About your hosts

Go and Write! with Dr. Gerard Collins and Janie Simpson

About the retreat

NOW’S THE TIME

Whether you’re new to the craft or an established, professional writer, a Go and Write! retreat at the grand Kingsbrae estate, guided by award-winning professional authors, Dr. Gerard Collins and Jane Simpson, solidifies your intentions and sends a strong signal about your commitment to yourself and your writing.

The impeccably-maintained historic estate, private writing studios, and small group numbers make Kingsbrae one of our writers’ favourite venues, time and again. 

Kingsbrae may as well have been built for our times, considering the current desire for personal space. The 7,000 square-foot historic residence is impeccably maintained, with only five bedrooms available for participants, each spacious and with its own private, ensuite bathroom. 

And steps away from the residence are freestanding writers’ studios for our participants’ exclusive use: each writer has their own private studio for the entire retreat, accessible to them 24/7.

writing matters

A Go and Write! retreat at Kingsbrae offers you a rare opportunity to leave the rest of the world behind, to sit alone in your own writing studio or cozy bedroom in a gorgeous, turn-of-the-century mansion where you can get lost in your own thoughts for hours—even days—and come out with a clearer sense of what it’s all about, what you’ve been through, and where you go from here.

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  One-on-one meeting on the side porch at Kingsbrae
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  One of the private writing studios at Kingsbrae
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  Aerial view of the Kingsbrae Amphitheatre, the writing studios up the left-hand side, and the Kingsbrae Estate, with the Bay gleaming in the distance
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  The writing studios in the evening, viewed from the estate
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  Meeting in the dining room

Participants

We host as many new or emerging writers as we do established writers who simply need time away from the daily grind and support to refresh their souls or kickstart their writing. There is no application process to attend our retreats, but we do meet with each new-to-us, potential participant by Zoom. This allows us to get to know each other a wee bit to help gauge if our retreats might be a good fit, and it’s an efficient way for you to ask us questions about specific retreats or how we shape our retreats in general.

If you have a desire to be in the company of like-minded souls, some of whom have written only a little and others who have published extensively, and you’re a lifelong learner who understands and respects boundaries, our retreats are probably a good fit for you.

Go and Write! retreat participants range from beginning writers who’ve never published and simply want to start jotting down their thoughts, to award-winning, experienced writers who’ve published extensively through traditional publishing houses. Previous attendees include playwrights, poets, children’s authors, novelists, television producers, romance writers, short story, travel, and memoir writers, and everything in between.

Writers can register as individual participants or bring someone to share their room, writing studio, and costs. This second person can also be a non-writing spouse or guest, and some bedrooms are equipped with two beds. We don’t pair strangers on our retreats, and there are only five bedrooms for participants at the Kingsbrae estate, which creates an intimate, connected, and focused experience.

We often have non-writers join us on retreats, and they’re welcome to join us for all group meals and to participate in as few or as many of the writing activities as they wish—these elements are included in everyone’s registration.

We will host private group readings on some evenings throughout the retreat, where you’ll have the chance to share your writing with your fellow participants, if you like, without pressure. We don’t do group critiques on our retreats, and these group readings are supportive and relaxed.

We will also have two group writing sessions guided by Gerard, an award-winning author and university educator, and each participant will have two one-on-one chats with Gerard as well, where you’ll have the opportunity to talk with him about your specific writing projects, goals, and challenges.

All participants will be invited to share an excerpt of their writing in advance of the retreat, in any genre—Gerard will review this submission carefully and prepare thoughtful and compassionate feedback.

We don’t ask potential participants to take writing “tests” or to have a minimum skill level to join us, but we do ask registered participants to be open to learning, and at a certain point before the retreat, we invite participants to submit a short writing sample for our eyes only. Your sample stays with us and provides a foundation for your one-on-one discussion about your writing with Gerard, and it’s entirely up to you how and if you decide to implement any recommendations. Janie reads the samples to get an overall sense of your writing, and Gerard reads each sample multiple times and prepares his written commentary in advance, and he shares it with you—and only you—during the retreat. The writing samples also help Gerard customize the workshops for each retreat.

We have a Go and Write! Alumni group of about 200 members, and we’re proud that several of these folks return for multiple retreats—it’s a rarity, in fact, for us to host a retreat without at least a few alumni.

