Island Scribe

The Island Scribe retreat experience is proof that God-the universe-gives us everything and everyone we need in rightful and divine order. For me, writing is only a portion of the creative process. I must feel free and supported to feed my whole self. When my spirit is fed, I can feed others-with my love, my words, and whatever gifts I am required to use for the betterment of someone or something on this side of the journey. The Island Scribe retreat is another experience that feeds my whole self, and for that I am eternally grateful.

This was a transformative experience for me as a Black Caribbean writer in the diaspora. I’ve felt very disconnected from the region where my story and my heart live. Having the space to build community, to rest and create, is exactly what I needed. I’m deeply grateful for this.

Island Scribe is the creative community you need to support your writing goals, affirm your writer’s identity, and help you create a daily writing practice. Our thoughtful leader, Simone, ensures you leave with words on the page and a new set of tools for your writer’s toolbox. The trip is a perfect balance of creative work and play. The beautiful community of femmes who attended and supported the production of this trip is an extension and reflection of Simone’s spirit and how she shows up in the world. Give yourself this gift and go on an Island Scribe retreat. It is just what you need and right on time!

Island Scribe was the confirmation I never knew I needed that I was on the right track. Being in a beautiful locale where my only focus was writing was gamechanging. Being among likeminded writers who are all so brilliant in their own ways was comforting. Being led by Simone was fulfilling and nothing short of an honour. I was able to focus on my creative output in a way I hadn’t before, and I’m eternally grateful for what this experience has done for me as a writer and a woman.

I cannot sum up my retreat experience. It is bigger than words. One week post-return and I am writing daily, communicating with my fellow Scribers, and have a writing submission in the works. Simone and Danielle curated the space I truly needed. A space where I and my fellow scribers were encouraged to write from a place of unconditional acceptance and belief in the value of our personhood and our words. I have attended dozens of retreats in my life so far, this one has been, without question, the best.

I sincerely believe that this retreat has been one of the most generous gifts I’ve given myself, as a writer, but as a human being. It was a gift in that it was a blessing. I also think that all women of colour writers deserve this experience, should have access to this kind of sacred time and community.

The retreat emphasizes being in the present moment through dedicated writing time, yoga, and communing in the ocean and the neighbouring waterfalls. At the same time, the retreat challenged me to be forward-looking. To imagine what is possible not just in a week, but in a lifetime of learning and dedication to a writing practice.

With Island Scribe Retreats, Simone has created a magical and holistic experience for BIPOC women and nonbinary writers. I highly recommend this gift and investment in your creative life.

I spent a lot of time thinking about the process actually, that’s probably what I reflected on the most. You know, what is my process for going to the page and starting my writing. Thinking a lot about the mantra. Not just saying a mantra or doing a mantra but thinking about how my writing day should start. Or how I want to think about myself as I go towards my writing.

I laughed, I swam, I FELT the earth tremble (LITERALLY), I swam in a sulphurous pool, I gazed at volcanoes from a distance and bathed in a waterfall, I was bitten by insects five hundred times and scratched at the raw skin and tiny volcanoes forming on it (avoiding the two-sized blister that continued to grow, filled with concentric glistening lines). I bit into starfuit, guavacherries, mangoes, passion fruit, wild passion fruit, and guavas. I am a guava. After I caught up on a month of e-mail and wrote a story, I cast my TO-DO list. I LOST my Rise and Write journal. I traversed the Kalinago territory, the first peoples of this island, of this region where my ancestors called home. I traced the iron rusted ruins of a sugar mill and visited the corpse of a ruined, possibly haunted, slave plantation and stood in silence, mind full of the sorrow they carried. I know the lushness of tropical rain once, sometimes every hour, and the nocturnal symphony of a rainforest.

…the nature here is rejuvenating. After lunch, we got caught in a storm and I remember looking down and there were thousands of dime-sized frogs, just leaping from our shoes, trying to get out of the way. Or, thousands of snails, just clinging to rocks at the waterfall. Being pushed over by the sea. You know, eating mangoes and losing the skin in the water. That kind of thing rejuvenated me. I’m in the city … you know, running down concrete, trying to make sure I make deadlines all the time. I haven’t had the chance to just listen to nature’s roar.

This retreat was a life altering experience for me, from giving me needed clarity and direction to meeting and being inspired by the amazing and awe-inspiring women in our group. I do feel what I take away is a road map I will use to guide me forward.

I really enjoyed attending a retreat that gave me time to write as well as showed me around the islands. I felt safe, considered, and taken care of.