Our first  Winter Writing Retreat was held from 13-18 July 2025 at The Hermitage, Mittagong when we welcomed participants from as far afield as Perth, Townsville and Tasmania, and all places in between. Our authors and poet were chosen for both their expertise and their Masterclass teaching , and included:  Ashley Kalagian Blunt, Dr Lee Kofman, Dr Eleanor Limprecht,  Audrey Molloy, and Dr Betty O'Neill See details of their bio and Masterclass below.

On Sunday evening, participants checked in to their private, ensuited accommodation and settled into their room before meeting with other writers for dinner followed by an Acknowledgement of Country, Welcome and after-dinner drinks. 

Each morning, participants attended a three-hour Masterclass learning from their chosen tutor. They remained with this same tutor throughout the retreat giving them the opportunity to go deeper into the subject and further enrich their writing.  Participants in each Masterclass were restricted to eight (8) plus the tutor.

During the afternoons, participants were free to write, rest or enjoy all the Southern Highlands has to offer - art galleries, wineries, shopping, national parks, walking trails, golf courses and more.  Then, evenings were filled with discussions, interviews and chatting with fellow writers, our visiting authors and poet.    

On Friday morning, participants bid farewell to old friends and new, then made their way home feeling rested, filled with new ideas and enthused to continue with your writing project.

You can view photographs taken during our Retreat by visiting the Gallery pages of this website.

Below you can listen to Lynne speaking about the 2025 Winter Writing Retreat with Ashley Kalagian Blunt and James McKenzie Watson on their podcast - James & Ashley Stay at Home...

The Hermitage 

From Memory to Manuscript with Ashley Kalagian Blunt:
The memoirist’s lived experience provides the raw material for writing. But how do you shape that material into something greater than a series of recollections? How do you craft a cohesive, compelling narrative arc from messy and possibly long-ago events, and the quiet moments our lives often turn on?

Join best-selling author Ashley Kalagian Blunt for this practical workshop filled with writing exercises, analysis of memoir texts, discussion and feedback. You’ll learn strategies for shaping your scenes, crafting your voice, and tackling the serious task of revision. You’ll also discover how narrative structure works when writing from real life, and how to balance the holy trinity of memoir – scene, summary and reflective narration. 

During our multi-day course, you’ll have the opportunity to apply your learning through workshopping. Please bring a USB for printing purposes. 

Bio:
Ashley is the author of Cold Truth and Dark Mode, an internationally published psychological  thriller. Her earlier books are How to Be Australian, a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge,  collected fiction and essays, which was a finalist in the 2018 Carmel Bird Digital Literary  Award. Her writing appears in the Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, Griffith Review, Sydney Review of Books, Australian Book Review, Kill Your Darlings and more. Ashley co-hosts James and Ashley Stay at Home, a podcast about writing, creativity and health, and teaches creative  writing. Originally from Canada, she has lived and worked in South Korea, Peru and Mexico. Read more about Ashley here.

Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Deepening Your Work Through Revision with Dr Lee Kofman 
In this workshop, aimed at both fiction and creative nonfiction writers, we’ll consider the proposition that writers don’t write – they re-write, and also that the writing process is akin to layering, and that the first draft is only the very start of creating a new work. We’ll do a series of practical exercises to help deepen our work – to get closer to its heart, to what it actually wants to say. We’ll look at different styles of revision and try them out to see what suits each individual student. We’ll discuss creating our unique ‘checklists’ for revision and will learn some basic tricks for successful self-editing, including how to gain a fresh perspective on our material, to make our prose tight and sparkly.

Bio:
Dr Lee Kofman is a Russian-born Israeli-Australian author of six books and editor of two anthologies, writing teacher and mentor based in Melbourne. Her writing and reading life began a long time ago in a remote Siberian village where she recited her first poem to an admiring crowd of illiterate babushkas. What followed was decades of wrestling with the art and craft of writing and passionate reading. Lee’s first three books, the novels Scars (1994, Tamuz) and I will love Christina (2003, Hed Arzi – Ma’ariv Guild), and a short story collection Single Woman, 32 (1999, Hed Arzi – Ma’ariv Guild) were published in Israel, in Hebrew. Since 2003, Lee has been writing exclusively in English.
Lee’s books in English include a writing and reading guide The Writer Laid Bare: Mastering emotional honesty in a writer’s art, craft & life (Ventura Press, 2022) and two memoirs: Imperfect (Affirm Press, 2019), which was shortlisted for Nib Literary Award, and The Dangerous Bride (Melbourne University Press, 2014). Read more about Lee here.

