Retreats@CasaAna
Creative Writing Retreats in Andalucia
These retreats are designed to help you achieve success in your writing. You’ll find a welcoming house, inspiring views, award-winning mentors, the company of other writers, sunshine and amazing food. Be inspired to reach greater heights, whether you are a beginner, emerging or published writer.
Each year we run four or five Casa Ana Creative Writing Retreats, each lasting ten nights. On retreat, you can be working on a novel, or short stories, poetry, a play, flash fiction or more. A resident mentor will be on hand with help and advice when you need it and you are welcome to participate in the group feedback sessions which the mentor will facilitate. Your time is your own – when you need a break from writing there are inspiring walks into the hills or the local bar. Or a therapeutic massage. Or a glass of wine on the terrace in the company of other writers.
See The Guardian in-depth feature on Casa Ana retreats
“It was a wonderful, wonderful fortnight. For me, a perfect balance of quiet time to write, group and one-to-one sessions for feedback and to help me shape my writing, and delightful, sociable evenings with a great bunch of fellow writers. Casa Ana is comfortable, spacious and full of peace, flowers and birdsong.”
— DEBBIE
Dates of Writing Retreats, 2024 & 2025
2 - 12 November 2024.
25 January - 4 February, 22 March - 1 April, 14 -24 June, 26 July - 5 August, 30 August - 9 September, 1 - 11 November 2025.
To book one of these retreats download and send us an Application Form. We will reply to you within 48 hours. Please also download our Writing Retreat faqs.
The Mentors
Mary-Jane Holmes
A Forward Prize nominee and Hawthornden Fellow, Mary-Jane won the Live Canon Poetry Pamphlet Prize 2020, Bath Novella-in-Flash Prize 2020, the Bridport Poetry prize, Mslexia Flash prize as well as the Bedford Poetry competition. She has also been shortlisted for the Beverley International Prize for Literature and longlisted for the UK National Poetry Prize. Mary-Jane’s poetry collection Heliotrope with Matches and Magnifying Glass is published by Pindrop Press. Her award-winning pamphlet Dihedral is published by Live Canon Press and her novella Don’t Tell the Bees, is published by Ad Hoc Fiction. Her Lockdown poem ‘Letter from Baldersdale’ joins 20 other poems in the National Poetry Archive on their 20th anniversary. Her collection of Flash Fiction 'Set a Crow to Catch a Crow’ was published by V press in 2021.
Since 2009 she has served as chief editor of Fish Publishing Ireland, an organisation committed to supporting emerging writers. She also is an editorial consultant at The Well Review, an international poetry journal based in Cork, Ireland.
Ayisha Malik
Ayisha Malik is author of the critically acclaimed novels, Sofia Khan is Not Obliged, The Other Half of Happiness, This Green and Pleasant Land and The Movement. She was a WHSmith Fresh Talent Pick and Sofia Khan was a London CityReads choice. Her contributions have included, A Change is Gonna Come, A Matchmade in Heaven and the Sunday Times bestselling Conversations in Love.She has written a re-telling of Jane Austen's Mansfield Part – part of Hachette's Awesomely Austen children's series – and a children’s book Seven Sisters. Ayisha is winner of The Diversity Book Awards and has been shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Award, Marie Claire's Future Shapers Awards and h100's Awards for Publishing and Writing. Sofia Khan is not Obliged and The Movement are optioned for television.
Ayisha is a part of the Professional Writing Academy team and teaches fiction courses for Faber Academy and Curtis Brown Creative.
Tom Bromley
Tom Bromley is a published author, editor, creative writing tutor, book reviewer and ghost writer (not the scary kind). As a creative writing tutor, he teaches novel writing and five further courses for the Faber Academy. He is also Director of Fiction for the Professional Writing Academy, running courses on crime and genre fiction.
He is the Director of the Salisbury Literary Festival and hosts the Salisbury Writing Circle.
Why choose Casa Ana?
Casa Ana is known for the professionalism and expertise of its mentors and tutors. At the house you’ll find stylish and comfortable accommodation, fabulous cooking and an inspiring location, with stunning views of the Trevelez river gorge and the mountains beyond.
Your retreat at Casa Ana
You’ll have the luxury of a week or two working uninterruptedly on your writing
Inspiring mountain surroundings, quiet corners on the terrace, Spanish sunshine
Your own room and writing table
The company of other writers, from many countries
Opportunities to read from your work in the supportive atmosphere of the group
One-to-one sessions are available with the resident mentor
You don’t have to cook! The Casa Ana chef prepares sumptuous meals. Full board is included in the price.