For those who are new to writing, you can trust that we respect the courage it takes to share your writing, and Gerard treats your submission with great care and respect as he’s preparing his written commentary. For those who are already experienced writers, Gerard is a multi-award-winning author who has taught writing for decades, and he’s also a professional editor and has privately mentored several authors who’ve gone on to win multiple awards; other published authors who’ve joined us in the past have said they got a lot out of his commentary and insights, and have applied them in their work going forward.

Time and again, writers tell us these one-on-one discussions and Gerard’s feedback are their favourite part of our retreats.

We invite you to have a look at our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information.

Kingsbrae Garden

Retreat goers will have free entry to the iconic Kingsbrae Garden for the duration of the retreat, accessible directly from our historic estate. The multi-award winning, 27-acre horticultural masterpiece boasts more than 50,000 perennials in themed gardens, ponds, streams, old-growth Acadian forest, various animals and birds, and art sculptures.

The Kingsbrae Garden has winding pathways and secluded nooks for writing, and there’s even a Secret Garden.

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  Writing in the Kingsbrae Garden
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  One of the immaculate hedges in the Kingsbrae Garden
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  One of the artworks from the Sculpture Garden
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  Writing in the Secret Garden

During our stay, we will have all breakfasts and some suppers provided, catered by a chef who will come right to the KIRA residence to prepare these home-style meals onsite. Kingsbrae prides itself on using the freshest garden ingredients and products from all over New Brunswick and their own gardens.

When building the itineraries for our retreats, we’re careful to include alone and social time, and this extends to meals. By design, some meals are intended to be taken alone and others as a group, and we consider how much group programming there is in our overall itinerary when we plan meal times.

St. Andrews by-the-Sea, New Brunswick, Canada

St. Andrews by-the-Sea, named USA Today’s Best Destination in Canada, is a gorgeous seaside town, and the waterfront is just an eight minute walk from the historic KIRA residence.

When you’re in a seaside town like St. Andrews, you find yourself subconsciously attuning to the ebb and flow of the tides. And no wonder, since the tides of the Peskotomuhkati (Passamaquoddy) Bay rise and fall by about 28 feet or more, twice a day, with 2 ¼ billion tons of water swirling in and out. There are beaches to explore, paved walking trails, and several parks.

All along the waterfront, you’ll find shops, pubs, and restaurants with indoor and outdoor dining. We highly recommend a visit to the Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature centre, which features visual artists from New Brunswick and beyond. And for shopping, The Whale Store sells clothes, soaps, and—our personal favourite—local books and music.

After you’ve stocked up on books, you can head over to Honeybeans for a specialty coffee or tea and fresh baked snacks. If you have a pet you’d like to spoil or you’re looking for specialty garden supplies, you can pick something up at the Crocker Hill store. If you’re looking for a great meal, try Seasons by the Sea Bistro, as well as The Gables, The Kennedy House, and the Harbourfront Restaurant. Lumberjacks Café serves a hearty breakfast and offers homemade soups and sandwiches on homemade bread for takeout.

You could consider bringing that takeout to the Saint Andrews Brewing Company, a new craft brewery that allows you bring food in while you enjoy a pint on their waterfront patio—you can even bring a journal and do some writing while you watch the sea, as we ourselves often do.

To get a strong sense of what St. Andrews by-the-Sea has to offer, check out this great video:

The world famous Algonquin Resort is literally just down the road from the KIRA estate—an easy, 2-minute stroll—with a restaurant and pub onsite as well as The Algonquin Golf Course, a 2021 Golf Digest Editors’ Choice Award winner. And if you’re lucky, you might just catch Ian Curran skirling a tune, as we did one fall…

After a week filled with shared breakfasts, group writing sessions and readings, one-on-one chats about your writing, and dedicated writing time, we’ll gather for our final group supper and cap off the evening by sharing readings in the cozy living room. In the morning, we’ll enjoy a final group breakfast and bid a fond farewell to Kingsbrae, St. Andrews by-the-Sea, and each other—until we meet again.

Writers yearn for long conversations about life and books, mornings in the studio where the amber dawn greets you with a sleepy smile, evenings withdrawing to the lengthening shadows, reading your work to newfound friends, revelling in the sense of belonging, balanced with plenty of alone time. There is a time for you, and this is it, among like-minded souls who likewise seek solitude, encouragement, and kindness above all.

Listen to the birdsong from one of the writing studios:

A retreat at the Kingsbrae International Residency for the Arts is our most focused, with little by way of distraction as we’ve deliberately not included touring. It provides the time and space for your imagination to soar, individual guidance from a compassionate, award-winning publishing author, and allows you the chance to come away feeling revitalized and ready to continue the good writing habits you develop onsite.

