A Writer’s Retreat, Central Italy, September 2026

Writers considering the retreat are encouraged to enquire promptly.

“Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life.” Anna Akhmatova wrote those words long before this retreat existed, yet the sentiment still fits. This September, a single place waits for a writer ready to spend a week somewhere the light, the pace and the guidance all point towards the page.

From 5 to 12 September 2026, a villa in central Italy opens to a small circle of writers. The Adriatic sits on one side, the Gran Sasso mountains rise on the other, and between them sits a week built for sustained, serious work.

The Villa and the Work

Numbers stay deliberately small here, a handful of writers gathered for seven days and given the kind of attention a larger group tends to dilute.

The week holds a steady rhythm. Mornings belong to workshops, where craft, structure and revision take centre stage. Afternoons open up for solitary work, whether that means drafting, reading or thinking through a knot in the plot. Evenings pull everyone back together over dinner, where the day’s ideas often find their next direction.

Each writer sets their own pace. Some arrive chasing a word count, others chasing a single scene that finally works. Both leave with pages moved forward.

Wendy Ridolini’s Method

Editor, reviewer and long-time reader of other people’s manuscripts, Wendy Ridolini built this retreat around a simple idea. Writers improve fastest with structure, honest feedback and time protected from the noise of daily life.

Her sessions draw on years spent assessing manuscripts professionally, which gives feedback a weight that goes beyond encouragement. Group workshops sit alongside one-to-one mentoring, tailored to wherever a project currently stands, whether that is a finished draft awaiting polish or an idea still finding its shape.

Publishing itself gets airtime too. Submission strategy, agent expectations and the long game of sustaining a writing practice all feature in conversation across the week, grounded in experience rather than theory.

From the Page to Publication

Writers leave this retreat carrying pages forward, and several have carried them all the way to publication.

Jeremy, who attended in 2022, called the week “rewarding and inspiring,” adding that it was “well organised and encouraging, especially in terms of improving my writing.” His political thriller, Court in the Act, reached shelves in January 2025, following a constitutional crisis triggered when a newly crowned monarch is arrested while abroad.

Roz Kings met Wendy on an earlier retreat and has since finished her manuscript, Clean Skins, a novel tracing a young girl’s route into a drug gang, told with a careful, controlled eye on character. It now sits with publishers.

Nicole T. Smith, travelling from the United States, described her week simply as “special,” one she would always remember. Her novel, Shadows, a psychological drama exploring memory, inherited history and questions of identity, grew directly from that time.

The Practical Details

Everything sits within one all-inclusive price, starting from £1,750, so a writer’s energy stays on the manuscript rather than the logistics.

That price covers seven nights in a shared double room, three meals a day, daily workshops, one-to-one mentoring, group discussions on craft and publishing, and transfers to and from Pescara airport.

Teaching and independent time balance across the week, giving each idea raised in a workshop somewhere to land in a writer’s own project by the afternoon.

The Region Itself

Abruzzo carries a character distinct from Italy’s better-known regions. The villa looks towards the Gran Sasso range, with the historic town of Città Sant’Angelo within easy reach and the Adriatic close by.

Walking routes, quiet outdoor corners suited to a notebook, and long stretches of uninterrupted time all shape the setting. This is a landscape built for concentration, suited to writers keen to use a week fully rather than fill it with sightseeing.

Is This Retreat for You

Writers who take this retreat seriously tend to arrive with a project already in mind, alongside a genuine interest in feedback that challenges as much as it encourages. Experience varies widely across the group, from published authors to those drafting a first chapter.

The common thread runs through commitment. Writers here want their project to move forward, and they come prepared to put in the work required to make that happen.

Booking for September

Creative Writing Retreat, Abruzzo, Italy

From 5 to 12 September 2026

The setting, the structure and the guidance are already in place. What remains is the work, and the writer to do it.

All-inclusive from £1,750, covering accommodation, meals, workshops, mentoring and transfers from Pescara airport.