My name is Kelly Gardiner, and I offer masterclasses, weekend writing retreats, and short courses on a select range of topics, for writers at different stages of their careers.
You can find out more about me, my writing and my teaching experience here, and read what participants say about my retreats and classes.
I’d love you to join us for one or more of these sessions.
Bookings are now open for:
- YA Today: Writing fiction for Young Adults (August 15, 2026, full-day masterclass, in person, in Melbourne)
- Writing place & building worlds (October 17, 2026, full-day masterclass, in person, in Melbourne)
- Cultivating creativity (a weekend retreat of writing and pampering in Hepburn Springs, for women and nonbinary writers – 13-15 November 2026). There are only a couple of places left in this retreat. It booked out last year, so don’t miss out.
Bookings open soon for these retreats and masterclasses
- How to interview a writer returns! (September 2026, one hour, online)
- Transform your writing weekend retreat: three day fiction intensive (11-14 June 2027). Bookings will open later in 2026.
- Cultivating creativity (a weekend retreat for women and nonbinary writers – 12-14 November 2027). Bookings will open later in 2026.
Inspiration. Imagination. Transformation. Mastery.
Future events
Planned or often-requested classes include:
- Shut Up and Write weekend (a no-frills weekend retreat with writing sprints and pop-up classes, planned for 2027)
- The Writing Habit (full-day on building routines, habits & creative practice)
- Fiction fundamentals: Research for writers (online short course)
- Scrivener for beginners (online short course)
- Revising & editing for writers (half-day, hands-on).
Get in touch to be updated on any of these.
Past events
These masterclasses and retreats may be repeated in future:
- How to build a heroine (Full-day, in person)
- Writing unforgettable crime fiction (Full-day, in person)
- Create compelling characters (Four hours, online course). Part of the Fiction Fundamentals series.
- Make history: writing historical fiction (half-day masterclass)
- The writer’s toolbox: building blocks for emerging writers (An online course of four one-hour sessions). Part of the Fiction Fundamentals series.
If you’d like to know more, or express interest in an upcoming class, get in touch.
You can also subscribe to updates on new classes (no spam) here.
About the program
New Page masterclasses welcome writers of all cultural identities, genders, abilities, and levels of experience.
This overall learning program aims to be welcoming and inclusive, so some classes are designed specifically for particular cohorts (such as emerging or aspiring authors, or people traditionally marginalised in publishing); some are designed to be inexpensive and more accessible; some will focus on a particular genre or form.
Full- and half-day sessions are held in person at fully accessible inner-Melbourne venues.
Intensive retreats are held over a weekend at a rural guesthouse in Victoria.
Online sessions are held live on Google Meet, with live captioning available.
You can read more about how I approach teaching creative writing here.
New Page Writing Retreats & Masterclasses 