Indulge your writing self by joining us to Stay - Learn - Write and Play in the beautiful Southern Highlands just a 90-minute drive from Sydney and the Illawarra, or two hours from Canberra. Our Winter Writing Retreat will be held in July 2026 at The Hermitage, Mittagong.  Our exciting line up of tutors are chosen for both their expertise and their Masterclass teaching skills and this year include authors Ashley Kalagian Blunt, Dr Lee Kofman, Dr Kerrie Davies, Dr Hayley Scrivenor and author/scriptwriter, Kylie Needham.

On Sunday evening, 12 July 2026 you will check-in to your private, ensuited accommodation. You will then have time to settle into your room before meeting with other writers for dinner followed by an Acknowledgement of Country, Welcome and after-dinner drinks. 

Each morning Monday through Thursday you will attend a Masterclass learning from your chosen tutor; you will remain with this same tutor throughout the retreat.  Working with the same author/group will enable you to go deeper into the subject and further enrich your writing.  Participants in each Masterclass are restricted to eight (8) plus the tutor.

Afternoons are free for you to write, rest or enjoy all the Southern Highlands has to offer - art galleries, wineries, shopping, national parks, walking trails, golf courses and more. 

Your evenings will be filled 'in conversation' with visiting tutors and time to get to know your fellow writers.    

On the morning of Friday, 17 July you will vacate your room, say farewell to old friends and new, then make your way home feeling rested, filled with new ideas and enthused to continue with your writing project. 

Additional Writing Time (Optional extra): For participants wanting additional writing time, there is the option to stay for a further two days of self-directed writing, and to depart on the morning of Sunday 19 July (at extra cost). This will enable you time to process all you have learned and to write in the comfort of your own room, or one of the teaching rooms.

The Hermitage LA Valla provides comfortable single bedrooms with ensuite that offer stunning views of the surrounds; all bedrooms have a chair and writing desk so perfect for that quiet focused time all writers long for.  Meals are provided (breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning and afternoon tea).  The homemade meals are not only delicious and generous in portion, but abundant in freshness and variety. Dietary requirements (lactose free, vegetarian and gluten free only) are catered for.  Break-out rooms are conveniently located within the building; these are a great place to meet up with friends or make new writing buddies.

In line with our promise to deliver small, quality events, the number of participants in each Masterclass is restricted to eight (8). A limited number of 'day only' places is available.  Masterclasses on offer this year are detailed below.

For full details, booking form and cost, please email writers@writersatthewoolshed.com.au or click on the button opposite.

The Hermitage 

Click on this button for Full Details including Cost & Booking Form

Creating Narrative Drive with Ashley Kalagian Blunt:
Tension on every page is the key to narrative drive, whether you're writing fiction, memoir or any narrative work. Join bestselling author Ashley Kalagian Blunt to learn a set of practical tools and techniques to help you craft both gripping scenes and a compelling story arc. You'll learn why narrative drive is essential to storytelling and discover how to create properly structured, tension-filled scenes that fuel story momentum. You'll also learn about suspense, pacing, momentum, polarity, story loops, the power of false victories and defeats, and how to use all of this to make your manuscript irresistible to agents, publishers and readers. To develop our understanding, we'll analyse a number of scenes before considering how to structure our own through a series of in-class exercises. 
Target audience: relevant for fiction, memoir and any narrative work (less relevant for short stories, unless the writer is particularly keen on learning scene structure)

Bio:
Ashley Kalagian Blunt is a writer, speaker and podcaster. Her number one bestselling psychological thriller, DARK MODE, is out now in Australia/NZ, the UK, Germany and South Korea. It was shortlisted for the 2024 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year, the Danger Awards Best Crime Debut, and the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction.
She is the author of two previous books, HOW TO BE AUSTRALIAN, a memoir, and MY NAME IS REVENGE, a thriller novella and collected essays. Her writing appears widely across Australian and international publications. 
Ashley is a frequent speaker and panel moderator, and co-hosts a podcast on writing, creativity and health. 
Her latest thriller, COLD TRUTH, is out now, and LIKE, FOLLOW, DIE, a full-length Audible Original, is available in audiobook and coming in print and ebook in March 2026.Read more about Ashley here.

Ashley Kalagian Blunt

The Why of the I with Dr Kerrie Davies
From Nick Carraway's intimate sharing of friendship and tragedy in the Great Gatsby, to the razor cool observation of Joan Didion's essays and memoirs, the first-person spans genres and voices. 
In this masterclass, with author Kerrie Davies, by doing a deep dive into your manuscript you will explore the why of the 'I' in your story, and how the core of the 'I' is about the relationship to others, rather than a restricted interiority. Drawing on her own experiences writing the auto / biography A Wife's Heart, and other authors' works of nonfiction and fiction, the workshop offers understanding and creative application of how the 'I' can be brought to life, whether as the sole narrator, or mixed with a different point of view. 
Kerrie's background teaching and researching life writing also brings a knowledge of the many life writing subgenres that can be considered when writing in first person that can be adapted to fiction.
The workshop includes practical advice including on the use of 'I' in your manuscript, feedback, techniques and examples, in-class exercises, and resources to take home.
Target audience: Emerging and developing writers of fiction and nonfiction with a draft manuscript (full or partial)

Bio:
Kerrie Davies is the author of MILES FRANKLIN UNDERCOVER, released March 2025 (Allen & Unwin). Her previous book, A WIFE'S HEART, created national discussion about the poet Henry Lawson and his marriage. She has appeared at the Sydney Writers' Festival, Brisbane Writers Festival & the National Folk Festival. A former journalist, Kerrie was a visiting fellow at the State LIbrary NSW and is Senior Lecturer at the School of the Arts & Media, UNSW Sydney. Kerrie writes for the Conversation, and lives on the NSW North Coast and Sydney with her husband, Oliver and their two dogs, Ursa & Loki.   Read more about Kerrie here.

