RECLAIM YOUR VOICE
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with
9 - 15 October, 2026
BOOKINGS NOW OPEN
7 days/6 nights
Day 1- arrival day - Welcome dinner
Day 7 - departure day - no program
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5 Days with Writing Program + free time
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AIRPORT is ATHENS (and then a 2-hr ferry to Hydra)
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from Euro 2029 includes 4.5-star accommodation
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COSTS: scroll to end of page or hit links
When Henry Miller visited Hydra in 1939, he described the island's 'wild and naked perfection'; some twenty years later, a young Canadian man stepped ashore, and
in 2016 he was honoured by having the laneway on which his house stands named after him.
It was on Hydra that Leonard Cohen found his writer's voice ....
Now, for a week in the balmy days of Autumn, we invite you to join us here, on 'The Rock', to reclaim your voice.
Drawing upon the lyrics and poetry of Leonard Cohen, you'll find prompts, invitations and windows into your own creativity, as you write to unravel, and bind, the braided threads of the heart.
Beginning with Joanne Fedler's manifesto, The Bill of Writes, we will turn away from self-doubt towards the invitations of the physical beauty of Hydra where our senses, imaginations and emotions can be ignited and captured on the page. We will explore the cracks in our emotional and imaginal worlds where the light comes in, to help us access and build a writing practice that fits the shape of our soul.
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… it isn’t about turning your back on the world; it’s about stepping away now and then so that you can see the world more clearly and love it more deeply.
LEONARD COHEN
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WHY HYDRA?
The Aegean island of Hydra holds an important, affectionate and unique place in both the history of C.2oth literature. During this time Hydra was home to the Australian literary couple Charmian Clift and George Johnston, who became the focal point for a celebrated international colony of writers and artists, which included Leonard Cohen and his muse, Marianne Ihlen.
This group of young like-minded individuals "came together to pursue their artistic desires in a place of singular beauty and existential freedom", as Paul Genoni writes in Half the Perfect World, and to this day, Hydra is often singled out as a place of great beauty, an 'artist’s island'., a sanctuary for creative souls.
As a unique, car-free island, only two hours by boat from Athens, this tiny, car-free island does indeed seem out of time, a place where the possibilities of a contemplative, creative life, within a culturally and socially rich social environment offers the best of both worlds.
On this retreat, we will write hymns, poems, prayers and songs; compose love letters to ourselves and the world. Through the doorways of Leonard Cohen’s rich phrases and metaphors, we will explore what it means to reach inwards for our voice to produce ''a cry above the suffering.’ If (you are) ‘this thing that needs to sing,’ then you are being called to Hydra where Leonard Cohen spent many years writing and engaging with his Muse to find the abundance of inspiration from which all creativity flows back into the world.
WHAT WE WLL DO
DAY 1: ‘A Thousand Kisses Deep’: we will unlock the mysteries of the creative call, sources of inspiration and practices of enlivenment. Where does creativity come from? Where are its hiding places? How do we stay in relationship with our own curiosity and holiness? What does it mean to ‘go deep’? And what does kissing have to do with writing?
DAY 2: ‘There is A Crack in Everything’: we will take a journey into the paradox of human experience, to explore the relationship between light and dark; grief and love; sorrow and bliss; humour and catastrophe. We will invoke the Japanese art of kintsugi, in which broken vessels are repaired with gold resin to seek the beauty in our mistakes, imperfections and failings. What gifts do they offer us in the writing?
DAY 3: ‘In My Secret Life’ – writing is an invitation to investigate the hauntings, inheritances and shadows that are asking for a place of belonging in our consciousness. What do hidden doorways, dreams, and desires have to offer our creativity?
DAY 4: ‘I Told the Truth, I Didn’t Come to Fool You’: what is ‘truth telling’ in writing? We will travel inwards on the sacred search for our true voice.
DAY 5: ‘Ring the Bells that Still Can Ring’: the practices of love, longing, tenderness, mercy and forgiveness in writing. What vision of life is our writing in service to and how do we listen for the holy call amidst the noise of our lives?
In each of these workshops, Joanne will teach you fundamentals of the craft of storytelling including the structuring and revelation of emotion, using themes, symbols and metaphors to enrich your writing and building a bridge between the personal and the universal.’
No matter where you are in your writing journey – a beginner or a veteran, this retreat will meet you exactly where you are, and dance you through the myriad possibilities for whatever project is pushing against your heart to be expressed.
For anyone with a desire to write ... to be on retreat with Joanne is to be in the presence of a triue master of her craft. I feel excited, inspired and confident to pursue my own writing ...
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Michelle H., Sydney, 2025
on retreat for "Writing by the Sea in Bali" with Joanne Fedler
JOANNE FEDLER
You have organised everything so beautifully, Anna!
Huge thanks for every day you pulled together for us
Gina S. Hydra retreat 2024
Curating Writing by the Sea in Hydra
With a background as an art historian and gallerist, Anna's collaboration with artists and writers continues to be a fascinating career which evolved into specialist art retreats designed to combine seriously good tuition with authentic cultural experiences.
Over the last 14 years, hundreds of people over dozens of retreats have experienced the depth of wellbeing that being creative can foster. Creative Living Retreats are a source of focus for creative inspiration, with our intuitive teachers guiding you to Live Creatively
Anna lived on Hydra for two years and re-visits frequently, In 2024 and 2025 a long-held desire to share her deep love of Hydra with others evolved into a series of art and writing retreats - Painting by the Sea in Hydra, and Writing by the Sea in Hydra.