Join us on our next adventure.

Please reach out if you have any questions and would like to discuss this, or any other, retreat with us.

What’s included in the Kingsbrae retreat

June 19-26, August 26 – September 2, September 4-11, September 23-30, 2026

• 8 days / 7 nights at the impeccably-maintained Kingsbrae historic estate, with private bedroom and ensuite bathroom
• Private, standalone writing studio for the duration of the retreat
• Professional, honest, and thoughtful written commentary on your pre-submitted writing sample from Dr. Gerard Collins, an award-winning author and university educator of English language, literature, and creative writing—helpful for all writing levels
• Two group writing sessions led by Gerard
• Two one-on-one chats with Gerard and regular check-ins throughout the retreat
• Group readings and discussions
• Ample quiet time and opportunity for writing, inspiration, idea-gathering, and solitude
• 7 breakfasts and 3 suppers, prepared onsite by a chef from the award-winning Kingsbrae Café
• Non-writing participants are welcome to take part in as few or as many of the elements of the retreat as they wish
• A key feature unique to these Kingsbrae retreats: fewer participants means more space for you and more time with the writer-in-residence

Note: The Kingsbrae estate is a historic residence and participants are required to use stairs to access all bedrooms. Rooms are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cost

Please note that there is NOT a surcharge for single travellers. The true cost of the retreat is based on the single price, but if you bring someone else, you share the room costs, which lowers the price per person. 

Double occupancy: $3,295 CAD (approx. $2,380 USD) per person, sharing room and writing studio, including 15% tax and 18% meal gratuities
Single occupancy: $3,895 CAD (approx. $2,815 USD) including 15% tax and 18% meal gratuities

See below for the payment schedule and specific cancellation policy associated with this retreat.

Please note that there is NOT a surcharge for single travellers. The true cost of the retreat is based on the single price, but if you bring someone else, you share the room costs, which lowers the price per person. There are a limited number of rooms in the estate, and we do not pair strangers on our retreats. Numbers will be limited to approximately 5-8 registrants to allow for a more intimate, connected, and focused experience. 

Listed price is in Canadian dollars and includes tax; gratuities are at participants’ discretion, with the exception of the breakfasts and group suppers provided by Kingsbrae, which have a gratuity of 18% built into their meal fee. We have estimated the price in US dollars for our American participants’ convenience, based on the rate of exchange at the time; the actual cost in American dollars will depend on the conversion rate at time of payment.

Rates shown do not include credit card processing fees. For those paying by credit card, we will have to add 2.4% and the fee is non-refundable. For Canadians, we’re able to offer an e-transfer option to save you processing fees. For other registrants, we also accept international bank transfers; please research the processing fees charged by your bank as you’re responsible to pay those fees. Contact us for more information.

Some people choose to pay by credit card if it has an associated trip insurance policy. It is your responsibility to research and understand details around any insurance coverage associated with your credit card. Visit our Expectations, Rules, and Refunds page for more information about the importance of trip insurance.

To inquire about registration, please contact us.

Payment schedules
The schedule can be adjusted for registrants who sign up after deadlines, and we can create an individual payment plan at no additional cost.

• At registration, to confirm your space: $1,200 CAD per person, non-refundable, non-transferable deposit
• A second payment of $1,000 CAD per person is due November 28, for all Kingsbrae retreat dates.
• The final balance is due February 20, 2026 for the June retreat, and April 24, 2026 for the August and September retreats.

Payment deadlines must be met or you risk forfeiting your space, and the cancellation and refunds policy and dates specific to these retreats apply (see below). Registrants who run into difficulties meeting the payment schedule must contact us immediately to see if alternate arrangements can be made.

See additional notes about missed payments, cancellations, and refunds below.

A few notes

Spaces and amenities

Please note that the number of spots available on this retreat is limited as there are only five rooms available at the Kingsbrae estate—the lower number of participants offers an intimate experience to our writers.

We are staying in a historic residence with no elevator or air conditioning; participants are required to climb stairs to get to their bedrooms, and while we do our best to allow for choice, bedrooms may need to be re-allocated.

There is free WiFi throughout the estate, but it does not extend to the writing studios. Participants who save their writing materials to the cloud tend to “tether” to the Internet through their smartphones when writing in their studio, or work on a downloaded version and upload it to the cloud later.

