Writers Retreat 2025

Nine Experiments for Enriching Your Creativity

Join Australian author Charlotte Wood, shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize 2024, for an intimate writing retreat. The Intuitive Writer: Nine Experiments for Enriching Your Creativity will give writers the tools and confidence they need to refine their writing.

Set to take place from Sunday 16 March to Sunday 23 March 2025 at the Plataran Ubud Hotel & Spa, a five star resort that offers a sprawling haven of tranquillity in Ubud, this week-long writing adventure features five two-hour workshops led by Charlotte Wood that aim to demystify the creative process.

By applying Wood’s meticulously researched techniques for crafting meaningful and powerful work, participants will engage deeply with her methods, gaining valuable insights that will enhance the creative journey and help produce writing of true substance.

Charlotte has developed her ‘Nine Experiments’ through more than 30 years of writing fiction, along with insights gained from her many interviews with writers and artists and a doctoral study of the creative process.

Dr. Charlotte Wood is the author of seven novels and three nonfiction books. Her latest novel, Stone Yard Devotional, was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, praised as “a fierce and philosophical interrogation of history, memory, nature, and human existence” that “chilled and thrilled the judges.” The UK Guardian described it as “a quiet novel of immense power,” while Sunday Times critic Johanna Thomas-Corr called it “a beautiful, mature work that does not flinch from life.” It has received accolades from authors like Anne Enright and Tim Winton and was shortlisted for several Australian prizes in 2024.

About Charlotte Wood

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The retreat commences with a Balinese long-table feast at Casa Luna hosted by Janet DeNeefe, the festival director, and Charlotte. Here you will meet your fellow participants, settling in for a cosy evening of delightful food, drinks, and engaging conversation about the art of writing.

The retreat itself is set in the opulent Plataran Ubud Hotel & Spa, situated amid the bustle of Ubud’s vibrant cultural precinct and surrounded by beautifully preserved gardens that overlook a stunning panorama of rice paddy field - the perfect place to be inspired as you peel back the layers of your creative writing practice.

Your daily schedule will include waking up to the tropical sounds of nature, taking a refreshing dip in the pool, and indulging in a lavish breakfast to fuel your creativity.

Charlotte is a lucid and inspiring workshop leader. She offers excellent, original, and truly generative approaches. She has some of the smartest, most practically useful writing advice I’ve encountered, and she honours the magic in the process too. I can’t recommend her highly enough—whether you’re a beginner writer or on your fifth book.

Emily Perkins, New Zealand novelist

In the mornings join Charlotte's immersive workshop, exploring one or two of the nine processes, with plenty of time for questions and deep discussion. At the end of the morning’s workshop each writer will receive a page of specially designed, practical exercises for applying to their work-in-progress.

Afternoons are dedicated to self-guided writing sessions in the workshop space, or should you wish, indulging in the opulent sanctuary that is Padma Spa at Plataran. Experience Bali's oasis of relaxation with boutique spa treatments using natural ingredients which are imbued with Bali’s earthy essences and calm tranquility, rejuvenating you for your next writing session.

As we all recognize, inspiration springs not only from moments of tranquility but also from the thrill of adventure. Our retreat will feature an enchanting tour of a lesser-known gem in Bali, with the precise location revealed upon confirmation of your booking.

The Intuitive Writer: Nine Experiments for Enriching Your Creativity provides writers with the tools and confidence to refine their writing and go deeper into their practice. After completing this exceptional workshop, participants will join Charlotte for a dinner celebration with an informal Q&A and debrief.

A focused 3-day writing course...

...unraveling your writing practice.

Enjoy a Welcome Dinner at Casa Luna

and discover Ubud and its beautiful surroundings.

INCLUSIONS & PRICES

The price of the retreat includes the following benefits:

2025 Retreat

/01

A unique program of five 2-hour writing workshops with author Charlotte Wood.

/02

Five 1-hour feedback sessions with Charlotte Wood for participants to debrief and provide feedback on the workshop session and exercise, held in the afternoon.

/03

Seven nights’ accommodation at Plataran Ubud Hotel & Spa, a 5-star resort

/04

Welcome dinner with Festival Director, Janet DeNeefe with Charlotte Wood.

/05

Participate in one of Plataran’s cultural activities based on their weekly schedule.

/06

Breakfast, morning tea and afternoon tea included throughout the stay

/07

On workshop days, from Monday to Friday, lunch, as well as morning and afternoon tea, will be served in the workshop space during the course to fuel your creativity.

/08

Airport transfers, transfers to the Welcome dinner, and the celebration dinner.

/09

A cultural excursion to discover Ubud's rich heritage and its beautiful surroundings.

Single Occupancy

Price

AUD 6,500

USD 4,350

Twin Sharing Occupancy

Price

AUD 5,900

USD 3,950

If you are interested in joining this writer's retreat, the info kit will provide you with everything you need to know about the inclusions, price, payment options, schedule, and our cancellation policy.

INFO KIT TO DOWNLOAD

PDF Format (163 KB)

Charlotte’s experiments have become the most helpful descriptors for me, especially when I need to understand what it is I am doing – so I can go further. My current favourites are heat-seeking, connecting and disrupting. By naming these distinct elements of the process, I can energise myself and the work. So the naming carries its own force field, and it is one of the most exciting things I have learnt about writing. Ever. I feel much better resourced, and I am so grateful for the generous sharing of that.

Courtney Collins, Australian author and screenwriter

Application Form

This Bali retreat is open to experienced writers of serious intent and commitment, who have been working on one or more long-form project or projects for at least two years. Publication is not a requirement, but this retreat is not suitable for beginners. We will consider writers of fiction, poetry, literary non-fiction or memoir.

Note: Charlotte will not read participants’ work in progress and they will not be workshopping their writing with others (unless they wish to privately in their own time).

Your Contact Details:

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Your Submission:

A writing sample (max 500 words) *

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Project description (max 500 words) *

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Stage of work and major issues (max 200 words)

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Writing & learning experience (max 150 words) *

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Your model writers and/or books (maximum 100 words) *

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The application deadline is 2 December 2024. We will will notify applicants by 11 December 2024.

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Charlotte has a rare and wonderful ability to create a space of trust, vulnerability, and openness between writers, as well, simultaneously, as encouraging curiosity, intellectual rigor and even daring. She does this by modeling all of these qualities herself, with absolute authenticity. I found her class incredibly empowering and have continued to be fed and stimulated by both the ideas and the sense of community Charlotte created, months after the end of the course.

Emily Bitto, Australian author and winner of the Stella Prize