Last week Centauri Arts held its first ever creative writing retreat in York, England. We brought together 8 talented writers from across Canada and the US for a week of writing, sightseeing and cultural experiences.
Our host venue for this week-long experience was The Tower Guesthouse, a beautiful family-run hotels 10 minutes’ walk from the centre of the city. We took over the entire guesthouse, so it had the true feel of a retreat. We held our writing workshops each morning in the breakfast room, and Diana, one of our hosts, baked wonderful British cakes to help inspire us all.
York is the perfect venue for a writing retreat. It is full of history, and the birthplace of many writers, so the literary heritage of the city is truly inspiring. Our participants got to explore Roman York through the ancient city walls, Viking York through the museums and archaeological remains, medieval York through the glorious Minster and The Shambles, which is the best-preserved 14th century street in Europe. Unlike our other retreats, all morning workshops were directly inspired by the locations we planned to visit in the afternoon. York is also packed with wonderful pubs which we explored each evening, and some members of our group even had firsthand experience of York’s ghosts, since it does have a reputation for being one of the most haunted cities in the world.
In addition to our six mornings of writing workshops and three afternoons getting to know this amazing city, we also took two trips to nearby landmarks. Our first trip was to Whitby, with its Dracula and Gothic associations. Writers explored Whitby Abbey, which is perched high upon a clifftop overlooking the town, then we slowly descended the 199 steps into the town itself which is packed with beautiful gift shops and iconic museums. It was a cold but bright day, and the views over the Atlantic Ocean were magnificent. We all met for dinner at a new restaurant which was a fabulous way to end the trip. What made this side trip extra special was that our driver was himself from Transylvania! He was even friends with the grandson of Bram Stoker, the writer Baker Stoker, who was born in Canada!
Our second side trip was to Haworth, made famous by the Bronte sisters. We toured the Parsonage where the sisters grew up, explored the evocative village, and some of us hiked up onto the Moors to get a firsthand experience of the landscape that inspired such classics as Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. We ended the day with food and drinks in the Black Bull, the pub which is infamous for being the place where Branwell Bronte drank himself to death.
This was our first ever creative writing retreat to England, and in many ways, it was different from any other retreat we have ever run. While everyone was intent on the writing workshops in the morning, sightseeing was the main objective each afternoon and so the group had some truly memorable adventures together. In fact, this trip went so well that although we had intended it to happen only once, we have already decided to return to York for a creative writing retreat in September 2026. Our first England retreat filled up within six hours and we expect this second retreat to be just as popular. Check our for information in a week or two!
Check out our Writing Retreats in Costa Rica and Mexico too!
