​​​​UNDER ROUGH RIDGE WRITERS’ RETREAT  

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2026 Dates: 10-17 October​ ​

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Ōtūrēhua in Central Otago has become a magnet for writers. Here in the Māniatoto, where the sky is big enough to contain all dreams, writers have come from all over the country to attend our retreats, to linger and soak in the magic of this place, in the hope of weaving words into something wonderful.

 

In 2019, with half a dozen writers already living here, author Mike Riddell came up with the idea of running a writers’ retreat. He suggested that our resident writers, among them poets, novelists, a screenwriter and an editor, as well as well-known former Poet Laureate Brian Turner, could teach workshops.  There would also be guest speakers and panel discussions, but mostly the retreat would be an opportunity for writers to take time out from their normal lives, and write.  

 

That first retreat, held over a weekend, drew 50 people from all over the country.  It was highly successful and the consensus at the end of it was that the retreat should cater for fewer people for a longer time.  So each year from 2020 onwards we’ve invited writers to come for a full week and experience the ‘world of difference’ that is Central Otago. Although we hold the retreat in early spring, we've had at least a flurry of snow most years, providing enough chill for those from more temperate parts of the country to get a sense of what it’s like to live in a place of extreme temperatures. 

 

Our main focus during the retreat is on providing you with time and space to work on a long-form project with the help of wonderful surroundings and a team of published authors who all live in the Ida Valley. We have some communal meals, plenty of opportunity for discussion, great visiting speakers, and a marvellous final party to round things off. 

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Participants come from all over the country, and sometimes overseas. Typically they're writing across all genres, and with all levels of experience - some have many books under their belts, and some are complete beginners. Some people have  been coming year after year, so it pays to register early to secure a place and arrange accommodation for yourself to avoid missing out. 

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Registering for the 2026 Retreat

 

To register for the 2026 retreat, contact Rose Riddell (rose@fylm.co.nz). We can keep your place only once we've received a deposit. The fee covers workshops, evening events and some evening meals. You will need to organise your own accommodation (see Accommodation page for some local suggestions), lunches, and three or four evening meals, depending on the programme which has yet to be finalised.  

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Payment Options

a) Pay in full  by 1 July for the EarlyBird price of $395; after 1 July full price is $425

b) Pay a deposit of $125 to secure your place and the balance ($300) by 26 August

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All fees must be paid by 1 September.

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Please pay to:

Under Rough Ridge Writers' Trust, 38-9024-0026636-00 giving your name as reference and whether it's a deposit or payment in full. 

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​​​2025 Retreat

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By all accounts the 2025 retreat was another great success. Once again we took over the Community Hall and, thanks to Pete and Joyce Majendie, transformed it into a space with a cafe vibe, for people to write, socialise, generally hang out, as well as becoming an excellent venue for our evening events. We had two speakers, a book launch (Ann Jacobson's second poetry collection, Silent Twisted Light) and an open mic session, as well as our usual grand finale when anyone can perform a skit, musical or otherwise. 

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Speakers

 

Over the years we have had a variety of guest speakers, all excellent writers. They have included Grahame Sydney, Kate de Goldi,  Philip Temple, Diane Brown, Fiona Farrell, Emma Neale, and special guest, Scottish poet and essayist Kathleen Jamie. The 2025 speakers were Peta Carey, who spoke about writing creative non-fiction; her new book The Hollows Boys was shortlisted in the non-fiction section of the 2026 NZ Ockham Book Awards. Our second speaker was the newly appointed NZ Poet Laureate, Robert Sullivan (Ngāpuhi, Kāi Tahu), talking about becoming aware of unconscious colonialism in our writing, and whose story it is to tell. ​​​​​

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This year we have two internationally-known speakers, Andrew Lownie on Monday 12th October, and Ruth Diver on Wednesday 14th.​​​

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Andrew Lownie is a bestselling author and historian and widely regarded as the leading biographer on the British Royal Family. His 2025 book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York examined the lives and relationships of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and former wife Sarah Ferguson. He has also written books on the Duke of Windsor, John Buchan and Soviet spy Guy Burgess. Since 1988 he has owned a literary agency specialising in non-fiction and biography. He will join us by Zoom from the UK.

Photo: James Gifford Mead Photography

 

 

 

 

Ruth Diver is an award-winning and multi-lingual literary translator working

from French into English. A former head of comparative literature at the

University of Auckland, she has translated more than a dozen books,

including The Convoy, winner of the Scott Moncrieff Prize, and A Hymn

to Life by Gisèle Pelicot. Her translations have also appeared in Granta,

Tripwire and Guernica.

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