Anna and Joanne have worked together in Bali (2025), and in 2026 present two writing retreats, here in Hydra, and in September, Portugal.
The contemporary photographs on this site are hers.
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WHERE DOES THE RETREAT TAKE PLACE?
Imagine walking into a thickly-walled stone mansion, white-washed walls, waxed timber floors smelling freshly polished, with white muslin-curtained windows filtering Hydra's distinctive light ...
Sink into the atmosphere of Hydra at our retreat hotel furnished thoughtfully with quality art and with antiques, each room is individual, with quality, crisp white bedlinen and comfy beds. All rooms have windows to the outside - with either with street or garden views from the first floor room and from the second floor, spectacular sea and port views from the balconied rooms. A one-off apartment offers a large private terrace too.
This hotel has been chosen with great care and concern for your comfort, the quality of breakfast, the very obliging staff, and spacious, interiors that allow you to step back into the grand day of 'Old Hydra' - for indeed, this gracious building was the home of one of Hydra's storied sea captains.
The retreat hub offers accommodation, breakfast and relaxed and private places for writing both inside, and beneath shady trees n the high-walled, private and spacious courtyard where you'll find tables and chairs to relax, and work.
Although Hydra is a very vertical island, with steeps scaling steep hills populated with the iconic, picturesque stone houses, our retreat hub is just a 10 minute walk from the port, on flat ground, with no steps required to approach it. The hotel has ground, first and second floors ....
WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE?
October, for those in-the-know, is ideal ... the local people finally have the port to themselves, the frenetic quality and heat of summer has abated. It's perfect for walking, and enjoying days by the seaside without being too hot.
The temperature rises sharply in June, with average temperatures around 29.5 degrees C, through August averaging 32, until September with an average of 28, until October arrives with its balmy days around 24 degrees C.,. it's till lovely for swimming - the temperature of the water remains at 23 degrees which is the same as it is in June, with the advantage that now it's also comfortable to go walking.
WHAT DOES YOUR RETREAT INCLUDE?
see all the inclusions >
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6 nights deluxe accommodation with own room in deluxe Hydra boutique hotel
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5 days writing tuition with Joanne Fedler
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writing support materials
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Guided walks with Anna (who lived on Hydra for 2 years and is a frequent visitor)
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fully supported by Anna with pre-departure information and throughout the week
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Breakfast 6 days
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Welcome Dinner
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Farewell dinner
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Sunset Dinner
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Boat trip to the mainland for afternoon of swimming, walking and lunch
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National Museum visit
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Visit to the home and studio of Hydra's famous C.20th artist Panayotis Tetsis
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2 water taxis trips
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gift bag with art/ writing goodies
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pre-retreat Reading Suggestions List
What's Not Included
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airfares
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ferry to and from Hydra from Piraeus (Athens)
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porterage between ferry and your hotel on Hydra (can be arranged, cost applies)
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your personal insurance
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all alcoholic beverages
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any entrance tickets to places not described in the itinerary supplied on this site
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all personal expenses laundry, telephone etc.
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any boat taxis extra to those described in the itinerary (ie two one-way trips)
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any extra activities such as horse riding,
What's not included
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airfare
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travel insurance
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personal expenses
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return taxi after arrival at Piraeus port on retrun
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return boat from Hydra to Piraues as you may wish to stay on Hydra longer (this can be organised by Anna for you)
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5 dinners
GETTING THERE
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You fly into ATHENS AIRPORT : ATH - Eleftherious Venizelos
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YOUR RETREAT STARTS on DAY 1 (9 October) when we meet for our welcome drink prior to port tour followed by Welcome Dinner
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GETTING FROM ATHENS TO HYDRA
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The port of Piraeus is 30 minutes from Athens airport and central Athens by taxi.
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You can purchase your boat tickets AHEAD OF TIME online for about Euro 38-44 - several boat companies operate this route, so check here for the sailing time that best suits you:
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The RETREAT FINISHES after breakfast on DAY 7 (15 October)
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Extra nights may be available at the retreat hotel - enquire with Anna - please mention this on your booking form.
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GETTING FROM ATHENS TO HYDRA - be sure to NOT BOOK the last available boat if you are planning to fly out of Athens that night (just in case the sailing is delayed or cancelled ... rare but possible).
COST
All of our Creative Living Retreats are designed to offer you maximum comfort and relaxation and personal space - so you have your own bedroom unless you choose one of the ' two-room' twins here, which offers two separate bedrooms and one bath in
the 2-room twin, or the Apartment, a spacious 2-bedroom setting with a bathroom each and a private seaview terrace
However if you wish to share your room please check with Anna to see which rooms are available for twin beds.
Please note that this retreat is especially for women.
EARLY BIRD PRICE - BOOK BEFORE SEPTEMBER 30, 2025
places are limited. To secure your place a DEPOSIT of Euro 750 is required, with balance payment due 3 months prior to the retreat beginning.
Please check the Terms and Conditions and if you have any queries please contact Anna
ART RETREAT with BECKY BLAIR ON HYDRA 2026
WRITING RETREAT with JOANNE FEDLER in PORTUGAL 2026
