10 Best Writing Retreats for Authors in 2026/2027

Imagine uninterrupted time with your manuscript, free from mid-chapter Amazon deliveries or your spouse popping into your office to ask if you have anything for the wash. That's the promise of writing retreats, and more.

The best ones host accomplished authors as instructors, have a stimulating workshop schedule, and offer dedicated feedback on your pages.

In this post, we’ll compare some of the best writing retreats available in the 2026/2027 season 一 from a fully-funded fiction fellowship to a Caribbean cruise to a luxury Tuscan villa experience.

Here's a quick overview:

🗺️ Retreat	⭕️ Focus	💸 Starts from	📍 Where	⭐️ Best for
McCormack Writing Center's Oregon Summer Workshop	Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, novel, memoir	$2,630	Reed College, Portland, Oregon	Structured feedback in a small cohort
Clarion West	Speculative fiction	$3,600 (2026 rate)	Online	Genre writers ready for a six-week commitment
Kenyon Review Writers Workshop	Fiction, nonfiction, poetry	$2,545 (2026 rate)	Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio	Writing new material in a small residential class
Oxbelly Fiction Writers Program	Literary fiction	Free (fully funded if accepted)	Costa Navarino, Messinia, Greece	Emerging writers who want a funded, prestigious fellowship
Iceland Writers Retreat	All genres, literary heritage	From ~$2,600	Reykjavík, Iceland	Big-name faculty access in a bucket-list setting
Mackinac Island Writing Retreat	Fiction, nonfiction, poetry	$1,995	Mackinac Island, Michigan	An intimate island retreat with hands-on feedback
KAA Writers Retreat	Fiction, memoir, nonfiction	From $9,850	Poggio alle Corti, Tuscany, Italy	Luxury stay with elite publishing faculty
Autumn Writing Retreat in the Berkshires	Fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry	$2,595	Boulderwood Farm, Stockbridge, Massachusetts	One-on-one attention from a single mentor
Wave Writers	All genres	~$1,700 total	Cruise ship sailing from Galveston, Texas to Costa Maya and Cozumel	A lower-cost first retreat with built-in manuscript feedback
Greece Writing Retreat	All genres	From ~$3,300	Skala Eressos, Lesvos, Greece	A laid-back island immersion with flexible, optional programming

Note: most of these prices cover tuition, housing, and meals where the retreat is residential, but not travel to and from the venue. Two exceptions: Clarion West is virtual, so its price is tuition only, and Oxbelly covers flights on top of everything else.

Let's look at each retreat in more detail.

1. McCormack Writing Center's Oregon Summer Workshop

• 💰 Price: $2,630 total ($1,800 tuition + $800 room/board + $30 application fee) 

• 📅 Next dates: July 9-18, 2027

• ⏳ Duration: 10 days 

• 👥 Group size: 8 writers per cohort

• 📍 Where: Reed College, Portland, Oregon

• 🖐 Requirements: 21+; unpublished sample (up to 4,000 words of prose, or 4 poems/10 pages max)

For 23 years, this workshop ran under the Tin House name at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. In 2025, its organizers relaunched it as the McCormack Writing Center, but the program itself remains largely unchanged: cohorts of eight writers study poetry, fiction, or nonfiction through one-on-one faculty meetings, craft lectures, generative exercises, and student and faculty readings. There’s also plenty of time to mingle with fellow writers at happy hours and the traditional karaoke night. Plus, golf carts are available to help you get around campus!

Apply here

2. Clarion West’s Summer Six-Week Workshop

• 💰 Price: $3,600 + $30 application fee

• 📅 Next dates: June 21-August 1, 2026 (2027 dates TBD)

• ⏳ Duration: 6 weeks

• 👥 Group size: Up to 15 writers per cohort

• 📍 Where: Online

• 🖐 Requirements: 18+; anonymized writing sample (up to 10,000 words: 1–2 short stories or novel excerpt + synopsis)

If you write science fiction, fantasy, or horror, Clarion West is the writing workshop. It’s an intense six-week pressure cooker designed to turn emerging writers into working pros. Week one establishes workshop etiquette, followed by weeks where you write and critique a brand-new short story every seven days under a new guest luminary (past instructors include authors like Rebecca Roanhorse and Indrapramit Das), punctuated by a mid-summer breather focused entirely on craft and publishing lectures.

If you thrive on intense feedback and want a lifelong community of genre peers, you’ll love it; if you hate fast drafts and heavy critique, consider another retreat or their nine-month novel workshop instead!

Apply here

3. Kenyon Review Writers Workshop

• 💰 Price: $2,545 total tuition

• 📅 Next dates: Session 1: June 7-13 | Session 2: July 5-11 (Annual summer runs)

• ⏳ Duration: 7 days

• 👥 Group size: ~10-12 writers per workshop

• 📍 Where: Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio

• 🖐 Requirements: 18+; unpublished writing sample (up to 10 pages for prose, or 3–5 poems)

If you're looking for a boost to kickstart a new project, the Kenyon Review summer workshops might be it. Hosted at the stunning Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, this week-long residential workshop is famously generative. Instead of just critiquing existing drafts, you’ll produce a burst of new pages through daily writing exercises, prompt work, and close reading — meeting for three hours each morning in tight-knit cohorts capped at 12 writers, with afternoons left open for independent drafting and individual faculty conferences. 