Dr Kerrie Davies

Mastering Narrative Pace through Show & Tell with Dr Lee Kofman - Booked Out 
Narrative pace is a multifaceted concept that encompasses time flow and transitions in the story, and also (perhaps most importantly) the tension in the overall story and in every scene. Well-honed narrative pace would also add energy and zest to the writing. We'll look at all these aspects of narrative pace, understand how different types of pace affect the reading experience, and do a series of exercises to practice various pace shifts and gradations. 
While doing this, we'll pay a special attention to debunking the popular rule of 'Show don't tell' and to understanding how both showing and telling techniques affect narrative pace and energy. A principle underpinning this masterclass is that creating a compelling and deep narrative requires finding a balance between the two modes: the showing which is the action of narrative and the telling which is the narration. With this in mind, we'll also learn how to use narration in the service of action, for effective pace, and how to smoothly braid action with narration.

Bio:
Dr Lee Kofman is a Russian-born Israeli-Australian author of six books and editor of three 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 AND 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

The Writer's Room with Kylie Needham 
Whether you have an idea for a television series or film, or there's a book (perhaps your own) you want to adapt for the screen, or you're interested to learn how scriptwriting techniques can benefit your novel writing, this practical course with award winning screenwriter and author Kylie Needham offers an insight into how a professional writer's room works to shape stories into screenplays.
Using the collaborative style of a television development room, together we'll brainstorm each participant's concept, characters, setting and story arcs. Through this practical application we'll discuss screenwriting fundamentals such as scene, structure, dialogue and visual storytelling. Participants will finish the workshop with a rough 'Bible' for their project they can build on beyond the course. 

Bio:
Kylie Needham is an award-winning author and screenwriter. Kylie has written and edited more than 100 hours of scripted television and won two AWGIE awards; one each for Best Television Series and Best Adapted Telemovie.
Scriptwriting credits for television include FIGHTING SEASON for Foxtel/Goalpost, CROWNIES and International Emmy Award nominated MDA for the ABC., OFFSPRING and THE SOCIETY MURDERS for Channel Ten.
Her first novel GIRL IN A PINK DRESS was published by Penguin Random House in 2023. It won the MUD Literary Prize 2024 for the best debut literary novel by an Australian author. Helen Elliott, Literary Critic for The Age/Sydney Morning Herald, said: ‘This short novel is a small miracle. Profound and sometimes perfect, a mere review is an injustice.’ Script editing credits for feature film include THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE for Paramount+ released in 2023. Kylie regularly contributes to writers’ rooms and has worked with Matchbox Pictures, Fremantle Australia, Northern Pictures, Werner Film Productions, Aquarius Films and Archipelago Productions. 
She holds a Bachelor of Arts/Communications (Theatre/Media) from Charles Sturt University and both a Master of Arts (English Literature) and a Master of Creative Writing from Macquarie University, where she received The Macquarie University Award for Academic Excellence. She won The English Association Prize for first place in HSC English.  Read more about Kylie here.

Kylie Needham

Novel Masterclass with Dr Hayley Scrivenor
The four-day Novel Masterclass gives writers the tools and confidence to craft a full-length work in any genre. Across four focused sessions, you'll explore the essential elements of storytelling: on day one, discover the power of POV and voice; on day two, dive into character and setting; day three unpacks plot and tension, including strategies for fixing that dreaded saggy middle; and on the final day, learn practical techniques for editing your own work as well as navigating the often-bumpy road to publication. Each session blends craft insights with practical advice to keep you writing through to The End. With pre-reading, tailored workshopping of your own writing, and expert guidance from an internationally best-selling and award-winning writer, this masterclass offers both inspiration and practical pathways to bring your novel to life.

Bio:
Hayley Scrivenor is the author of two novels. GIRL FALLING was published in Australia in 2024 and described by the Sydney Morning Herald as "a remarkable exercise in complex storytelling written in Scrivenor's idiosyncratic, metaphorically vivid prose" and a "worthy follow-up to the best-selling Dirt Town." DIRT TOWN was published internationally (as Dirt Creek in the U.S., where it was a USA TODAY bestseller) in 2022 and quickly became a #1 Australian bestseller. Dirt Town won the ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Mystery and the ABIA for General Fiction Book of the Year and has been translated into several languages. Hayley is an experienced mentor and teacher and a former festival director. She has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong and lives on Dharawal country.  Read more about Hayley here.