Thursday, June 10 – Wednesday, June 16, 2027
Gain perspective, time, and space during this unique writing retreat set in the picturesque English market town of Wendover.
Overview
Surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and home to the ancient Ridgeway trail, you will join just five other writers as you generate new work and ideas, workshop ongoing projects, and find inspiration while living the quintessential village life for six days.
This is a uniquely structured writing retreat that integrates the experience of living in an English village as a writer with two bespoke day trips, led by Wendover resident Monica Cardenas, PhD. Originally from Washington, D.C., a writer and writing teacher, Monica offers singular qualifications for this exclusive retreat.
Why Wendover?
Wendover is set within the Chiltern Hills, which lends a stunning landscape and holds sections of the ancient Ridgeway National Trail that dates back to the Romans. It is a region that has inspired many writers, including TS Eliot, who wrote early sections of The Waste Land while living in the Chiltern Hills; and Agatha Christie, who lived within the Chilterns, as did her character Miss Marple.
Wendover lay well down in the midst, with mountains of foliage about it. The great plain stretched away to the northward, variegated near at hand with the quaint pattern of the fields, but growing ever more and more indistinct, until it became a mere hurly-burly of trees and bright crescents of river, and snatches of slanting road, and finally melted into the ambiguous cloudland over the horizon.
Robert Louis Stevenson, An Autumn Effect
Monica has lived in the U.K. for ten years and is well versed in English customs and cultures. Wendover is her home, and she will introduce you to its classic afternoon tea room, weekly market, countryside walks, friendly cafes, and local wellness activities. Just 45 minutes from Heathrow airport and less than an hour by train to central London, Wendover is the perfect location to experience all that England has to offer — or begin your wider British adventure!
Highlights
Experienced tutors
In addition to Monica’s guidance and two 30-minute private feedback sessions with her, local writers will host workshops and craft talks, including beloved Write & Shine founder and author Gemma Seltzer, who will lead one of her trademark morning writing sessions. (Top right: author Rose Diell; bottom: author Gemma Seltzer)
Custom day-trips
With Wendover as home base for the week, you’ll also visit Bourton-on-the-Water in the beautiful Cotswolds, where you will have time to wander the model village, quaint shops, and local eateries. A second day trip to London includes a private literary walking tour.
Fitness and treatment options
A guided nature walk is included in the retreat, as well as a pilates class and cranio-sacral therapy session to help you feel relaxed and energized. These sessions are with local, independent, women-owned businesses.
Real Magic Books
The local independent bookshop in Wendover is a true gem, hosting monthly book clubs, concerts, and author readings. The owners Carl and Sophie are ready to welcome our writers with a Bookseller Q&A session and a community story slam/open mic night featuring you and other creatives living in and around Wendover.
Start early
You will be invited to share up to 2,000 words of an ongoing writing project with Monica ahead of the retreat, to be discussed during your first 1-1 meeting (two are included in the retreat). A private Whatsapp group will also help everyone introduce themselves before the retreat begins!
I always look forward to workshopping with Monica. She provides detailed thoughtful feedback and critique, always asking insightful questions that help me understand what might need developing or improving. I always feel confident and reassured when I come out of our workshops.
Rebekah, writer
Who is this for?
This retreat is ideal for those writing prose fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction, and short stories. You do not need to have publications — just a passion for writing and interest in learning more. You do not need to share your work with the wider group, but you will receive private feedback from Monica.
With this retreat, you get:
- Focused attention — just six writers permitted
- 1-1 feedback sessions with your host, Monica Cardenas
- Craft seminars and generative workshops with Monica and guest instructors
- Private day trips to London and the Cotswolds
- Informative and friendly guided tours
- Pilates, guided nature walk, and cranio-sacral therapy session to help you relax and reenergize
- A stay in an historic inn dating back to the 17th century (private room and bathroom)
- The opportunity to give a reading in an independent bookshop
Includes
Accommodation
All writing sessions
1-1 feedback meetings
Day trips
Private tours
Fitness and treatment sessions
Transportation to and from Heathrow airport
Breakfast and dinner each day, and two lunches
Does not include
4 Lunches
Alcoholic beverages
Airfare
Insurance
Price: $3,250. Secure your place with a $500 deposit; final payment due March 1, 2027.
Please note the retreat is capped strictly at six writers. If it is sold out, there will be a waitlist.
Schedule
Thursday
You will be transferred from London Heathrow to Wendover. The journey is about 45 minutes. Early check in at your accommodation, the Bel & Dragon, is available from 1:30PM onwards. You’ll have time to settle in and check out the local weekly market before a short walking tour of Wendover. Later, the group will meet for early drinks and dinner at a local tapas restaurant, during which Monica will outline the plan for the week and invite you to discuss your goals. If the jet lag hasn’t got you down, you can soak up the atmosphere at a local pub.
Friday
Breakfast at your leisure at the hotel. At 10AM, the group meets for a marathon day of writing. First, Gemma Seltzer will lead one of her trademark Write & Shine writing workshops. Afterwards, we’ll have a break for lunch on your own and the first round of 1-1s with Monica, during which she will provide feedback on work you submitted in advance of the retreat.