Insurance

Please arrange for trip insurance, including cancellation insurance! Life can throw curveballs at us: we HIGHLY recommend that all participants get travel insurance, including cancellation, interruption, and health insurance, as soon as they register for a Go and Write! retreat.

We have seen situations where participants who have NOT arranged for insurance lose all of their investment when they’ve had to cancel, and we’ve seen participants who HAVE arranged for insurance recoup 100% of their investment.

Participants are responsible to research and make arrangements for their own insurance.

Participants are responsible to research the implications of travel restrictions at home and abroad before and at the time of travel. Ensure you have everything you need so you aren’t turned away from establishments or airports.

Missed payments, cancellation, and refunds—please note this policy and these dates are specific to these retreats.

We strongly encourage you to purchase the appropriate trip insurance, and to do so at the appropriate time.

Payment deadlines must be met or you risk forfeiting your space and the cancellation and refunds policy and dates specific to this retreat apply. If you run into difficulties meeting the payment schedule, you must contact us immediately to see if alternate arrangements can be made.

• • Your deposit as well as any processing fees associated with retreat payment(s) are 100% non-refundable and non-transferable, regardless of the timing or circumstances of your cancellation.
  • You must notify us, in writing, of your intentions to cancel.
  • For all 2026 Kingsbrae retreats: If you cancel on or before November 27, 2025, any other payments you’ve made to us are returned to you, less the non-refundable deposit and any payment processing fees.
  • For the June 2026 retreat, if you cancel between November 28, 2025 and February 19, 2026, you forfeit 75% of all monies paid, in addition to the non-refundable deposit and any payment processing fees. If you cancel on or after February 20, 2026, no fees paid will be returned.
  • For the August and September 2026 retreats, if you cancel between November 28, 2025 and April 24, 2026, you forfeit 75% of all monies paid, in addition to the non-refundable deposit and any payment processing fees. If you cancel on or after April 25, 2026, no fees paid will be returned.

While we present our information in good faith, sometimes things happen that are beyond our control and circumstances may force us to change certain aspects of the retreat.

• • If the retreat or any aspect of the retreat needs to be postponed or adjusted, we will make every attempt to reschedule or offer an alternative.
  • We can only offer refunds if our providers also refund monies to us.
  • Prices are subject to change due to provider and supplier changes and availability, unforeseen travel conditions, cancellations, and culpability.

Due to contractual obligations with our suppliers, we cannot make exceptions to the cancellation policy, regardless of the reason.

All participants (and travel companions, if applicable) are required to review our Expectations, Rules and Refunds page and acknowledge agreement with the contents before registering for a Go and Write! retreat.

Getting here

Airfare is not included, and travellers are responsible for arranging their own flights. If you would like our assistance in arranging ground transportation between the airport and the venue, contact us; there may also be savings to be had if you wish to share transportation costs with another participant, just let us know if that’s of interest.

For those who are flying, the closest airport is the Saint John Airport, approximately 1.5 hrs away from St. Andrews by-the-Sea. Note: Saint John Airport (YSJ) is NOT to be confused with the St. John’s Airport in Newfoundland—a lovely spot, to be sure, but not where we’re hosting this retreat :-).

For those who wish to stay overnight in the City of Saint John before or after the retreat, we have partnered with Chipman Hill Suites to offer a 15% discount off their regular rates to Go and Write! participants. We have enjoyed the hospitality at their historic locations ourselves, many times, and their Sydney Street location is a particular favourite; we even hosted a retreat there—just visit our Saint John 2020 webpage for some photos and memories of that Go and Write! retreat.

Some participants choose to fly into the Fredericton, NB, airport, approximately 1.45 hours away, or the Moncton, NB airport or Bangor airport, both of which are approximately 2.5 hrs away from St. Andrews by-the-Sea.

You can rent a vehicle or take a taxi, but St. Andrews by-the-Sea is very walkable and the waterfront shops, restaurants, and pubs are only a few minutes’ walk from the venue, so you’re not likely to require a vehicle once you arrive. We have partnered with Saint John Limo (not actual limousines, just very fine vehicles) to offer discounted rates to Go and Write! participants for airport transfers, and there may be an opportunity to share costs with another participant. Go and Write! participants who have traveled with this company in the past have told us how much they’ve enjoyed the professional and reliable service from owner Lorne Webster and his staff.

Stay tuned for the rest of our 2026 retreat lineup!