sold out!
October 23-25, 2026
Escape to the cottage to dive into your writing at this peaceful, inspiring Ontario writing retreat led by Anita Allen. With cozy private rooms, nourishing meals, and plenty of welcoming spaces to work, you’ll have everything you need to focus—whether you’re revising a project or starting fresh.
Located in the Muskokas during the height of Ontario’s autumn, this weekend retreat offers an immersion into nature to help you settle into your creativity. Enjoy unstructured writing time, optional prompts, walks in the blazing forest, starry skies, and supportive camaraderie with five other writers–all at your own pace.
Sound incredible? It is! And spots are limited to five writers so grab yours today.
Facilitator: Anita Allen
sold out!
commuter spots available!
October 22-25, 2026
Ignite your imagination on a one-of-a-kind writing retreat that will fuel your creativity and strengthen your craft. Join writers Lauren Carter and Ariel Gordon for their annual autumn escape to Carman, Manitoba—where golden leaves and glowing prairie light spark inspiration.
This four-day Manitoba writing retreat offers guided writing sessions, a supportive literary community, and unique accommodations in a 19th-century church filled with books, antiques, and stained glass. Incredible food and creative field trips will have you exploring all the nooks and crannies of your imagination!
Facilitators: Lauren Carter and Ariel Gordon
registration now open!
February 12-21, 2027
Are you a writer who is ready to truly set your writing free?
To loosen the grip of perfectionism, open yourself to creative flow, and let your words take flight?
Then join us for an incredible nine days of enriching writing sessions paired with unforgettable adventures in the sensory-rich cloud forest of Mindo, Ecuador, in the heart of the UNESCO Choco Andino Biosphere Reserve, one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth.
Facilitators: Lauren Carter and Anita Allen with host Alison Braun of EarthTreks
sold out!
September 24-28, 2026
This intensive, intimate five-day writing retreat offers a nourishing container for your creative labour, providing you with space, support, and focused time to move your manuscript significantly closer to completion.
You will get direct feedback on your work and one-on-one coaching before, during, and after the retreat to help you dive deep into your project, make significant progress, gain greater clarity and create a concrete plan to keep going.
Add in delicious meals, beautiful accommodations, and engagement with other working writers, and you are guaranteed to get closer to finishing your WIP.
Facilitator: Lauren Carter
registration opens january 1st!
May 27-30, 2027
Held at a gorgeous 13-acre Victorian estate overlooking Lake Simcoe, this Ontario writing retreat offers unique approaches to find creative flow.
Learn about the interplay between creativity and nervous system agitation and try techniques to help you ground and go deep.
Immerse into nature in the surrounding gardens, walk the labyrinth with a provided prompt, settle in for fun writer’s collage, or take some alone time in the rambling cottage.
Conscious calming combined with incredible food and lots of thoughtful touches will leave you feeling cared for and connected to your creative self.
Facilitators: Lauren Carter and Anita Allen
Improving your writing skills requires a delicate balance of solitary focus and professional mentorship. While the daily grind of a writing life can sometimes feel stagnant, stepping into a guided workshop environment provides the fresh perspective needed to move a project forward.
You deserve access to high-level instruction that respects your creative process while providing the practical tools necessary to refine your voice and sharpen your prose. Every workshop and retreat we offer centers on the idea that writing is a skill that can be nurtured through intentional practice.
If you are learning to write creatively for the first time, or returning to a project that needs deeper development, you will find support designed to spark new ideas and resolve long-standing challenges. Our facilitators provide professional writing guidance that helps you navigate the craft of writing from memoir to novels to poetry without losing your unique creative spark.
Inspiration follows action. By joining a structured environment, you bypass the hesitation that comes with working in isolation. These sessions are built to help you:
Develop Your Skills: engage with specific techniques designed to improve your writing skills and expand your technical range.
Gain Fresh Perspective: benefit from expert mentorship and the insights of a community that shares your dedication to the written word.
Deepen Your Projects: use dedicated blocks of time to work through manuscript hurdles and find the clarity needed to reach the next stage of your work.
Generate New Work: guided with writing prompts and exercises, you will create work that might not have otherwise come to life.
The goal is to return to your desk not just with more words, but with a stronger understanding of how to sustain your creative life. Investing in your education as a writer and giving yourself time to write is a way to honour your work and ensure it receives the care it deserves. Explore our current offerings and choose the experience that aligns with your goals for growth and inspiration.
Wild Ground Writing Retreats’ head office is located on Treaty One Territory, the traditional territory of the Anishnaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota peoples and the homeland of the Red River Metis. As treaty people, we are grateful to make our home and livelihood on this land and endeavour to act in support of reconciliation.