Spring Writing Retreat
18-24 May 2026
Puglia, Italy
group size:
4-7 writers
Just 3 spots left!
Are you a fiction writer ready to kickstart your project or reignite your creativity? Join us in Puglia, Italy, for a rejuvenating writers' retreat. Enjoy a luxurious stay in a 900-year-old palazzo, inspiring guest talks, and scenic walks along the Ionian coast. Leave refreshed and ready to tackle your work!
Capped at 7 writers.
About the retreat
Reignite your creativity and progress that piece of writing you've always wanted to start.
This transformative retreat in Italy is designed to help you reconnect with your passion for writing and give you the space to focus deeply on your craft.
Imagine spending an entire week free from distractions, surrounded by a supportive community of writers from around the world, in an inspiring, peaceful setting.
By the end, you'll feel creatively refreshed, empowered, and ready to tackle your writing with renewed clarity and energy. This retreat is more than a getaway—it's the creative reset you've been searching for.
Perfect for writers of all genres and appropriate for beginner to intermediate levels.
"I started with a pretty amorphous book project, and ended it with clarity on how to carry it forward with specific tasks."
Writer, USA
Retreat Highlights
Daily workshops: Interactive, daily sessions together focused on craft, inspiration, editing and more.
Tours & Activities: Explore the treasures of Puglia. Learn about the region's history and traditions, try your hand at local crafts.
Meals: We'll have all breakfasts and most dinners together.
Downtime: There's plenty of time for you to write but also relax and explore on your own.
The Writing Grove writers retreat was an incredible experience. Lloyd is an intuitive teacher...You will leave his lessons feeling more confident in your own writing abilities. I cannot recommend The Writing Grove enough!
-Anova, USA
Workshops & activities
Workshops
The week will bring many breakthroughs. Here are sample workshops we'll have:
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Start with the end: Looking at the ending of your story as the guiding light for the work as a whole
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Getting into character. Learn how to create characters as fully realised people, with strength, flaws and beautiful complexities
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Making a scene. Master the architecture of writing successful scenes.
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Bring the drama. Focus on dialogue, subtext and the art of persuasion.
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The art of revision. Understand editing both big picture and line-by-line.
Activities
Puglia is rich in local traditions and history.
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We'll tour Nardò, our town, blessed with what many have called "the most beautiful" square in Southern Italy.
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We'll also go on excursions to the seaside, with exclusive tours of villas and other historic buildings closed to the general public.
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To get us thinking with all our senses, we’ll work with a local artisan on a craft, learning how traditional artistry is still being practised today.
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In some of our previous retreats, we've learned puppetmaking and weaving.
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You'll apply what you've learned to your scene so you can engage the reader on all levels.
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"I learned a lot about how to improve my writing... colour, context, background, senses...The feedback was really useful! The exercises were really well thought out and writing examples were really high quality. I found them motivating and challenging. 100% recommend to others."
- Clare, France
Where you'll stay
Our home away from home is Relais Il Mignano, a royal palace turned boutique hotel, in the heart of Nardò’s historic centre. There’s enough history to inspire a novel (or two).
Part of a set of lovingly restored palazzi, Il Mignano is a destination in its own right. The hotel has been lovingly restored to the highest standards.
You’ll enter through large wooden doors where kings and queens once arrived with their entourages. The courtyard is a peaceful oasis - where you can spend time writing, eating or relaxing.
The hotel is part of a group featured in Condé Nast as the best hotels in Puglia in 2024!
The spacious, private rooms will make you feel like royalty during your stay.
The beds are large and luxurious, with high-quality linen. All rooms have views of either the old city or the courtyard. The rooms all have their own en-suites, with designer fixtures. You’ll have no issues finding your writing rhythm at the desk.
Staying here will inspire you while providing a restful atmosphere to create and dream and write.
You may even discover centuries-old secret passageways the nobles used!
What about the food?
Puglia is where Italians go to eat! Blessed with fertile soil, more than 300 days of sunshine per year and on a peninsula, the region is globally recognised for its fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood.
You haven’t had a tomato until you’ve tasted one in Italy. You’ll be amazed at the flavour packed into vegetables grown, harvested and prepared with deep respect and care for the land.
You’ll dine on traditional, regional dishes like silky roasted chickpeas and handmade orecchiette with thin slices of fried parmesan cheese, whose every crunch crackles with flavour. There’s also grilled melanzane with sprinkles of sea salt and a splash of lemon.
Regardless of your dietary requirements, you’ll eat fabulously here. Light on meat, Puglia’s cuisine is heavy on seasonality and vegetables.
Meals are the highlight of the day, and Italians (especially in this region) take their time – dinners here can, and should, last for hours.
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"I really enjoyed the experience! I gained perspective on character. Recommend to others." - ME Rothwell, author of best-selling blogs The Books that Made Us and Cosmographia.
The itinerary
Settle into your hotel room, relax from travel and join an aperitivo and optional (at cost) dinner with the group.
