The Retreat into the Devon Countryside
Poetry, prose and song at Ashley Court · 30 April – 2 May 2027

Three days, two nights, and a small room of writers.

The Retreat into the Devon Countryside is an intimate gathering for writers of poetry, fiction and narrative nonfiction — a chance to work seriously on craft while staying somewhere that makes working possible. Masterclasses alternate with genuinely restorative hours: time to walk the eighteen acres, write in the walled kitchen garden, or sit by a fire and think.

Your teachers.

Kathryn Aalto is a New York Times bestselling author, garden historian and master teacher of narrative nonfiction, with thirty years in the classroom. She founded The Narrative Life, her international writing school, and her students have won the £10,000 Nature Chronicles Prize and signed book contracts. She lives in Devon.

Kathleen Jamie is among the most admired poets and essayists in Britain, author of Sightlines, Surfacing and The Overhaul, and former Makar — Scotland’s national poet. She leads workshops on poetry and prose.

Jon Boden is one of the most influential figures in modern British folk music — of Spiers & Boden and Bellowhead, winner of more BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards than any other artist. He gives a live performance in the candlelit parlour and leads a songwriting workshop, which writers of every kind find unexpectedly clarifying.

The shape of it. Mornings are for craft. Afternoons leave long stretches free — the grounds, the garden, your own pages. Evenings are for readings, talks and music, taken around long tables. Nothing is compulsory. A good deal happens in the gaps.

Who comes. Poets, novelists, memoirists, essayists. People with a manuscript in progress and people who have never shown anyone a word. Writers travel from across Britain and well beyond.

Places are limited by design, with residential rooms in the house and non-residential places for those travelling in.

Programme, prices and booking at http://Devon Writing Retreat 2027 | Kathleen Jamie and Jon Boden