Program Dates: Tuesday, May 19 – Monday, May 25, 2026
Application Deadline: Friday, January 9, 2026
Applicants can expect to hear back by January 15, 2026
Application Form: https://forms.gle/Kzw3FPQguvDwnvLK7
Program Cost: $900+HST
Program Description:
The Island Writers Retreat will bring together a small group of writers at Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts from May 19-25, 2026. The retreat will provide time and space for rest, reflection, deep focus and community in a beautiful, peaceful natural setting.
Programming will include workshops, guided walks, optional editing/coaching sessions, nightly salon-style gatherings and a final evening of readings. Participants will be encouraged to go “low tech” for the duration of their residency and to spend time exploring the beaches, forests and paths of car-free Toronto Island. Open to a maximum of eight participants, this retreat is designed to balance independent writing time with opportunities to spend time with other writers in a vibrant, inspiring artist community.
The fee for the Island Writers Retreat covers a welcome dinner, themed programming, shared studio space, private bedroom, a fully-equipped communal kitchen and a shuttlebus to and from Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts. Note: Residency participants are responsible for buying and preparing their own food, and for travel to/from Toronto Island via the ferry from Jack Layton Ferry Terminal, which is a 10-minute walk from Union Station in Toronto. Packing lists and tips will be supplied to all participants.
Open to writers of any genre with at least two publications and/or a book-length project in progress. Applicants must submit a non-refundable $25 application fee by e-transfer to complete their application, although this fee can be waived for BIPOC applicants. If writers intend to apply for grants or bursaries to cover the cost of this residency, the facilitator would be happy to provide letters of support.
If you have any questions about this retreat or concerns about accessibility, please email
rebecca.atkinson.morris@gmail.com.
Facilitator: Rebecca Morris is a Montreal writer, editor and teacher whose debut novel
Other Maps was released in 2024 with Linda Leith Publishing. Rebecca’s short stories have won the Malahat Review Open Season Award for Fiction and the Humber Literary Review’s Emerging Writers Fiction contest, earned Honourable Mention in Prairie Fire’s Short Fiction contest and been long-listed in Room Magazine's Fiction contest. She was a reader for the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize and has attended residencies at the Banff Centre and Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts. Rebecca teaches writing workshops in Montreal and works as a developmental editor and coach for fiction writers. For more information, visit her online at
rebeccamorris.ca.
