Join author John Roedel for a writing-based creative retreat, an opportunity to restore your writer-self at idyllic Atelier Clos Mirabel in the French Pyrenees.
About this course:
This won’t feel like a typical workshop. It will be more like an excavation of our hearts using the pen as a shovel.
Over five days in the heart of southwest France, poet, storyteller, and former improv comedian John Roedel will guide a small group of writers, artists, and anyone with something they have been meaning to say through a process of gentle, honest uncovering.
You do not need to be a writer to be here. You do not need to have published anything, finished anything, or even started anything. You only need to arrive with something you have been carrying that is ready to be said out loud.
Using tools drawn from comedy, journalism, and poetry – and the improv principle of “Yes And…” John creates a space where participants move past the fear of imperfection and into the kind of authentic, vulnerable expression that connects us to each other and to ourselves.
This week is not about perfection, polish, or winning awards. It is about the archaeological dig. A gentle, deliberate uncovering of what has been buried in the heart. It is about falling in love with your own voice again.
Writers are welcome. Artists are welcome. Anyone who has ever felt that something inside them is waiting to be said is welcome.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS CAN EXPECT
Mornings are for teaching, group exploration, and short generative writing exercises designed to open the heart rather than fill the page. Afternoons are built for solo writing, drop-in office hours, and scheduled one-on-one sessions with John. Every evening ends around a shared table with good food, good wine, and good conversation.
On the final evening, participants are invited to share their work in an informal coffeehouse setting ~ not a performance, but a gathering of voices that have spent a week finding their way back to themselves.
No writing experience is necessary. No previous workshops required. Just a willingness to say yes to what is waiting inside you.
Weekly Outline
Saturday – Arrival
4.00 – Check-in. Guests arrive, settle in, and explore Atelier Clos Mirabel.
6.00 – Welcome drinks and dinner. John introduces the week, the philosophy, and the one rule that matters: say yes to what arrives.
Sunday – Finding Your Voice
8.30 – Breakfast
10.00 – Morning Session: Who are you as a storyteller? Introduction to the Yes And principle and what it means to write from the inside out rather than the outside in. Short generative writing exercises.
11.00 – Group writing and sharing.
1.00 – Lunch
2.00 – Afternoon writing prompt to get the wheels turning.
2.30 – Solo writing time in the studio, gardens, or grounds.
3.30 – Drop-in office hours and scheduled one-on-one sessions with John.
6.00 – Aperitifs and dinner.
Monday – Digging Deeper
8.30 – Breakfast
10.00 – Morning Session: The inner room. Active imagination as a writing tool. Learning to access the parts of yourself that don’t come out in ordinary conversation. Short generative exercises.
11.00 – Group writing and sharing.
1.00 – Lunch
2.00 – Afternoon writing prompt.
2.30 – Solo writing time.
3.30 – Drop-in office hours and scheduled one-on-one sessions with John.
6.00 – Aperitifs and dinner.
Tuesday – Writing in the Wild
8.00 – Breakfast
9.30 – Writing en plein air. Participants take their notebooks into the landscape – the vineyards, the village, the foothills of the Pyrenees. Observation as a writing practice. What does the world outside show you about the world inside?
1.00 – Lunch in a local village restaurant.
6.00 – Aperitifs and dinner.
Please note this programme may be subject to change depending on the weather.
Please ensure you bring sensible walking shoes, layers, waterproof jacket, water bottle, sunscreen and a hat.
Wednesday – Open Inspiration Day
8.30 – Breakfast
Free day. Explore Pau, the Pyrenees, or simply rest in the grounds of Clos Mirabel. The Clos Mirabel team is available to suggest and organize transport. John is available informally throughout the day.
6.00 – Aperitifs and dinner.
Thursday – Voice and Vulnerability
8.30 – Breakfast
10.00 – Morning Session: The courage to share. What happens when we stop performing and start telling the truth? Exercises in vulnerability, specificity, and the kind of writing that makes a reader feel less alone.
11.00 – Group writing and sharing.
1.00 – Lunch
2.00 – Afternoon writing prompt.
2.30 – Solo writing time.
3.30 – Drop-in office hours and final scheduled one-on-one sessions with John.
6.00 – Aperitifs and dinner.
Friday – The Coffeehouse
8.30 – Breakfast
10.00 – Morning Session: Bringing it home. What have you found this week? What are you carrying out of here that you didn’t carry in? Final group writing exercises.
1.00 – Lunch
2.00 – Afternoon writing time. Participants prepare anything they wish to share at the evening gathering.
6.00 – The Coffeehouse Reading Night. Participants are invited — never required — to share a piece of their work from the week over aperitifs and dinner. Not a performance. A gathering of voices.
Saturday – Departure
8.30 – Breakfast and farewell
Check-out by 11.00am