We make it easy for you to travel to Casa Ana via our minibus service from Malaga airport
If you need a break from writing
Book a therapeutic massage at the house
In summer there’s a lovely swimming pool with a bar and rose garden, a 25-minute walk from Casa Ana.
There are long walks in the hills and shorter walks to the bar. We provide maps and directions
Complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits are available at all times. Or a glass of wine, or a cold beer, or chocolate….
Excursion to historic Alpujarran village
Half-way through the retreat you can head to one of the impossibly pretty local villages for a spot of shopping, people-watching and dinner at a local restaurant.
“There was something really magical about Casa Ana and the collective energy to write…”
— LOU
Prices 2024
Contact us for 2025 prices
All rooms are priced for single occupancy and private bathrooms.
All rooms have a writing table.
Single room: €1475
Standard size double or twin room: €1675
Large room with double bed: €1775
Garden Room (large double): €1875
NB: €50 per week off the price of a single or standard room if you are willing to share a bathroom with one other writer.
Prices include: Room, 10 breakfasts, 9 lunches, tea and coffee, 7 dinners, three group reading and feedback sessions, three afternoon prompt sessions, use of Casa Ana facilities including the guest kitchen, WIFI, garden and terraces.
Prices do not include: One-to-one mentoring sessions, 3 dinners, flights, airport transfers, drinks apart from tea and coffee
SPECIAL OFFERS 2024 and 2025
Returning Writers: €100 off the full price (bookable at any time subject to availability).
Places are strictly limited so early booking is strongly advised.
To book one of these retreats download and send us an Application Form. We will reply to you within 48 hours. If you don’t hear from us, please check your spam folder, as our emails are often mistaken for spam. Please also download our Writing Retreat faqs
Food for thought
Writers agree: the food at Casa Ana is superb. And you don’t have to roll up your sleeves and cook! At breakfast you can feast on produce typical of the Alpujarra – oranges from the garden, ripe tomatoes, rosemary honey, regional cheeses, serrano ham and local free-range eggs. In the evenings our cooks create superb 3-course dinners using fresh, seasonal ingredients, an alchemy of Spanish, Mediterranean and Moroccan flavours.
“I had a wonderful time at Casa Ana. I can't believe how much writing I got done. A special shout out to the fabulous cooks too, I'm still dreaming about the food!”
— NICOLA
The House
Staying at Casa Ana is like staying at a private house, simple, comfortable and welcoming. A place where you can feel at home.
The old Alpujarra-style buildings are arranged around a Moorish courtyard garden, planted with wisteria and roses. A few steps through the garden take you to the terraces with breathtaking views along the valley and into the mountains.
In the bedrooms we’ve kept the original chestnut beams with white walls and terracotta floors, comfortable beds, quality linens and a scattering of rugs.
The bathrooms are modern with rain showers, huge mirrors and hand-made tiles inspired by the Moorish designs of the Alhambra. A large sitting room gives onto a shady terrace with superb mountain views.
The Architect-designed dining room and kitchen are open plan and welcoming, giving onto a secluded south-facing terrace. For winter warmth there is underfloor central heating throughout (even in the bathrooms) and a fireplace in the sitting room.
“Casa Ana is a perfect place to bring a small group, especially for walking, writing, or personal development – you can have the place to yourselves. The mix of indoor and outdoor spaces provides a conducive and pleasing environment for this kind of activity. If you bring a group of 6 or more, you can opt to have lunches and dinners included, as we did, and I highly recommend this.”
— PHILIP
The Garden
Casa Ana was made for outdoor living. Everywhere rooms open onto the Moorish garden, the courtyard or the terraces.
There are big shady pergolas where you can relax with a glass of wine, or a cup of coffee and a good book and secluded sunny corners where you can soak up the Andalucian sun and do nothing at all. At night you can sit out, gaze at the stars and watch the moonrise over the mountains.
Everywhere there are panoramic views, the scent of jasmine and orange blossom, and maybe the sound of goatbells or a nightingale or the river far below.
It’s what makes Casa Ana special.
“The Casa itself is beautiful, and has been lovingly and sympathetically restored... Anne and the staff couldn’t possibly be any friendlier. The surroundings are also stunning.”
— LYNNE