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"I learned how to inject detail and emotion in my writing. I really enjoyed reading the sample exercises to gain insight. I do look forward to more opportunities with The Writing Grove - online and in-person :)"
-Lisa, USA
What you get
Wouldn't you feel a sense of accomplishment when the characters you’ve dreamed of writing come alive on the page?
How fulfilling would it be to have a clear plan of attack on your story plot, removing the confusion and frustration of what to do next in your writing?
How rejuvenated would you feel after spending a week dedicated to nurturing your creative side, focusing only on YOU and YOUR writing?
Imagine the sense of community you'll feel once you've found your tribe amongst a global network of writers who support and cheer each other on!
Included:
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6 unforgettable nights in a private, single room with an ensuite in the luxury palazzo
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1 historical and informative tour of baroque Nardò
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1 inspiring tour of the seaside villas or towns. Includes lunch
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1 Craft-making activity with a local artisan
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Daily delicious breakfasts
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5 dinners
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2 aperitivi
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All retreat materials
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Transfer to/from Brindisi airport or Lecce train station. Transfer from Bari airport is possible at an additional cost
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For each participant, I will plant an olive tree via a local olive farm regeneration nonprofit. The tree will sequester 600kg CO2 per person - perfect for travel offset!
Not included:
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Flights or trains
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Meals outside of those specified
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Trips, tours and activities outside those specified
Nardò, Italy
Nardò is the crown jewel of the southern cities in Salento, Puglia, the region at the very bottom of Italy’s heel. The town is renowned for its baroque and rococo architecture: the squares are full of ornate churches, palazzi, and restaurants.
It’s not just the buildings that are magic – local legend has it that mystical elves live in the countryside and love playing pranks on people.
Only an hour's plane ride from Rome, Salento is a well-known treasure to Italians but still undiscovered by the rest of the world. You’ll be amongst locals, far from the masses, giving you the authentic experience in Italy you’ve always dreamed of.
Over your morning coffee and brioche, you’ll admire the elaborate, baroque palaces and churches built centuries ago by nobles to show off their wealth.
You’re also only a ten-minute drive to the Ionian coast, which has the clearest, cleanest beaches in all of Italy. Regardless of the season, the sea is always worth visiting. Large mystical forests line the coastal hills, perfect for a walk as you tour ancient forts and villas as part of the retreat.
Take in the local culture. There's always a procession, festival or celebration happening in the town.
Your hosts
Lloyd Miner - Facilitator
My name is Lloyd Miner, and I'm the founder of The Writing Grove.
Working full-time in a demanding tech job for years meant that I had too little time or energy to devote to my first passion: writing. Over the years, I managed to get published, but it was going on a writing retreat in the UK that was a revelation.
Once I discovered how powerful time spent focused on writing could be, I wanted to share the experience with others.
I decided to start my own retreats, designed for people who yearn to do more creative work but are busy with life and need time away from it all to focus on their creativity.
I set up all the elements that would create a perfect writing retreat: stunning locations, great local food, history and culture, collaborations with artists and craftspeople, rest and relaxation, and activities to stimulate creativity. And most importantly, an atmosphere where you can focus on your writing away from the daily distractions.
Writers I’ve worked with have published short stories and novels, and have been nominated for and won several awards, including the prestigious Pushcart.
Now more than ever, people need a place where they can express themselves creatively. My workshops and retreats are spaces where you can slow down, get inspired and allow yourself the time and space for play and creativity. I create supportive, calm, open experiences where participants thrive.
I can’t wait to work with you!
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Francesca Marciano - Teacher
Francesca Marciano is an Italian novelist and a screenwriter. She’s the author of three novels and two short story collections all published by Pantheon Books: her first novel Rules of the Wild was a New York Times Notable Book of the year; “Casa Rossa, “The End of Manners”, “The Other Language” which was shortlisted for The Story Prize and “Animal spirit”.
She writes for the Italian cinema, and her screenplays have won several awards. She wrote the film Don't Tell , which was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film.
Praised by The New York Times as a storyteller for her "authority and storytelling virtuosity", we're thrilled to have Francesca leading a masterclass on the retreat.
Valeria D'Alltri - Italian Experience Expert
Valeria is the founder of Fluxus, a company for real travellers since 2001. Valeria creates bespoke experiences for us in Puglia, helping students discover the local history, authentic traditions, and culture of the region. We're so lucky to have her taking care of us in Italy!
Giving back
I believe the earth is a precious, though vulnerable and fragile resource. The olive groves of Southern Italy have been threatened by disease over the last several years, causing environmental and economic damage.
For every participant in a Writing Grove retreat, I plant an olive tree with a local nonprofit, Olivami. The tree will grow to provide habitat for animals, jobs for farmers and, of course, delicious olive oil.
Each tree sequesters 600kg (.67 tons) of carbon dioxide - perfect for offsetting the impact of travel!
FAQs