Dr Lee Kofman

Dr Eleanor Limprecht - Writing Historical Fiction 
In this four-day historical fiction masterclass, participants will investigate the components of compelling, engaging and believable historical fiction and complete writing exercises to extend their own practice. Topics include research for detail and authenticity, setting and world building, character, dialogue, structure and plot. We will examine excerpts from exemplary texts in order to determine what makes them work. There will be time to practice putting new ideas on the page, and opportunities to share writing if desired.

Bio:
Eleanor is an author, constant reader and creative writing teacher.  She was born and raised in the US, Germany and Pakistan but now lives in Sydney, Australia. Her first novel, What Was Left, came out in 2013 with Sleepers Publishing. Her second novel, Long Bay, was released in 2015. In 2018 her third novel, The Passengers, was published by Allen & Unwin. In June 2022 her fourth novel, The Coast, was released with Allen & Unwin. Her fifth novel, Cul de Sac, will be released by Ultimo Press in 2026. She has had short fiction, book reviews, feature articles and essays published in lots of places (see published work).
She is available to speak about writing and has been on panels and moderated sessions with other writers at libraries, bookstores, classrooms and literary festivals, both in Australia and internationally.
Eleanor teaches Writing a Novel at the Faber Academy in Sydney and is available as a mentor through Australian Writers Mentoring Program.  She is represented by Jane Novak at Jane Novak Literary Agency.  Read more about Eleanor here.

Dr Eleanor Limprecht

Audrey Molloy – POET as ALCHEMIST – A Masterclass in Transformation 
How does the poet transform the raw impetus of emotion or thought, the grit in the oyster, into the ‘made thing’ that is a poem? 
Join editor, mentor and award-winning poet Audrey Molloy for this poetry masterclass, aimed at early- to mid-career poets, which explores how a good poem transcends historical fact or lived experience and what tools a poet can use in service to the poem. Each session will begin with a short writing exercise followed by a discussion of an aspect of transformation, with relevant examples from contemporary and canonical poets. Poem prompts will be provided for optional homework to generate new drafts to workshop in a safe, constructive environment. Alternatively, poets can bring existing drafts to workshop. Advice will be available on where to submit work for best chance of publication. 

Bio:Audrey Molloy is a poet, editor and mentor who grew up in Ireland and has lived in Sydney since 1998. Her debut collection, The Important Things (The Gallery Press, 2021) received the Anne Elder Award and was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize. Ordinary Time, a collaboration with Australian poet Anthony Lawrence, was published by Pitt Street Poetry in 2022 and was one of Australian Book Review’s ‘Books of the Year 2022’. Audrey has an MA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Manchester Metropolitan University. She was shortlisted for the Red Room Fellowship in 2022 and has previously been awarded a Varuna Residential Fellowship. Her poetry has appeared in Best of Australian Poems, Australian Poetry Anthology, Island, Meanjin, Cordite, Overland and The Weekend Australian. 

Audrey Molloy

Dr Betty O'Neill - Writing Family Stories Unlock the stories of your past in this series of workshops designed to help you transform family history research into captivating narratives. Whether you’re a beginner or someone looking to refine your writing, these hands-on sessions will give you the tools to bring your ancestors’ lives to life on the page.
Discover techniques to create vivid scenes, develop memorable characters, and weave historical context seamlessly into your writing. Through guided exercises you’ll leave with newfound confidence and a roadmap to continue your family history project and preserve your family legacy.
No prior writing experience is necessary—just bring your curiosity, any family research and materials you'd like to reference, and a passion for preserving the past. 


Bio:Dr Betty O'Neill has a Doctorate of Creative Arts, Grad. Dip. Music Therapy, M. Bus., Grad. Dip. Employment Relations, B. Sc. (Hons), B.A.(History & Psychology).  She is a Sydney-based author, workshop and retreat facilitator, and university lecturer in Creative Intelligence and Innovation in the TD (Transdisciplinary) School at the University of Technology Sydney.  As a past Director of the Board of the Society of Australian Genealogy (SAG), Betty has a passion for memoir and family history and facilitates regular Introduction to Writing Family History workshops for both SAG and Writing NSW. 

Betty's debut memoir, The Other Side of Absence, was published by Ventura Press in 2020. Betty has also published a range of articles and book chapters and presented conference papers and workshops in Australia and overseas. Betty is currently researching and writing a memoir/family history on intergenerational homelessness.
Read more about Betty here.