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with
With internationally bestselling author, writing mentor and publisher
JOANNE FEDLER
and Anna Kwiecinska
Birthing Your Book in Bali
26 June - 2 July 2025
7 days / 6 nights
Your choice of Accommodation with own room is included + most meals + taxi transfer
Day 1 - 26 June - program starts 4pm
Day 7 - 2 July - no program
AIRPORT : Denpasar Bali
INVESTMENT : from AUD$ 4549
Joanne Fedler's Creative Writing Retreat BALI 2025
If you love the idea of an entire indulgent week of exploring your writing with a dedicated mentor, delicious healthy cuisine, safe sea swimming and restorative Balinese massages in a tropical island paradise, then this special week might be just for you.
Joanne is an award-winning author who passionately encourages people to write and to live more fully.
She says " If you are 'waiting' to know where your story is taking you before you commit words to the page, please stop waiting.
The act of writing engenders the story. The more we write, the more we can write."
After a successful career as an internationally bestselling author, Joanne turned her attention to helping other writers.
In the past 13 years, she has facilitated 12 writing retreats all over the world, mentored hundreds of writers (both face to face and in her online writing courses), set up her own publishing company Joanne Fedler Media and published many debut authors.
"I’m passionate about helping women writers find their voice and succeed in reaching their goal to become a published author."
"I’ve developed my own creative process for mentoring writers and aspiring authors which I teach in my workshops, retreats and online writing courses. We can only ever take a reader as far as we have gone. So how we think matters. Who we are – our values and beliefs – informs the vision of life our writing is in service to. If we get clear on that, the craft gets easier. "
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The retreat hub is Villa Nilaya, and you choose your very own room in our lovely beachfront accommodations all a short walk from Niaya. We are all are tucked away in a quiet cul-de-sac, surrounded by coconut palms, on the edge of sparkling sea.
We have sea turtles swimming just at the front of the villa, and we'd love to take you snorkeling to discover the beauty of the reefs at the bottom of our garden if you like ... 'getting weightless' can be a wonderful inspiration for your imagination to float and find what you thought you had forgotten
All you need do is bring your intention - Anna and her team at Villa Nilaya do the rest so that you can give your full attention to your writing journey with Joanne, whose 15th book, The Whale’s Last Song was published in 2024 by HarperCollins.
Our program includes daily meditation and a beautiful sound-healing session too, plus other delicious surprises ...
See you there!
about The Whale's Last Song ...
Written with the timelessness and universality of a folk tale, imbued with heartfeltness and wit, warmth, deep knowing, it is both stern and playful, sweet and true, light and profound. It is truly, truly special.
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Catherine Milne
Publisher of the Year, 2024, HarperCollins
This really special 7-day/6-night retreat offers you the opportunity gift yourself gentle days by the sea to focus on you, your well-being, and your writing.
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15 hours of writing tutoring and mentoring with Joanne Fedler
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Airport collection
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Your choice of accommodation and breakfast for 6 nights - have a look at the options
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A 60-minute deliciously restorative Balinese massage or reflexology treat with our expert masseuses using Sensatia's pure sweet almond oil infused with restorative essential oils where you choose your favourite scent - Meditation or Relaxation.
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A gentle 'de-planing' yoga session
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A heavenly, live sound-bathing experience (some call it 'sound therapy' or 'healing' - we just call it divine) that will have your senses and imagination floating
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6 lunches and 4 dinners (including Welcome Dinner and Farewell Dinners)
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Plus Cooking'n'Cocktails with our executive chef - cook your own 7-dish megibung with tips and recipes to be able to make it at home - plus our Signature Nilaya cocktails and snacks as you stir the sauce!
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Plus A stylish night out on the town with fine dining and cocktails
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retreat bag with writing gifts
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A wide variety of good restaurants within easy walking distance of your hotel for other meals, a coffee or time out
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and time to yourself by the sea in beautiful East Bali
WHAT YOU'LL DO
A luxurious week where all you need do is turn up each day at 9.30 am, after breakfast (and perhaps an early-morning dip? ... the snorkeling is fabulous), having taken the short walk in our pretty village to Villa Nilaya. ... did you know that Joanne is a dedicated, daily sea swimmer?
The retreat tales place at Villa Nilaya which you can reach from your hotel by a leisurely 10-minute walk through our village of Mendira (or take a cab ride for a couple of minutes).
