A one-day writing retreat not enough for you? Don’t panic! We’ve got you covered. Introducing the very first Edinburgh Writers’ Retreat BIG WEEKENDER! Yes that’s right, an entire weekend of writing, mini-workshops, hanging out with the best writers, more writing, snacks, tea drinking, more writing and high-quality food from local, independent eateries. Say waaat?! It is, indeed, too good to be true.
Here’s what’s happening:
🗓️ Friday 19 June
🕣 7pm-9pm Meet your fellow retreaters with this evening social
- Welcome drinks
- Delicious pizza from an independent local Pizzeria
- Non-cringe fun icebreaker
- Getting prepped and pepped for the weekend; discussing projects and goals
- General mingling
- A writing-and-literature mini quiz
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🗓️ Saturday 21 June
🕣 9.45am arrival for a 10am start. Finish at 4pm.
Journaling Start the day with a 30-minute mini journaling workshop before launching into a classic Writers’ HQ retreat day.
Writing Get ready for an intensive day of writing. With projects and goals already discussed the night before, you can dive straight in! Write in sprints until lunch time. Eat yourself into a coma with a delicious lunch from a local deli, and then write again until 4pm.
Social Hour 4pm-5pm Time to unwind and relax! Celebrate your writing achievements with your fellow retreat-mates with a couple of drinks and some snacks. There’s the option to continue this in one of the lovely local pubs.
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🗓️ Sunday 22 June
🕣 9.45am arrival for a 10am start. Finish at 4pm.
Goal setting Warm yourself up for a super productive day of writing by discussing your goals and how you’re doing to get there.
Writing Write in sprints until lunch time and once again eat yourself into an ill-advised coma with a delicious lunch from a local deli.
Productivity Workshop After lunch, participate in a mini productivity workshop focusing on how to keep up a regular writing routine, an exploration of barriers, how we keep going and some practical tips and exercises.
More writing! Write in sprints until 4pm. Close Celebrate your weekend of writing with a glass of prosecco or nosecco, general high fives and good cheer. Hooray!
Important things you need to know, or answers to questions you might have
🙋♀️ Is this for me? Yes! You don’t need to be a pro writer, an expert, an academic or anything high falutin. Just bring yourself, your writing, and your stomach. Writers’ HQ retreats are for EVERYONE.
🍕Food & drink We will feed you on Friday night (pizza), Saturday morning (pastries), Saturday lunch time (buffet), Sunday morning (pastries), and Sunday lunch time (buffet). There will also be never ending tea and coffee and plenty of snacks, and we provide the end-of-retreat fizz. Dinner on Saturday or Sunday isn’t included, nor are drinks in the pub. Please let us know about any dietary requirements when you book so we can make sure not to accidentally cheese up your lactose intolerant tummy.
🛌 Accomodation This retreat DOES NOT include accommodation. If you are not local to the area, please make sure you have somewhere to stay.
📖 Host The Weekender is hosted by the amazing Veronique Kootstra! Veronique has been running Writers’ HQ retreats for nearly eight years, because she is a goddamn hero, and is very familiar to Edinburgh retreat regulars. Veronique is from the Netherlands but for the past twenty-three years has lived and worked in Edinburgh. English is now the language she writes and, weirdly, dreams in. Her work has appeared in 404 Ink magazine, Mycelia, The London Reader, The Scotsman and in various anthologies and websites. She won a highly commended writing award from the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and was shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award. She is currently working on a novel and after a few false starts, she’s determined to finish it this year. When she’s not writing you can usually find her in the cinema.
🏠 Venue This retreat is at Tribe Porty, where we hold all our other events. The address is 19 Windsor Pl, Edinburgh, EH15 2AJ. Tribe Porty has level and step-free access throughout, and an accessible disabled toilet. The walls and the doors have high colour contrast and there is good lighting throughout.
🎟️ Space There are only 17 places available for this retreat (and we’re expecting it to sell out).
💷 Cost A ticket for the Edinburgh Writers’ Retreat Weekender is £225, or £200 for WHQ members. There are no single day tickets, but if you want one day of writing, check out all the one day writing retreats right here.