Writing Retreat - Lesbos 20-27 June

In 2024 we offer a 7 night retreat, open to all who wish to deepen their writing. ​​ This is for writers who just need dedicated time away from your ordinary life to totally immerse in a creative environment. The time is both a deep-dive into your own book, and also a task-based programme to get your word count up, or finish your book ready for submission. Both advanced and novice writers are welcome..   

RETREAT COSTS 2024

8 Days/7 Nights

* ​Payment plan is a deposit plus 2 payments. 

* Payment options include direct bank transfers, credit card (on this site), Paypal or Venmo. 

Deposit €600 on acceptance of place

​

Rooms €3,600 for single occupancy depending on room choice

Sharing room €2,800 per person

Non Residential Ticket €2750

Returning Writers Retreat (Non Residential) €1,800 does not incl hotel and meals (only breakfast and feasts)

Bringing a non-writing friend?  Supplement of €1250

Returning writers ? Please email for your special discounted rate

COST INCLUDES

• 7 nights accommodation in a boutique hotel in the heart of the village, one block from the beach
• Transfers to and from the airport (2 hours drive)
• A daily Greek breakfast AND a second meal (either lunch or dinner) - half board.
• 3 Greek feasts in local restaurants.
• A guided writing process lead by literary agent Sarah Bullen and Emma Dhesi
• Personal one-on-one session with Sarah
• Guest experts and authors
• A trip around the island stopping at hidden beaches to swim and eat traditional food
• An afternoon tour wondering the small village
• Creative and life sessions

COST EXCLUDES

• Your flights to Athens
• Your flight or overnight ferry to Mytilini.
• Your drinks at the group dinners or at the hotel bar
• Other meals not specified above

WHERE IS IT?

In 2024 we are going back to Skala Eressos, Lesvos due to popular demand.   We gather here every year in the bohemian village of Skala Eressos on the island Lesbos - spiritual home of the writer's muse Sappho.  Your base is a gorgeous hotel right on the beach with swimming pool, boating and wonderful Greek Food, on the edge of the the laid-back, coastal village of Skala Eressos.  The island of Lesvos (sometimes called Lesbos or Mytilini) is uniquely beautiful and the eastern side where the retreat is held is characterised by the dry volcanic rock and landscape in summer.  It is the third largest of the islands in Greece behind Crete and Evia and is in the North Eastern Aegean, close to the coast of Turkey. The sea is crystal clear and warm all summer.  Skala Eressos is a particularly powerful place for writers. There were many poets and writers who lived on Lesvos but none more recognised than Sappho, a female poet and lyricist, reportedly called The Tenth Muse by Plato.   Lesvos was named after a God who held that name and early residents worshipped Cybele, the great mother-goddess of Anatolia.  Aristotle lived on Lesvos for about three years and studied Zoology. Terpander invented the seven note musical scale for the lyre there. Even the airport at Mytilini is named after a poet (Odysseas Elyitis). It is place rich with the muse of writing.   The island has stunning beaches, beautiful landscape and a colourful past with historical and religious archaeology. There are a large number of hot therapeutic springs and a petrified forest, with fossilised trees dating back some 15 million years.  ​ Read more about Lesvos in this travel guide