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Joanne will show you how to take the shambles and shards of your experience and work out: what did it all mean? The heartache, the holidays, the gym workouts, the hallelujahs? What is the sum of it all, this great, rollicking, thrilling, exhausting catastrophe called ‘my life’?
In this hands-on, intimate retreat, an eclectic mix of teaching, instruction, writing exercises, meditations, ritual, sharing and other joyful activities, we will:
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find the moments you want to write about (identify the story amongst the memories);
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write about those moments so that they mean something beyond ‘they happened to me’ (how do we make an experience ‘mean’ something?);
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connect the dots between the seemingly random events of your life;
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write about ourselves as a fascinating character with a character arc worthy of fiction;
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write about other people in a way that is respectful, emotionally truthful but without hurting or defaming anyone;
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work out what makes our lives tragic, romantic, heroic, comedic, dramatic and how to write those moments so they have emotional impact;
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close our fingers around the central themes of our lives which makes our personal story universal;
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define the vision of life our story is in service to;
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look at different ways of structuring revelation in our stories to create emotional impact;
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work with the six strengths of consciousness that show up in our writing;
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work beyond cliché, nostalgia, sentimentality and happy endings;
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explore what is ‘truth’ in storytelling? What is our truth? What is ‘emotional truth?’
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talk about when it is okay to cheat and tell white lies in memoir;
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discuss the ethics of writing memoir (writing about other people, chronology, making stuff up, merging identities, blurring facts, inventing dialogue, imagining things that may not have happened);
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befriend the shadow and find a place for it in our writing;
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journey into paradox and ambiguity – the ones we are ready to embrace.
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spend time in stirring inside – safely, communally, with love and support.
WHO WILL THIS RETREAT SUIT?
Whether you are a beginner or a writing veteran, this retreat meets every writer no matter where you are on your journey.
The relaxed environment, our caring staff at Nilaya, the sheer beauty of an endless horizon to greet you each day as you awaken - yes, all of your accommodations are by the sea - the soft winter warmth, and the wisdom of your retreat teacher is all here for you ..... with only 10 places available please reserve your place soon, and don't hesitate to contact Anna if you have any queries.
As we work into the craft of writing, we will deepen our capacity for truth-telling, taking personal responsibility for our lives, reframing past events (especially the hard ones), being curious, courageous, finding what’s funny, staying self-compassionate and developing self-trust.
Twenty-three writers who have been on Joanne’s retreats and done her writing courses are published authors ...
MEET JOANNE FEDLER
I’ve been writing stories since I was six years old...
As a child, silkworms and books were my first friends.
Language helped me build a bridge for my hard-of-hearing sister to my parents since I was the only one who could understand what she was trying to say until speech and hearing therapy gave her a voice. Each of us has privileges that can ease the path of others. It is not hard to be useful.
I wrote and illustrated my first story when I was six. It was thin on plot – Emily plans a picnic with Rufus, her neighbour – that’s it – but with coconut-lime lollipops.When I was 14, my dad gave me Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, a play for voices. It centred me like clay on a wheel. I knew all I wanted was to do that with words.
During my ‘going-to-save-the-world’ years, I got a Master’s degree in law from Yale, set up and ran a not-for-profit advocacy centre to end violence against women and sat on the South African Law Commission to help draft new domestic violence legislation. In 1994, Hustler magazine made me ‘Asshole of the Month,’ for my advocacy against violent pornography – it’s still my most prized award.
My 15th book, The Whale’s Last Song came from the grief of losing my mother in 2021, like a cry from somewhere deep inside me. Each year, I run writing retreats and mentor a handful of writers. In 2017, I created Joanne Fedler Media, my own publishing company to publish books by the authors I mentor.
I am a devoted ocean swimmer and support many organisations working to protect marine life and ecosystems.
I have lived on the unceded Gadigal land of the indigenous Eora nation in Australia since 2001, as an immigrant from South Africa. Leaving the place you come from is not something you get over. You are always spliced, always torn. But it offers new horizons.
More About The Whale's Last Song
Fresh, exquisite ... a creative tour de force, weaving a sense of belonging, and the fallibility of being human and the mysteries of being alive.
Suzie Miller
Prima Facie
Creative Living Retreats by Anna Kwiecinska
With a background as an art historian and art gallery owner, my collaboration with artists continues to be a fascinating career which evolved into specialist art retreats designed to combine seriously good art tuition with authentic cultural experiences.
