About Writing Retreats with Una
A writing retreat is time, space, and guidance for you to focus on your writing. In a focused retreat with Una, you talk about your work, get feedback, and work towards fresh progress.
As enjoyable as writers’ retreats are, safety and good health policy come first. Writing retreats will be planned at appropriate, travel-safe times.
Speculative Fiction Writing Retreats in France
August 8 – 13 2025
Le Verger, France
Una McCormack will again be running her successful writer’s retreat on Speculative Fiction at Le Verger in France. The complete details for the 2025 venue and retreat are here.
Retreat Details
This retreat is for writers of speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy). We give you the time and space you need to write in conducive surroundings, with the support of your informed and encouraging tutor. We recommend you to come to Le Verger (the orchard) with a firm idea of what you will be working on (e.g. a short story, a chapter of a novel), so that you can get to work immediately and have a productive stay.
Each morning we meet for an hour to discuss some aspect of writing speculative fiction (e.g. world-building, exposition, what if…), to talk about our work and get feedback, and to set goals for the day. Everyone writes to a different schedule (or none), so we leave this entirely up to you. Una is on hand for one-to-one meetings and guidance.
We’ve run several of these retreats, each one more successful than the last! We hope you might consider joining our writing community at Le Verger.