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With bestselling author, writing mentor and publisher
JOANNE FEDLER
& Anna Kwiecinska
Birthing Your Book in Bali
16-23 June 2027
8 days / 7 nights
Your choice of Accommodation with own room is included
+ most meals + taxi transfer +all course materials
Day 1 - 16 June - arrival day - program starts 2 pm
Day 7 - 23 June - departure day - no program
AIRPORT : Denpasar Bali
Joanne Fedler's Creative Writing Retreat BALI 2025
If you love the idea 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.
Just Start Writing. 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 14 years, she has facilitated 16 writing retreats all over the world, including 3 with Anna Kwiecinska - here in Bali (2025), Portugal (2026) and the Greek island of Hydra (2026).
Joanne has 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.
Sometimes sea turtles swimming just at the front of the villa! 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 16th book, Coming Home From Grief was published in 2025.
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.
Catherine Milne
Publisher of the Year, 2024, HarperCollins
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
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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Our first afternoon together - DAY 1 - starts at 2pm at the villa and we will pick you up in a taxi for the brief ride from your chosen hotel to the retreat hub.
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DAYS 2- 6 inclusive, offer 5 sessions of writing tutoring and mentoring with Joanne Fedler
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plus sharing sessions for readers and writers on a couple of evenings towards the end of the week
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plus make your own hand-bound journal with Anna and discover ways to illustrate it with a wide collection of art materials available at the villa
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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
WHAT YOU'LL DO
A leisurely 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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Over the course of 5 exhilirating days of discovery, 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’ 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.
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
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What does your Retreat include? Practically everything except your airfare !
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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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15 hours of Writing Tuition with Joanne Fedler over 5 days (mornings 'til lunch time), plus 2 extra sessions for sharing reading and writing on evenings at the villa followed by dinner (included), and a taxi ride for the brief drive back to your hotel.
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All printed writing materials
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Tuition and materials to make your own hand-bound journal with Anna
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art materials to play with, and some 'know how' from Anna
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Breakfasts 6 at your hotel/bungalow
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Lunches - 2 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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Freshky baked morning 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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Writers' Dinner at the Villa
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A fine dining experience in Candi Dasa
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Farewell Night Dinner and concert performance at Villa Nilaya
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Balinese Massage or reflexology treatment in-house at Villa Nilaya
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A Retreat Bag full of lovely surprises, and others 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 description of 'inclusions'
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tips / gratuities
The retreat tales place at Villa Nilaya, a spacious, fully-staffed, private villa (designed by Anna) with a large swimming pool, located on a practically private beach.
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 website
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Cost
