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Wherever you are on your personal journey as a writer, a stop at the home of a literary hero can be a revelation, inspiring and invigorating your writing in ways you might not expect.
Tired of waiting for an acceptance? The ingredients for a magical retreat are readily available to all of us outside the strictures of a space someone else is hosting—and at the place, time, and budget of our choosing.
Gatherings like the Heart of It are part of a boom in writer-run retreats and workshops that serve as homegrown alternatives to established retreats, addressing a need for kinship, in-person community, and mentorship.
The 2025 Iceland Writers Retreat was from April 23 to April 27 at the Fosshotel in Reykjavík. The retreat features workshops, panels, lectures, receptions, and time to write for fiction and nonfiction writers, as well as literary tours of Iceland. The faculty included fiction writers Kevin Chong, Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia, Meng Jin, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, and Curtis Sittenfeld; fiction and nonfiction writers Jann Arden, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Helen Macdonald, and Danny Ramadan; and nonfiction writers Thordis Elva and Rick Jervis. The cost of the retreat was 310,000 ISK (approximately $2,202).
Iceland Writers Retreat, P.O. Box 76, 212 Gardabaer, Iceland. Erica Jacobs Green and Eliza Reid, Cofounders.
