Writing Retreat in Greece


Making Decisions and Taking Action - a retreat adventure for characters and writers!
Decisions launching us into actions: it’s how things happen in our lives and in our characters’ lives. Until a character (or we) make a decision, there is no movement forward. Power your characters and your stories forward, making your characters choose again and again, and then making those choices more difficult. Master the art of dilemma, the fork in the road, the impossible choice, and see your stories erupt with meaning and power.
Revel in this glorious retreat on a Greek isle, and you will never again be afraid of painting yourself or your characters into a corner. A deep dive into your own writing, inspirational workshops to take you up levels in a week, local-chef-cooked community lunches, luxurious beach lounging, Mediterranean swims, and adventures in the all-night town square where the Obamas and others vacation: make your own creative adventure, find your story magic, and produce your most impactful pages yet.

Elizabeth Stark, a novelist (Shy Girl: FSG, Seal Press, finalist for the Ferro-Grumely and Lambda Literary Awards) and award-winning filmmaker (producer of Lost in the Middle: Best Feature at Broad Humor 2019 and a Festival Favorite at Cinema Diverse; co-director and co-writer of FtF: Female to Femme and Little Mutinies, distributed by Frameline), co-hosts the podcast Story Makers Show, and co-directs and teaches at Sonoma County Writers Camp and Book Writing World. She earned her MFA from Columbia University, and her work has appeared in The New York Times and The Rumpus.
Nanou Matteson has produced four feature films and written, directed and produced multiple short films. Her films have won multiple awards at numerous festivals across the country and around the world. She has consulted on scripts for dozens of screenwriters and taught screenwriting in the States and in Europe. Teaching classes, consulting, producing, and mentoring individuals, she has been helping writers and filmmakers achieve their goals for more than thirty years, including works of fiction, screenplays, films, academic books, memoirs, newsletters, and more. Nanou believes that story is a blueprint for life and loves coaching people to express their story.

When:
Friday, June 20 – Friday, June 27, 2025
Where and How Much:
Two choices for this seven-day retreat in Greece (already a decision 🙂)
$5750 ($5450 early enrollment before February 28) includes luxury four-star hotel accommodations, all breakfasts, community lunches, welcome dinner and final night celebration, plus full tuition for daily workshops with Nanou and Elizabeth, student readings, individual coaching, and optional group writing times throughout the day.


OR
$4250 ($3975 early enrollment before February 28) includes two-star hotel accommodations, all breakfasts, community lunches, welcome dinner and final night celebration, plus full tuition for daily workshops with Nanou and Elizabeth, student readings, individual coaching, and optional group writing times throughout the day.
POLICY: $500 deposit is non-refundable. The remainder of your tuition is due March 22 and is non-refundable after that time.

To sign up or for more information contact nanou.matteson@gmail.com
Diana Densmore
"The retreat was the perfect mix of classes and questions that challenged me to delve deep into my characters and loads of free time to actually make progress and do that deep writing work. It exceeded my expectations."
Lisa Taggart
"I had very high expectations and I have to say that they were completely exceeded. Surrounding myself with such beauty and taking the time to think and talk about my writing, it felt like my creativity rose up. I told a better story than I thought I could. It was exhilarating."
Megan McDonald
This was a life-changing and life-affirming experience, in terms of writing, exploration, and support. The respectful combination of morning writing time, afternoon class, and evening leisure (or more writing) worked wonderfully for me. I was able to be productive, then receive a lesson, and finally apply it. And [the location was] simply gorgeous: Atmospheric. Relaxing. Inspiring. I never felt as if I were wanting for anything.