Editorial listing | This page has been compiled by the AtelierBound editorial team using publicly available information and is not managed by the retreat host. Pricing, dates, and availability should be confirmed directly with the host before making any plans. Last verified: March 3 2026. If you run this retreat, claim your listing at hosts@atelierbound.com to take full control of your page, add your own photographs, and respond to guest enquiries. ------------------ Joanne Fedler & Anna Kwiecinska 8 - 20 September, 2026 (13 days​/​12 nights) In the heart of Portugal's Alentejo region, this memoir writing retreat offers women an opportunity to examine the architecture of a life lived fully and to give it shape on the page. Led by internationally bestselling author Joanne Fedler, whose fifteen books have sold over 750,000 copies worldwide, the retreat begins with a full day exploring Lisbon before travelling to the UNESCO World Heritage city of Évora. Here, in an eighteenth-century nobleman's residence where you'll be the only guests, morning writing sessions unfold in gracious salons after breakfasts of Portuguese delicacies. The programme addresses not only the craft fundamentals of narrative arc, structure and symbolism, but ventures deeper into the seismic changes of midlife, the search for true belonging, and the courage required to befriend both shadow and light in our stories. The final three nights are spent in a contemplative eighteenth-century convento surrounded by pine forests, where 54,000 hand-painted azulejo tiles line the corridors, forest walks beckon, and a personal one-to-one session with Joanne provides tailored guidance. The Alentejo's robust cuisine, celebrated wines, and the particular quality of southern Portuguese light create an atmosphere in which memory, meaning, and the written word can converge. Bookings accepted in Euro. Listed price is an approximate conversion. Check with host for final pricing and available options (single, double, non-participants).

Website Link

https://www.annakwiecinska.com/2026retreatsandtours?utm_source=atelierbound&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=listing

What's Included

- 2 afternoon tours in Evora - 3 nights own room accommodation in a boutique historical convent - 3 nights own-room or twin accommodation at a boutique hotel in Lisbon - 5 days writing tuition with Joanne Fedler - 6 nights own room or twin accommodation at a boutique hotel in Evora - Arrival Night Dinner in the monastery with a guided wine tasting - Book-binding workshop with Anna - Breakfast 12 days - fully supported by Anna with pre-departure information and throughout the week - Lisbon tour with Anna and our specialist guide - Museum pass to Evora museums​​​ - personal session with Joanne - pre-retreat Reading Suggestions List - Retreat bag with arty and writing goodies - Welcome Dinner Lisbon - Writing support materials

Leader Bio

Anna Kwiecinska is an art historian and former gallerist whose passion for connecting creative practitioners with transformative experiences has shaped her work over the past fifteen years. She curates specialist art and writing retreats across Portugal, Bali, and Greece, combining expert tuition with authentic cultural immersion in locations she knows intimately from her own life abroad. Study with Joanne Fedler, internationally bestselling author of 15 books whose works have sold over 750,000 copies, Write in an exclusive 18th-century nobleman's residence in UNESCO World Heritage city Évora (European City of Culture 2027), Three nights in an 18th-century convento featuring 54,000 hand-painted azulejo tiles, pine forests, and swimming pools, Explore midlife memoir themes including liminality, ancestral voices, embodiment, and the Heroine's Journey, Personal one-to-one session with Joanne included, Immersion in Alentejo's celebrated cuisine and wines (90% of Portugal's olives, 50% of its wines), Small intimate group of women writers in a supportive communal environment