The caliber of instruction is exceptionally high (past faculty includes heavy hitters like Lesley Nneka Arimah, Kristen Arnett, and Dinty W. Moore). 

The tuition covers a private apartment room and all meals, which makes the actual cost more reasonable than the sticker price suggests. Returning participants also get a $250 discount, a nice touch for writers who want to make this an annual habit.

Apply here

4. Oxbelly Fiction Writers Program

• 💰 Price: Free, fully funded

• 📅 Next dates: July 1-9 (Applications open late fall, deadline typically mid-January)

• ⏳ Duration: 8 days

• 👥 Group size: 10 writers per cohort

• 📍 Where: Costa Navarino, Messinia, Greece

• 🖐 Requirements: 18+; unpublished prose fiction only (short story or novel excerpt up to 5,000 words); free to apply

If you write prose fiction, Oxbelly is essentially the holy grail of international retreats — a world-class experience… for free! For the 10 writers selected, Oxbelly covers literally everything: international flights, local transfers, full meals, and luxury resort accommodations along the coast of Messinia, Greece.

The structure is a perfect split balance. The first four days are packed with intensive craft workshops and one-on-one mentorship from high-profile authors (see below); the remaining four shift into uninterrupted writing time set against the Mediterranean landscape. In the evenings, the retreat brings together the fiction fellows and the screenwriting cohort for interdisciplinary panels, readings, and film screenings.

The program is directed by novelist Chigozie Obioma, with advisors including Rebecca Makkai and literary agent Jin Auh of the Wylie Agency, and fellows leave with a partnership opportunity with Granta. That combination of funding, mentorship pedigree, and a potential publishing connection afterward is hard to match anywhere else on this list. The trade-off is that, of course, it's really tough to get selected. But you won’t know unless you throw your hat in the ring!

5. Iceland Writers Retreat

• 💰 Price: From ~310,000 ISK (~$2,250 USD; excluding flights and lodging)

• 📅 Next dates: April 14-18, 2027 (Optional "Relax & Write" extension: April 18-19)

• ⏳ Duration: 5 days (plus 2-day optional extension)

• 👥 Group size: 90-130 participants

• 📍 Where: Reykjavík, Iceland (based at Fosshotel Reykjavík)

• 🖐 Requirements: Open registration on a first-come, first-served basis with a 60,000 ISK (~$495) deposit

If your ideal writing trip blends small-group craft workshops with breathtaking Nordic scenery, the Iceland Writers Retreat is hard to top. Set in Reykjavík — a UNESCO City of Literature — this event pairs two-hour writing workshops led by world-class authors with cultural immersion, including a literary walking tour, Icelandic author panels, and landscape excursions. 

The 2027 faculty features literary greats like Kaveh Akbar, Rebecca Makkai, Jennifer Weiner, and many others. At 90 to 130 participants, this is one of the larger retreats on this list, closer in feel to a literary conference than an intimate workshop, in exchange for access to that faculty roster. 

There's no competitive application process to get in, but three flexible package tiers let you tailor how many workshops and day trips you want to take (including an optional extension to the Sky Lagoon thermal baths). While you do have to cover your own travel and hotel, they offer discounted room rates with breakfast included — plus an Alumni Award program that provides full and partial scholarships for writers in financial need.

Apply here

6. Mackinac Island Writing Retreat with Lynne Golodner

• 💰 Price: $1,995 tuition (partner/guest option available for $995)

• 📅 Next dates: 2027 dates TBD (2026 runs July 6-10 & October 5-9)

• ⏳ Duration: 5 days (Monday-Friday)

• 👥 Group size: Capped at ~15 writers per retreat

• 📍 Where: Mackinac Island, Michigan (based at Mission Point Resort)

• 🖐 Requirements: A brief bio, purpose statement, and writing sample (up to 1,500 words for fiction/nonfiction or 3 poems)

This 5-day generative writing retreat, led by author Lynne Golodner, takes place on Mackinac Island, a car-free 19th-century resort island in Michigan reachable only by ferry. The tuition covers round-trip ferry transport from Mackinaw City, critical feedback on a submission of up to 3,000 words, daily morning craft and business-of-writing lectures. It also includes breakfasts and lunches, and a one-on-one conference with Golodner, alongside visits with local authors.

Between sessions, optional afternoon activities include an 8-mile perimeter bicycle tour, an island hike, an art museum visit, and a private kayaking excursion, leaning heavily into the island setting. A cool plus is that you can bring a partner or non-writing guest for $995, which covers their meals, social events, resort fees, and taxes. 

Apply here

7. KAA Writers Retreat, Tuscany

• 💰 Price: $9,850-$14,500 (varying by room tier; you can share a room to split the cost)

• 📅 Next dates: 2026, September 20-26 (Nonfiction Masterclass) and October 4-10 (Fiction & Memoir); 2027, May 2-8 (Fiction & Memoir), with more dates TBD

• ⏳ Duration: 6 nights 

• 👥 Group size: 9 writers per cohort

• 📍 Where: Poggio alle Corti, Italy

• 🖐 Requirements: No application required — just share your goals and a work sample. All stages welcome.

