Our Day Retreat Masterclasses
This is your time.
Come spend a day with us at one of our masterclass retreats and leave feeling inspired, nourished, brimming with confidence, new skills and insights. We invite only exceptional writers, artists and practitioners to lead our masterclasses in a luxurious and supportive space. We keep our classes small so you get all the time and attention you need.
Your day with us will include; tea or coffee on arrival, a delicious organic, locally grown (plant-based) lunch and all refreshments throughout the day
There’s plenty of space to write, read and work in peace.
We will end our day relaxing around the fire with a glass of wine and you might share your work (only if you want to!)
All our one-day retreats are £225 (concessions are available)
Your morning session will explore the creative process, voice and fearlessness via discussion, exercises and free writing. After lunch you will have time to write in one of the many spaces in the garden and house, and will have a supportive one to one session with Heidi to discuss your work. We will then all come together for a final discussion.
This retreat is priced at a reduced rate of £150, as lunch is not included (unlike our other retreats). Coffee, tea, and cake will be provided—please remember to bring a packed lunch.
Heidi James is the author of critically acclaimed novels Wounding, So the Doves (a Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month) and The Sound Mirror. She won The Saboteur Award for her novella, The Mesmerist’s Daughter and was a finalist in The Cinnamon Poetry Collection Prize. Her short stories, poetry and essays have been published various anthologies and magazines including, among others, We’ll Never Have Paris, Somesuch, Dazed and Confused and Galley Beggar Press. She hosts a podcast, First Graft, where she discusses the writing process with other writers. She has a PhD and alongside lecturing in English Literature and Creative Writing, she is a qualified writing and creativity coach and mentor.
Finding Your Voice with Heidi James
4th July 2026 10am - 5:30pm
This is the class for you if you would like to develop the tools and confidence to write and don't know where to start. Perhaps you feel stuck or blocked and would like to understand what is in the way.
Spend the day nurturing your creativity in the sumptuous and welcoming home of writer, Heidi James
In the morning session we will read and discuss excerpts from a selection of YA and children's books and discuss the use of character to help younger readers engage.Eve will also provide some short exercises, to help you develop characters further. After lunch, you will have the opportunity to write your own character-led piece based on a writing prompt provided, or based on a piece of writing you are already working on. You will have the opportunity to have a one-to-one session with Eve to discuss your work,.
Eve Ainsworth is a working class award-winning and Carnegie nominated children’s author who has written for both middle grade and teen readers. Her debut novel for adults, Duckling, was published by Penguin Random House in Spring 2022.
Eve has vast experience working as a public speaker and creative workshop coordinator for schools, libraries and other events both nationally and internationally. She also is an experienced mentor and is very passionate about helping those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Eve was born and raised in Crawley, West Sussex and is one of seven children. After her degree, she had a varied background working within HR and Recruitment roles, before landing a job she loved – mentoring and supporting challenging and vulnerable students in a large secondary school. This inspired her first teen book 7 Days. Eve is fiercely proud of her working class roots and her large, loud family. She still lives in Crawley with her husband, two young children and crazy pets.
Developing Realistic Characters for YA and Children’s Literature with Eve Ainsworth
Date TBC
This class is for you if you are interested in writing or developing children or YA stories and are particularly motivated to create realistic, dynamic and memorable characters. Spaces are limited to 10.
Your morning session will explore character, environment and structure via discussion, exercises and free writing. After lunch you will visit somewhere very special to gather sensory prompts building a bank of metaphor and imagery to draw upon in your writing.
Lucie McKnight Hardy’s stories have featured in a variety of publications, including Best British Short Stories 2019, The Lonely Crowd, Uncertainties IV, The New Abject, Black Static and as a limited edition chapbook from Nightjar Press. Her debut novel, Water Shall Refuse Them, was published by Dead Ink Books in 2019. Of her second book, Dead Relatives, the Guardian said, ‘This short story collection confirms the author’s reputation in the field of literary horror.’
Haunted People = Haunted Houses with Lucie MnKnight Hardy
TBC
This class is for you if you would like to develop the tools to write terrifying ghost stories. Explore how characters and their environments are intertwined and how the way in which a character inhabits a landscape influences the narrative and the ‘haunting’. Spaces are limited to 10.
In your morning session you’ll read and discuss excerpts from a number of different memoirs, analysing their style, voice, and approach to narrative and storytelling.
After lunch you’ll have time to write a scene based on a memory or experience from your own life, and will have a one to one session with Octavia to discuss your work. The group will then reconvene for a final discussion.
Octavia Bright is a writer and broadcaster, and her critically acclaimed debut memoir This Ragged Grace was published by Canongate this year. She co-hosts Literary Friction, the literary podcast and NTS Radio show, with Carrie Plitt. Recommended by The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC Culture, The Sunday Times and others, it has run for ten years and has listeners worldwide. She also presents programmes for BBC R4 including Open Book, and hosts literary events for bookshops, publishers, and festivals – such as Edinburgh International Book Festival and events for The Southbank Centre. Her writing has been published in many places including The Guardian, The White Review, Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, Wasafiri, Somesuch Stories, and The Sunday Times, amongst others. She has a PhD from UCL where she wrote about hysteria and desire in Spanish cinema.
The Possibilities of Memoir With Octavia Bright
TBC
This class is for you if you’re interested in exploring the memoir form and all it has to offer and you’re curious about different approaches to life writing, and how to translate your lived experience onto the page.
Contact us.
To book a space on one of our retreats fill in the form below or email me directly