Our Weekend Writing Retreat is an intensive and supportive writing environment for early career researchers (ECRs) located on campus. 

The aim is to give you the necessary time, space and encouragement to make significant progress on a piece of work, either generating new writing or refining existing content. The facilitator will be available for one-to-one writing support, but cannot provide proofreading or editing services.

Attendees are required to complete preparatory tasks to get the most out of the weekend, and there will be a short introductory session on the Friday before so attendees can get to know one another. 

The Retreat runs from 10 am to 8 pm on Saturday, April 26, and 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, April 27. Lunch will be provided on both days, prepared by the talented local chefs Connie and Cooper, ensuring you can fully focus on your writing. Please note that dinner and overnight accommodation are not included.

Who can attend?

The Weekend Writing Retreat is a free event provided by the Researcher Development team. You are eligible to apply if you are:

• a University of Sussex ECR. ECR is defined as staff on research-only contracts at grades 6-8, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows. broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows.

• able to clearly identify how you would benefit from an intensive weekend of drafting a particular section of your writing, and to identify the particular section(s) of your writing that you will work on as part of your Weekend Writing Retreat goals.

• willing and able to attend all sessions ( introductory session on Friday 5 April tbc, 10am-8pm on Saturday 26 April, and 10am-4pm on Sunday 27 April), to complete preparatory tasks in the lead-up to the event, and to commit to the ethos of dedicated writing.

Important notes for applicants

There is high demand for places on our Writing Retreats and it is likely to be oversubscribed. We'll be assessing each application carefully, so please answer the questions as fully as possible. We want to recruit only attendees who will make the most of the opportunity.

If you accept a place on the Retreat and fail to turn up on either day you will be charged the cost of your attendance. Please ensure you inform us well in advance if you need to cancel, so we can pass your place to a researcher on the waiting list.

It's important to note that Weekend Writing Retreat is an intensive writing environment and the focus is on productivity, not on style. If you want more general help with improving your academic writing, then one of the ECR writing and communication sessions, RDP writing workshops or an appointment with the Library's Royal Literary Fund Fellows would be more appropriate for you. 

Neither is there any specific support for attendees writing in English as a second language. If you need this type of assistance, you can book 1-to-1 sessions with the Sussex Language Centre. 

"Highly focussed environment, with minimal distractions, but combined with a social aspect and interesting people to talk to in the breaks. The food was very good too!"

"A very warm environment to write and having the dissociation of writing in a new space (and not on campus!!) was a big help. The structured writing agenda with breaks was a big help too"

"The quiet space and concentrated atmosphere are one of best parts during the weekend."

"[I had] a very useful one-to-one conversation with the facilitator."