The practice of meditation has under-pinned Creative Living Retreats, as a source of focus for creative inspiration.
In 202o Anna was part of a pilot study group led by two reseachers in the bay Area of San Francisco, into the practice of 'microdosing mindfulness' .Dr David Amster a pain management specialist and Jake Eagle, life coach and counsellor, - both meditators - have since published their findings as "The Power of A.W.E', and it is this wisdom that we've drawn on in recent retreats.
Since their beginning in 2011 and active every year other than during the pandemic, many retreatants have returned for our thoughtfully curated weeks of supported creativity, and I genuinely look forward to welcoming you to experience the depth of wellbeing that Creative Living Retreats have become known for, More info
Loved the whole thing. Food was amazing and plenty of variety. Staff amazing ... I just thought you did the retreat so well. I felt totally satisfied with the way you made it all happen and made us all feel very special. You really were the glue. Very professional.
The exhibition was just so beautifully put together.
Lyn Mowday, Busselton, Australia, 2019
What does your Retreat include? Practically everything except your airfare !
see all the inclusions >
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A/C Airport Taxi collection with name board on arrival at the International Airport
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Accommodation with Breakfast for 6 nights in your choice of beachside hotels and bungalows
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Tuition with Joanne Fedler over 5 days.
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Breakfasts 6
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Lunches 6 - buffet, provided at Villa Nilaya during the retreat. We serve really fresh food, with an emphasis on vegetarian, tofu and seafood protein, and not too starchy (quinoa and red rice often replaces white rice).
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Morning and afternoon teas each day
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Bottled Water available throughout the retreat
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Dinners 4 including:
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‘Welcome Dinner BBQ' at Villa Nilaya (dietary restrictions catered for - please advise)
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Farewell Night Dinner and concert performance
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Cooking and Cocktails with our executive chef Pak Dewa Ardika
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A fine dining experience in town
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Balinese Massage or reflexology treatment in house at Villa Nilaya
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a sound-bathing event (some call it 'sound healing or sound therapy ... we just call it divine!)
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and surprises along the way,,,,,
What's not included?
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flights
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taxi transfer from retreat
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all personal expenses incurred at hotel (laundry etc)
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3 dinners
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any trips, tours or transports not included in the descripton of 'inclusions'
INVESTMENT - in AUD$
These prices are for a room all to yourself - if you'd like to twin share please contact Anna for costs, bear in mind that Amarta does not offer twin share possibilities, but Candi Beach resort does in all categories.
AMARTA BEACH COTTAGES
AMARTA SUPERIOR ROOM 4549
AMARTA SUITE 4759
CANDI BEACH RESORT
DELUXE GARDEN ROOM 5359
DXE GARDEN BUNGALOW 5949
DXE SEA VIEW ROOM 6269
DXE SEA VIEW BUNGLOW 6279
DXE JNR SUITE GARDEN 6375
DXE JNR SUITE SEAVIEW 6516
LUXURY OCEAN SUITE 6949
LUXURY POOL VILLA 7959
SECURE YOUR PLACE NOW with a $600 Deposit, after filling in the booking form below - Anna will be in touch with you to follow through with all the booking and enrolment details, and Joanne will follow up with a personal contact to you.
We only have 10 spots on this retreat
The retreat tales place at Villa Nilaya, a spacious, fully-staffed, private villa with large swimming pool, located on a practically private beach, with direct access to safe sea-swimming, snorkeling and boat rides.
YOUR ACCOMMODATION IN INCLUDED and is a ten-minute stroll away through our peaceful village of Mendira near Candi Dasa
Choose your preferred accommodation from these two seaside options, both include Breakfast
See the Accommodation
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the 3-star seaside AMARTA BEACH BUNGALOWS (with breakfast)
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OR
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The 4.5-star CANDI BEACH RESORT HOTEL (with buffet breakfast)
click on the images below to go to the hotel websites
Joanne and I warmly invite you to join our group in 2025 for this exceptional writing experience By The Sea in beautiful East Bali.
Thank you Anna for convening this fabulous experience.
Your style, grace and attention to detail made everyone feel important. Sharing your home for those days of art and food and armchair yoga will be a special memory for me to hold. You have gathered an amazing staff around you ... thank you again.
Gloria C. Queensland, Australia.
Bali Retreat 2022