This 6-night luxury writing retreat is run by Kevin Anderson & Associates (KAA), a book ghostwriting company, at Poggio alle Corti, a 14-hectare historic estate in the Tuscan countryside. 

Each session pairs writers with a rotating faculty of Big Five editors, literary agents (e.g. from Aevitas and WME) and bestselling authors like Amanda Eyre Ward and Rebecca Makkai (a mentor in three of the retreats listed in this post!) You’ll have one-on-one mentorship sessions, and a manuscript review complete before the group even arrives. 

Tuition is steep but includes all meals — including two dinners out, one at a Michelin-starred restaurant — estate wine and olive oil, and a six-month Zoom check-in with mentors.

Between sessions, writers can enjoy the villa’s pool, tennis court, and cooking class, or write among the vineyards and olive groves. Expensive but… dreamy?

Sessions rotate themes across the year — fiction/memoir and nonfiction alternate, and one May session is women-only, focused on memoir. Flights aren't included, but airport transfers from Florence are offered on request. A nice option: two writers can share a room at the listed rate to cut the per-person cost, and KAA also arranges private group retreats for up to 12 people.

Apply here

8. Autumn Writing Retreat in the Berkshires with Page Lambert

• 💰 Price: $2,595

• 📅 Next dates: October 11-15, 2026

• ⏳ Duration: 5 days/4 nights

• 👥 Group size: 7 writers per cohort

• 📍 Where: Boulderwood Farm, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

• 🖐 Requirements: Open 一 no juried application or writing sample required

This 5-day autumn retreat at Boulderwood Farm, a private estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, caps at just 7 writers working in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry. Days mix morning creative-focus sessions with private one-on-one time with Page Lambert and small group discussions, plus optional guided outdoor excursions.

The retreat leans into its setting: a guided tour of The Mount, Edith Wharton's historic home, includes a private library visit and high tea. Home cooked meals from a private chef, with accommodations for special diets, are included along with shared dinners and evening wrap-ups by the fireplace. An optional early-arrival add-on ($225) covers an extra night with meals.

Apply here

9. Wave Writers

• 💰 Price: ~$1,700 ($299 retreat fee + cruise fare which start at $1,400)

• 📅 Next dates: April 26-May 1, 2027

• ⏳ Duration: 6 days/5 nights

• 👥 Group size: 20+ expected for 2027

• 📍 Where: Cruise ship sailing from Galveston, Texas to Costa Maya and Cozumel

• 🖐 Requirements: Open booking with recommended early registration to secure cabins

Wave Writers takes the retreat format aboard a cruise ship sailing from Galveston, Texas, to Costa Maya and Cozumel. Head editor Kelly Colby, owner of Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing (a small, indie publisher), leads one-on-one manuscript consultations, for which participants submit up to 10 pages and a synopsis — not unlike what you'd send an agent in a query letter — plus group feedback sessions in dedicated writing spaces reserved just for the retreat.

It’s also family friendly: non-writing companions can enjoy the ship's usual amenities independently, while writers get a quiet space, no cooking or cleaning to plan around, and structured feedback built in.

Apply here

10. Greece Writing Retreat with Sarah Bullen & The Writing Room

• 💰 Price: From $3,318 (depends by room type)

• 📅 Next dates: June 13-20, 2027 (2028 edition already set for June 18-25)

• ⏳ Duration: 8 days/7 nights (optional 3-night extension for $931)

• 👥 Group size: 10 writers per cohort

• 📍 Where: Skala Eressos, Lesvos, Greece

• 🖐 Requirements: Open registration — no application or writing sample required; welcomes both novice and advanced writers

Sarah Bullen and The Writing Room have hosted this week-long retreat on Lesvos since 2014. Bullen — a published author, literary agent, and mentor to more than 250 published writers — leads it with book coach Emma Dhesi. The week covers craft classes on plotting, dialogue, self-editing, and the business side of publishing (including author branding and Amazon strategy), plus personal and group feedback for projects ranging from novels and memoirs to poetry and screenplays.

Sessions are largely optional, so you can lean into the structured teaching or just claim quiet writing time by the sea; daily connection with the group is encouraged either way. Besides the teachings, the price covers accommodation, airport transfers from Mytilini, all meals, and a hike and village tour. 

Apply here

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If you’re looking for an online writing program led by a bestselling author, with a community of fellow writers learning alongside you, Reedsy Learning offers those same benefits in a self-paced format that fits into a normal week. 

Its flagship course, How to Write a Novel, is taught by author and longtime editor Tom Bromley through 15 weeks of short daily video lessons, supported by live masterclasses with guest authors and editors and a private student forum where you can get the kind of peer feedback you’d usually find around a workshop table. Enrollment requires a one-time payment and includes lifetime access, with no application to submit or five-day block to clear in your calendar.