In the afternoon, novelist Rose Diell will lead a workshop and Q&A that will include invitations to write and discuss your practice. Later, local nature enthusiast, birder, and husband to Monica, Chris Large will lead a nature walk from the hotel. That evening, the group will dine together at one of the local pubs.
Saturday
Begin the morning with a mat pilates class suitable for all levels at local fitness studio BML. Afterwards, breakfast is provided at the hotel. At 10AM, a private charter bus will transport you (1.5hrs) to Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds, one of England’s most picturesque (and touristy!) areas. You will have several hours to wander Bourton, which is set upon the River Windrush and features a model village, many unique shops and cafes, and the Cotswold Motoring Museum. The group will have dinner together before returning to Wendover that evening.
Sunday
Breakfast at your leisure at the hotel. At 10AM, Monica will lead a craft seminar with several short readings and writing exercises to get ideas flowing. This workshop is centered on generating content that you may develop further over the course of the retreat.
Afterwards, the group will enjoy high tea together at the local tea room, followed a visit to the local independent bookshop REAL MAGIC, where owners Sophie and Carl will host “ask a bookseller.”
Later in the afternoon, Monica will host additional 1-1s. Apart from the 1-1s, you’ll have free time to wander Wendover, with options for a cranio-sacral therapy session (included). This is a light touch therapy that releases tension in the body. That evening, we’ll enjoy fish & chips at a different pub in town (vegetarian and vegan options available).
Monday
Breakfast at your leisure at the hotel. At 9:30 AM, the group departs for London from the local train station (50 minutes). Upon arrival in London, Monica will lead a brief tour to give you the lay of the land, after which you may wander and have lunch on your own. In the afternoon, the group reunites for a private walking tour of literary sites, where you will delight in tales about some of London’s most illustrious writers – like Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, Ian Fleming, Graham Greene, TS Eliot and Noel Coward – brought to life in their own words, and with performances of excerpts from their novels, plays and poems. Following the tour, the group will have dinner together in London, before returning to Wendover by train.
Tuesday
Breakfast at your leisure at the hotel. At 10AM, the group meets for a final day of writing! A guest tutor will lead a craft seminar to help you edit your work in progress. Then we’ll have a working lunch and time for discussion. Following lunch, you will have more time to write and edit your work in a dedicated space, and have your final 1-1 with Monica.
Later that evening, the group will meet for drinks before returning to REAL MAGIC bookshop, where you are invited to read from your work in progress. Finally, the group will dine together one last time at the Bel & Dragon.
Wednesday
Breakfast at the hotel, followed by transfers to Heathrow airport between 8-10AM.
Instructors
Monica Cardenas is a UK-based American writer and scholar. She holds an MA and PhD in English & Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research is focused on the non-maternal woman in 20th century literature alongside the evolution of reproductive rights in the United States. Monica’s novel Mother Law, forthcoming from Unsolicited Press, was longlisted for the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize and the Jericho Writers First 500 Competition, and runner-up in the Borough Press open submission competition. She read fiction for Litro literary magazine and taught creative writing at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.
She authors the Bad Mothers Substack, and hosts the Bad Mothers podcast on maternal estrangement. Her work has been published in The Audacity, Huffington Post, Literary Hub, Vittles, and Jenny, among others.
Gemma Seltzer is a London-based writer and creative facilitator. She is the author of two short story collections, including ‘Ways of Living’ (Influx Press), a Foyles bestseller. Her work spans fiction, performance, radio and virtual reality films. In 2015, Gemma founded Write & Shine, a unique early morning-based writing programme. gemmaseltzer.com
Rose Diell‘s debut novel, Fledging, was published by award-winning indie publisher Renard Press in 2024. It tells the story of Lia, who’s struggling with the baby decision – until one day, she lays an egg. She has been featured on numerous podcasts, and at literary fairs and other bookish events. Rose was born and raised in London, but her heritage stems from various places beyond the British Isles.
She writes in her spare time alongside a busy day job, with the encouragement and support of her writing circle, the Southbank Scribblers. Rose lives in South London with her civil partner and Tolstoy, an extremely fluffy ginger tabby.
Accommodation
You’ll stay in a private room at the iconic 17th century Bel & Dragon inn, set on the High Street in Wendover. Rooms include a full or queen size bed, en-suite bathroom, and tea and coffee facilities.
Food
Breakfast is provided each day at the Bel & Dragon, which you may take at your convenience. Lunch is on your own except for two days in which lunch is included; Wendover offers an array of independent cafes and restaurants, as well as a small supermarket with prepared food available. The group dines together each evening at a local restaurant. Meals include a classic fish & chips, high tea, food trucks, tapas, gastropub (upscale pub menus), and more. Vegetarian and vegan options will be available.
Guests
If you’d like to bring a guest who shares your room, you are welcome to do so. Guests are permitted to join all activities except writing workshops, craft talks, 1-1 feedback sessions, and cranio-sacral therapy. Guests pay an additional $850 for meals, transfers and tours.
