Willowbrook Creative Writing Retreat

A weekend of writing workshops and activities facilitated by some incredibly talented writers. This is our sixth creative writing retreat. It involves readings / performances by the different facilitators, a full day of workshops, an open mic session, all your meals provided, and a novel little activity to close out the weekend. The retreat is suitable for a broad range of writers, from those who have been published, to those dippping their toe in for the first time. What we curate is a gorgeous, relaxed, judgement free weekend, where you get the opportunity to learn from 3 extremely talented writers and to explore your curiosity with words, and ignite that creative spark that we all hold inside. Every event thus far has been simply magic, and no doubt this one will be no different.

So, some details:

Your accommodation and all your meals are included in your ticket price. Shortly after arrival on Friday evening we will share some pizza freshly baked in our wood fired pizza oven (gluten free and vegan options available). There will be continental breakfast each morning. We will break up the Saturday with lunch in the early afternoon, and dinner on Saturday will be provided by highly recommended local caterer. Expect delicious. Vegan  and GF options will be available. Accommodation will be in one of our extremely cosy yurts or other glamping units. (accommodation will be split into male & female units). This year, as well as our standard ‘sharing accommodation’ ticket, we also have a limited number of ‘solo accommodation’ tickets which includes your own glamping unit (not sharing with others). We do have different types of accommodation units which some of you may be familiar with so it will be first in best dressed if you have a preference!!! If you have friends coming to the retreat, please let us know when booking and we will do our best to place you in the same accommodation. For those who wish to camp (including campervans or caravans) or locals who do not require accommodation, there are a limited number of discounted tickets which will include all workshops and meals.

On Friday evening, after we eat, we will have readings by all of the facilitators who will be running workshops the next day. Saturday you will have the opportunity to attend 3 different workshops. There will be some spare time to go for a walk or to work on some of the things explored during the workshops and in the evening we will have an open mic, where you will have the opportunity to share with the group something created during the day, or previously. This will be a judgement free weekend, and there is no obligation on anyone to read or perform during the open mic.

On sunday morning we will have breakfast and then something just a little bit special to ease you back into the real world.

The Facilitators for this wonderful weekend are:

Poet Ged Thompson

Ged Thompson is a Liverpudlian poet, storyteller and author. His works include ‘Middle Earth Magic’ ‘Diaries of a Man Who Believes in Angels’ and ‘The Little Book of Heart Medicine’. He believes passionately in the personal power we possess to self-counsel and heal ourselves via the use of the written and spoken word

Ged’s Workshop – Finding True North

In the workshop ‘Finding true north’ we will be employing some writing exercises and prompts to help us move closer to our own personal calling as living artist. What tweaks can we make, what commitments can we make to ourselves? Who and what do I want to be as an artist, and who and what has been in my way until now? Do we have unconscious blocks? And how do we make sure we stay on the right path for us and get around our blocks if so? At the end of the workshop, we will be offered a chance to sign an artist’s contract with ourselves to find our ‘true north’ in a bid to move closer to our greatest potentiality as artists.

Spoken word artist and poet Abby Oliveira

Abby Oliveira is a writer, performer, lyricist, and theatre maker based in Derry in the North of Ireland. For the past few years, she has been working mainly collaboratively in her capacity as a spoken-word poet; working with musicians, photographers, street theatre companies, acrobats, actors and more. She has performed regularly at events and festivals throughout the UK, Ireland & abroad, and has had work commissioned by BBC Radio 4, Foyle, RTE radio, and more. She is currently completing an MA in creative writing at Queen’s University, Belfast. See her website for more info: www.abbyoliveira.com

Abby’s Workshop – Memory Mosaics

This session will give participants the choice of using either the concept of cubism or of psychogeometry as a launching pad for a new piece of writing – with a particular focus on image placement and how these choices effect meaning in our work. This session is suitable for writers working in any form.

It may be helpful for participants who choose the psychogeometry route to bring some images of a landscape – urban, rural, coastal, industrial…whatever speaks loudest to the writer – that holds strong personal significance for them.

