Writers have always come to Loutro - situated within the inspiring natural resource of South West Crete and bounded by its positive liberating energy, our writing courses bring together people, experts, ideas and artistic creativity. Arriving off weekend flights for the orientation dinners on Sunday evenings, the Courses & Retreats run from Mondays to Fridays, with ample free time outside the schedule. The writers dine together again during the week, with a closing dinner on the Friday evening at a nearby bay for readings of course work, food, wine, moon, stars… then heading for their return flights over the following weekend, the room changeover days being Saturdays and Sundays. Respect for individual space is central to the Loutro writing proposition and all writers are accommodated in their own en suite sea view rooms, situated variously around the small village. There are 8-9 restaurants and 4-5 café bars to choose from, with food, drink and accommodation all reasonably priced.

'Follow the Creative - Return to the Creative'

Christopher Wakling - his ten novels include ESCAPE AND EVASION and WHAT I DID and he has also co-written adventure stories for younger readers with Wilbur Smith. Chris is a longstanding tutor of creative writing for The Arvon Foundation and was a founding editor of the now extensive writing resource at Curtis Brown Creative. Over the years, he has nurtured dozens of writers through to mainstream publishing deals. He writes travel journalism as well.

Richard Scott - For the last nine years Richard Scott has been teaching poetry and delivering tutorials to poets and students at the Faber Academy, Goldsmiths College, Arvon and the Poetry School. Richard is the author of Soho (Faber & Faber, 2018), which was a Gay’s the Word book of the year and shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot prize. His second collection, That Broke into Shining Crystals (Faber & Faber, 2025), was a PBS Choice and a Guardian book of the year. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

‘Myth, Soul, Story’ - From the realm of the sacred and the eternal, we will explore the nature of myth and the human soul in ancient archetypal stories. Prompted by daily storytelling, we will craft lyric prose, flash fiction and various hybrid writing forms. Through osmosis and the cathartic power of the stories themselves, we will deepen your creative well and generate exciting new materials and approaches. Embraced by the magic and power of Crete, accompanied by Artemis and Athena, Circe and Calypso, Jessamyn will unspool Ariadne’s thread, the oracle of Loutro ever present.

Jessamyn Smyth's fiction, non-fiction, poetry, visual art, and hybrid work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and she is the author of The Inugami Mochi, Gilgamesh Wilderness, Kitsune, Koan Garden and Skaha. She teaches at The University of Massachusetts.

Hannah Lowe

‘‘No Ideas but in Things’ - This immersive week-long poetry course explores how the concrete world - objects, places, textures, and images - can ignite language and meaning. Through close reading, discussion, and daily writing exercises, we’ll practice attention, precision, and the art of making poems from detail. Suitable for all writers seeking fresh approaches to image-driven poetry.

Hannah Lowe is a poet, memoirist and academic. her latest book, the kids, won the costa poetry award and the costa book of the year, 2021. her first poetry collection chick (bloodaxe, 2013) won the Michael Murphy Memorial Award for best first collection. Her memoir, The Woman in the Chinese Collar, is due with Scribner in 2027. she is a professor of creative writing at brunel university. www.hannahlowe.me

Streaming - Free