Fire Your Wild Imagination - Portugal 5 day Depth Writing Retreat

Expand your sense of possibility with a transformative writing practice in the charming historic home of Monte da Japonica, Alentejo, South Portugal.

We are all born with a wild imagination. It is through this unlimited resource that we can access the unconscious, connect with our intuition, develop a greater degree of self-awareness and expand our sense of possibility. Fire Your Wild Imagination will be a chance to explore this vast inner superpower through a holistic practice underpinned by Jungian psychology that focuses on how we can use writing and imagination to nurture depth of connection with self and world through an engagement with the depths of the creative psyche guided by writer & Jungian arts-based researcher Dr Rachel Newsome.

Who is Fire Your Wild Imagination for?

The focus of Fire Your Wild Imagination is on process, rather than outcome, and on what comes up in the writing, rather than craft. This retreat is for writers, creative & therapeutic practitioners and those on a journey of self-discovery who are curious about how writing & imagination can be used to support transformative growth and who are comfortable with diving deeper.

What will we be doing?

There will be two daily writing workshops on each of the three full days of the retreat. The morning workshops will be a chance to fire your wild imagination through attuning to your curious inner child, your sage inner guide and the wisdom of nature with specially designed writing prompts. In the afternoon you’ll have plenty free time to explore the cork woods or relax by the infinity pool. The day will finish with a reflective workshop focused on exploring your experiences of the morning session and any insights arising from it more deeply. Both sessions will include guided writing prompts as well as sharing and discussion. Find out more here

Cost (includes accommodation, vegetarian meals & writing workshops)

• Luxury room single use: 1,000 Euros
• Luxury room sharing: 850 Euros
• Budget room single use: 650 Euros
• Budget room sharing: 550 Euros

Deposit: 150 Euros

*The deposit is refundable up to May 1st 2026. Outstanding payments are due by July 31st 2026.

Getting there by plane: The nearest airport to Monte da Japonica is Lisbon. A pick can be arranged from the airport direct to Monte da Japonica for 50 Euros per person. Alternatively, you can get the bus to the nearest town of Redondo or a train to the nearest city of Evora. There is a small charge for a pick up from Evora. Pick up from Redondo is free. 

A note about care

As depth writing is transformational, but not therapy, throughout the retreat you’ll be invited to take responsibility for your experience by working with the material at a level that feels right for you and taking from it what you need. You’ll also be invited to practice CARE - confidentiality, attention, respect & empathy - with others. For those who have a writing or other creative practice, depth-writing can be used as an adjacent activity to support, deepen and expand your projects. Wherever you are at, this retreat is a chance to fire the creative, healing superpower of the wild imagination which courses through all of us.

About Dr Rachel Newsome

I'm a UK based writer, creative guide & Jungian arts-based researcher with a doctorate in Creative Writing. I have over 20 years experience of teaching creative arts subjects in Higher Education and now run a programme of depth writing workshops, courses and retreats grounded in Jungian psychology aimed at inspiring the creative self in everyone.

I'm a Seed Talks expert speaker, serve on the Editorial Team of the London Arts Based Research Centre, am a member of Lapidus International and Co-Editor of forthcoming Routledge publication The Creative Psyche: Between Self & Spirit. You can find my 'living autobiography' Dreaming Awake over on Substack where I write on my travels between worlds via the arts, culture, nature, spirituality & all things Jungian.

https://rachelnewsome.co.uk/

https://drrachelnewsome.substack.com/