Singer/songwriter Maria Kelly

Maria Kelly is writing songs for sensitivities.  Galvanised by the likes of Daughter, Laura Marling and Adrianne Lenker, Maria has crafted her own world of delicately woven indie-folk with a sincerity that cuts to the bone. Maria’s debut album The Sum of the In-Between and her most recent release Waiting Room have reached millions of listeners worldwide – with Waiting Room recently named one of the Best Irish Albums of the Year by The Irish Times. Her songs have featured in major film and television campaigns, including RTÉ’s Conversations with Friends and the international trailer for EZRA, starring Robert De Niro. She has shared stages across Ireland, the UK, and Europe with artists such as Tom Odell, Kodaline, James Vincent McMorrow, and Orla Gartland, as well as performances at Other Voices, All Together Now and Imagining Ireland.

A graduate with a BA (Hons) in Commercial Modern Music, Maria has gone on to host intimate living room tours, curate multidisciplinary exhibitions, and founded Tangent – a monthly writing community that sparks creative inspiration and fosters connection within Dublin’s artistic scene. This work has naturally led to wider facilitation roles, including with Music Generation, where Maria curates songwriting and live performance workshops for children of all ages, as well as a 13-week Artist’s Way course at Dublin’s new multidisciplinary arts and wellness space, Segotia.

Maria’s facilitation style is grounded, kind, and collaborative, rooted in a deep belief in the power of creativity to reconnect us to ourselves and each other. Whether through music or group work, she creates spaces where people feel safe to show up honestly, explore their voice, and trust the creative process.

Maria’s Workshop – Writing from the heart

In this 90-minute workshop with Maria Kelly, we will begin with the understanding that creativity is not a rare gift, reserved for a chosen few. It’s an ever-present current running through all of us, waiting to be noticed, listened to, and expressed. Together, we’ll practice tuning in. What can we hear when we really pay attention? What stories have been living quietly inside us, waiting to be told?

Focusing on writing as a form of deep noticing, we’ll explore how to write from a place of honesty and openness – not perfection. Through discussion, gentle writing exercises, and collaborative work, we’ll explore themes like vulnerability, storytelling, and connecting with your own intuition.

Inspired by practices found in the likes of The Artist’s Way and Big Magic, this workshop encourages creativity as a process of curiosity and trust, rather than pressure or performance. You’ll leave with new tools for creative exploration and at least one lyrical idea or piece that comes straight from the heart!

Prices:
Full weekend including glamping accommodation(shared), meals & workshops €250

Full weekend including glamping accommodation(own unit), meals & workshops €420

Full weekend including meals & workshops, and camping pitch for tent/campervan/caravan €180 

Full weekend including meals & workshops, but no accommodation  (staying off site) €160

A brief look at what the agenda for the weekend will be like….

Friday 5th September:
-Check in for those staying on site from 2pm if you wish to come early and explore our little bit of paradise.
-6.30pm: Welcome & Shared dinner
-8.30pm: Performances of original work by our facilitators

Saturday 6th September:
-8am-9.30am: Self Serve Continental breakfast in Campers Kitchen
-9.30am: Writing Workshop 1
-11am :Tea break
-11.30am: Writing Workshop 2
-1pm: Shared Lunch
-2pm: Writing Workshop 3
-3.30pm – 6pm : Free time to create, should the mood take you.
-6pm: Shared dinner
-8pm: Open mic spoken word session – your opportunity to share your work with the group should you choose to do so.

Sunday 7th September:
-8am-9.30am: Self Serve Continental breakfast in Campers Kitchen
-9.30am: Fairytale sound bowl meditation
-11am: Check out.

What people said about our previous Creative Writing Retreats:

In Willowbrook you can have your own balance of interaction and silence in whatever measures you want. The interaction will connect you with good fun good ideas, great crack and one hell of a sing song. The silence will connect you to a deep source of intuition. It’s no coincidence that the words silent and listen have the same letters, so don’t be surprised if in the silence you get the answers you’re looking for.  – Mike (2024)

Tuesday and Wes have a very warm and welcoming way of providing and facilitating writing workshops that inspire and support new and seasoned writers to develop and hone their craft. I can’t recommend it highly enough. – Siobhan (2024)

Very professionally organized with a wonderful choice of facilitators to get the creative juices flowing. – Patricia (2023)

I spent a wonderful weekend at the creative writing course; It’s a gift to have this amazing sanctuary on my doorstep – Annamarie (2022)

One of the best experiences I have had in ages – Gemma (2019)

For any queries, please get in touch in one of the following ways:
-Call us on (094)98 61307
-Email us at…… hello@willowbrookglamping.ie We are Very much looking forward to welcoming you all to Willowbrook for yet another wonderful weekend of creativity!

Tickets to this event are issued on a first come – first served basis, and are transferable but non-refundable