Transformational Writing Retreats
Nice to meet you, we’re Edwina & Kerstin…
We’ve journaled through grief,
we’ve healed heartbreak by writing things down,
we’ve turned pain into stories.
We’ve battled writer’s block,
we’ve continued to write no matter what,
we’ve cut through the slush piles,
and we’ve published our stories.
Along the way we’ve learned everything you need to know to grow as a writer.
We’re your cheerleaders,
here to encourage and empower you!
About Us…
Between us we have run dozens of retreats and clocked more than 40 years of university teaching experience.
Having both run yoga and writing retreats independently since 2017, we met on retreat during the pandemic and hit it off immediately.
Two birds of a feather, we joined forces in 2023 to create Transformational Writing Retreats, because it’s more fun to share our passion for teaching, writing and travel.
And you have the combined wisdom of two experienced facilitators to guide and nurture your creative spirit!
Hi, I’m Edwina Shaw
I’m an Australian writer and editor of fiction, memoir and screenplays. My books include the critically acclaimed Thrillseekers, In The Dark Of Night and A Guide Through Grief and I’m also the editor of Bjelke Blues and Hard As. You can find some of my publications here.
I’ve been writing and publishing since 2002 and have been teaching Creative Writing at the University of Queensland and in the community since 2005.
I love helping people get their stories out of their heads and onto the page.
Since 2017, I’ve run Relax and Write Retreats in Queensland and love connecting, encouraging and inspiring writers at all stages of their development.
I have had a daily yoga practice for over thirty years and have been teaching yoga since 2002 to people of all abilities and experience. The combination of yoga and writing has been a great healing force in my life, and I love to share the magic of these transformational practices with others.
Hi, I’m Kerstin Pilz, Phd
I grew up in Germany and travelled the world before settling in Australia, where I now call the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland home.
I hold a PhD in Italian literature and spent most of my working life as an academic, teaching European languages and Intercultural Communication in Australia, Italy, The Maldives and around the world on a floating university campus aboard a cruiseship.
I’m widely published in my academic field, including a monograph and bookchapters with Oxford Publishing. My travel features have appeared in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and The New York Times.
Most recently, I published my memoir Loving My Lying, Dying, Cheating Husband (Affirm Press, 2024). Written from the heart with a pinch of humour, it tells my story of learning to get through a difficult time without being crushed by it, and without liver damage.
Journaling through grief led to a published memoir and a new business that allows me to combine my passions of writing, teaching and travelling.
After leaving academia, I qualified as a yoga teacher, relocated to Hoi An in central Vietnam, and started to teach the healing power of writing online and on international writing retreats.
In my TEDx talk I share how we can all benefit from writing things down.
I look forward to meeting you!
Have more questions?
What our guests say about our retreats