Iceland Writers Retreat

Explore, Learn, Create

Waterfront city skyline with yellow blooms

"If you’ve ever wanted to explore Iceland’s natural beauty and hone your writing skills, here’s your chance."

– Kirkus Reviews, "Writing Retreats to Inspire You in 2025"

"Quite possibly the world's most special creative writing course."

– Travel writer Rory MacLean, 2018 faculty member

"The perfect place to discover literary inspiration."

– The Daily Beast

"For a writer, it doesn't get much better than this."

– Huffington Post

"Absolutely superb in every way."

– Rozalind Dineen, Features Editor at the Times Literary Supplement (TLS)

"If you have a chance to attend the Iceland Writers Retreat, leap at it roaring."

– Lauren Groff, National Book Award nominee and 2018 faculty

"It was life changing ... an incredible experience."

– Kevin Larimer, Editor in Chief, Poets & Writers

"One of the world's best writers' retreats"

– The Sydney Morning Herald

"One of the most thoughtfully planned, helpful, and inspirational events ever."

– Carol, 2015, 2016, 2017 participant

"The most prestigious of its kind in the world." 

– Danny Ramadan, 2023 faculty member, returning for 2025

Join us at the next Iceland Writers Retreat

April 14-18, 2027, in Reykjavík

The non-profit Iceland Writers Retreat introduces people to Iceland's rich literary heritage and offers small-group workshops on the craft of writing. It was nominated for a Blaze Inclusion Award for promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the Nordic countries.

What's Included in the Retreat

Small-group writing workshops for all levels, led by well-known writers from around the world

Unique panels featuring Icelandic authors

All-inclusive, unique literary tours to experience Iceland's inspiring nature

Literary walking tour of Reykjavík, a UNESCO City of Literature

Additional readings and panels by our faculty

Music, readings, meals, and more!

IWR 2027 Faculty

We will announce more 2027 faculty soon!

Portrait of person surrounded by books and flowers

Kaveh Akbar's poems appear in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Paris Review, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. He is the author of two poetry collections: Pilgrim Bell (Graywolf 2021) and Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Alice 

James 2017), in addition to a chapbook, Portrait of the Alcoholic (Sibling Rivalry 2016). He is also the editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 100 Poets on the Divine (Penguin Classics 2022). Martyr! (Knopf, 2024), Kaveh’s first novel, was a New York Times Best Seller, the 2024 recipient of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize for Fiction, a 2024 Discover Prize Finalist, and a 2024 National Book Award Finalist. (Photo by Beowulf Sheehan)

Woman portrait with books and floral illustrations

Lorrie Moore is the author of four collections of stories and four novels. Her 2023 novel, I Am Homeless if This is Not My Home, won the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Fiction. Her reviews and essays have appeared in The New 

York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and elsewhere. She was the recipient of the Rome Prize and the Berlin Prize; the PEN/Malamud Award and Rea Award for short fiction; and the Finn Zinklar Award for the Short Story (Denmark).

Female author portrait with two books and flowers

A #1 New York Times bestselling author of 10 novels, including Orphan Train, The Exiles, Please Don’t Lie (co-authored with Anne Burt), and The Foursome (May 2026), Christina Baker Kline is published in more than 40 

countries. Her novels have received the New England Prize for Fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other prizes, and have been chosen by hundreds of communities, universities, and schools as “One Book, One Read” selections. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in publications such as The New York Times and The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The San Francisco Chronicle. (Photo by Beowulf Sheehan)

Portrait of woman with books and flowers

Rebecca Makkai is the author of I Have Some Questions For You as well as four other works of fiction. Her last novel, The Great Believers, one of The New York Times’ Best Books of the 21st Century, was a finalist for both the 2019 Pulitzer 

Prize and the and the 2018 National Book Award, and was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize among other honors. (Photo by Brett Simison)

Author portrait with book covers and flowers

Jonathan Lethem is the author of Brooklyn Crime Novel, Chronic City, and 11 other novels. His A Different Kind of Tension: New and Selected Stories was published in 2025. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2005 and 

a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction in 2025. He lives in Los Angeles and Maine. (Photo by Torkil Stavdal)

Portrait of woman with two books and flowers

Louise Doughty is the author of 10 novels, five plays for radio, one television mini-series, and two works of non-fiction. Her most recent book is the memoir On This Spot Fell One Tear of Love. Her latest novel is A Bird in Winter. 

Previous books include the bestselling Apple Tree Yard, which was adapted as a major BBC One TV series; Platform Seven, which has been filmed for ITVX, and Black Water, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She has been nominated for multiple awards including the Costa Novel Award, the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Sunday Times Short Story Prize. She has been awarded two honorary PhD’s and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her work has been translated into 30 languages. She lives in London.

2026 Faculty

Thank you to our wonderful IWR 2026 faculty!

Author portrait and "Flashlight" book cover.

Susan Choi

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and his book Chain-Gang All-Stars

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Woman portrait beside colorful 'Home Fire' cover

Kamila Shamsie

Man and book titled "The Haves and Have-Yachts".

Evan Osnos

Author Angie Cruz

Angie Cruz

Person smiling beside a book cover.

Ian Williams

Smiling woman next to "The Bewitching" book.

Jill Dawson

Smiling author portrait beside Fayne book cover

Ann-Marie MacDonald

Circular portrait next to From the Ashes cover

Jesse Thistle

Portrait and book cover of "Reykjavík".

Katrín Jakobsdóttir

Vertical Iceland Writers Retreat emblem with orange waves
Helen Jukes and her book A Honeybee has Five Openings

Helen Jukes

Retreat Format

There is variation in each year's retreat. But our event has followed this format in the past.
(We aim to have faculty set and workshop registrations taking place by December.)

Day 1

Hotel and retreat check-ins

Welcome drink and 3-course dinner with faculty readings

Day 2

Three consecutive 2-hour workshop slots (4-6 choices in each slot)

Or literary day tour Option 1

Evening event, as offered

Guided literary walking tour of Reykjavík

Day 3

Three consecutive 2-hour workshop slots (4-6 choices in each slot)

Or literary day tour Option 2

Evening event, as offered

Day 4

Three consecutive 2-hour workshop slots (4-6 choices in each slot)

Or literary day tour option 3

Pub night with readings and music by local artists

Day 5

Morning Q&A panels (a retreat highlight!)

The 2-day Relax & Write extension is open to all!

The Read & Write extension provides two dinners and transportation with an open mic on the second night.

 

We are grateful to have support from