Writers’ Retreat UK’s Jan Birley has had a short monologue piece recorded by the Green Curtain Theatre in London. Responding to a call for submissions on the theme of lockdown, Jan wrote a monologue following a daughter’s attempt at talking her dad through getting a video chat app installed on his new smartphone. You can…Continue reading Green Curtain Theatre – Short Lockdown Monologue

With the government looking at a plan for lifting restrictions, we are tentatively putting plans in place for resuming our retreats. We want now to give our clients the confidence to book ahead for retreats. All of our venues will be deep cleaned, prior to the start of each retreat. At each retreat, we offer…Continue reading Retreat Bookings – COVID-19 Update

A Contemplation of Rain and Ducks The rain kept on raining. Geraldine kicked at the puddles. “Fuck this weather,” she said. “Fit for fucking ducks.” A drake mallard waddled onto the pathway. “Good morning, Geraldine,” he said. “Fucking great,” Geraldine said. “A talking duck.” “Deux langues,” he elaborated. “No idea what you’re saying.” She flicked…Continue reading Short Story Competition 2nd Place – A Contemplation of Rain and Ducks by Ruth Brandt

Writers’ Retreat UK is proud to present the winning entry in our first short story competition of 2020: Milk without Honey by Philippa Kelly The wind blew extraordinarily hot for late October. It left Cairo feeling tinderbox dry. This intensified the usual franticness of the days’ activities, pedestrians spilled from the pavement into gridlocked traffic.…Continue reading Short Story Competition Winner – Milk Without Honey

The short story competition results were announced this evening on our live webinar link (apologies for the initial sound problems to those who tuned in). Here are the final results. The 15 shortlisted stories, who will feature in the 2020 anthology and receive a 30% discount on a retreat place are: An Unremarkable Life by…Continue reading Short Story Competition – Results