noon, and dusk of another day

I am spinning on a potter’s wheel, a curvaceous vase of clay

And you may look upon me, a work in progress, and say:

‘Who do you think you are?’

And I will reply:

I am a work of art, only 

Unfinished

I am a sonnet, an aria, a love story untold

I am the red pen, strikethrough, italics and bold 

I am a hit Broadway play without a ticket yet sold 

And you may hear me, a 27^th draft, and scold: 

‘Who do you think you are?’

And I will reply:

I am a work of love, only

Unfinished

I am a canvas on which paint will never dry

I am a one-woman tango where I will stumble on every try

I am a plane out of gas writing in the sky

And you may roll your eyes, and ask why I even try

And I’ll reply:

I am unfinished.

Finished, never will I be.

And for all of us unfinished

The beauty is that we are free

Free to crack the marble, warp the clay

Free to fail, to learn, to go on day after day

Free to toil, to our hearts’ content

Until our writing is backwards and paintbrushes are bent

Because I am exactly what I want to be:

I am unfinished. 

Beautifully, magically, ravenousl-.

We are writers, published or not. It is the act of writing that makes us so. Our desire to examine life and the human condition more closely and make sense of it all through words. Our capacity to create beauty from even the greatest pain is what makes us all artists/writers, finished or not!

Feedback from retreaters:

“Edwina creates amazing writing and creative experiences. I’m proudly a repeat retreater and will be back again. I feel refreshed and ready for the next stage of my writing journey.” Karina Ames

“A luscious and rejuvenating retreat. Thoughtful workshops, yoga and nourishing food. Thank you!” Naomi Alexander

“Edwina has a wonderful ability to create a safe, creative space to learn, laugh, be nurtured and inspired to step into our individual writer’s voices.” Dolores Cummins

The memoir retreat is in Springbrook again – Come on Sunshine! – October 20 -22. It is almost totally full but if you’re super keen drop me a line and pay your deposit ASAP to take the very last spot.

Gay and other retreaters reminded me that these retreats are much more than just “writing retreats”.

They are holistic, restorative retreats for writers, a place where your writing is important but nurturing you as a person is equally so. 

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! HEAVENLY HOI AN!!

Are you ready to reboot your writing and your whole life? The adventure of a lifetime? Join my talented friend, Kerstin Pilz and me in VIETNAM in February (cool season in Vietnam) for a week-long rejuvenation of your writing and your creative soul. From February 2 – 7 in beautiful Hoi An, a delightful, ancient, seaside town, far from the madding crowds of the major centres, Kerstin and I will be hosting a small group retreat with yoga every morning, workshops covering all aspects of writing – whether memoir or fiction, providing feedback, winding down with pranayama, leading excursions down the river to the markets, divining the future with tarot, cooking up a Vietnamese storm with cooking classes, reading, relaxing and exploring and writing writing writing. COME AND JOIN US! Your creative spirit deserves this special treat. 

Not only that, plans are underway for a small group to travel together after retreat. So if you’ve always wanted to see Vietnam but didn’t want to go on your own, then join us for the inspiration and nurturing of retreat then join our group of participants traveling onwards in company. Sound like the answer to your prayers? It is!! Check out all the info HERE and book in soon. Early bird prices end in September.

Kerstin and I are the perfect team, and you’ll benefit from two experienced, published authors, fun facilitators and insightful yoga teachers. Don’t wait too long, places are already filling fast. You deserve this treat. Put yourself top of your TO DO list for once and book in now.

These week-long retreats are open to all 🙂

Don’t keep saying, “One day”. This is your day. Your life. Enjoy the ride!

Lots of love

Edwina xx