For writers looking to switch off and immerse themselves in their work, The Bound Writers’ Retreat in Goa is accepting applications for a five day residential program. With spots available for ten writers, the program will take place at the Island House, a 200-year-old Portuguese villa on Divar Island in North Goa.

Designed to “help emerging writers experience a new level of creative confidence”, the retreat includes workshops with industry professionals, interacting with fellow participants in feedback and editing sessions and one-on-one sessions with mentors Amitabha Bagchi, Ratika Kapur and Chandrahas Choudhury. Amitabha Bagchi is the author of Above Average, The Householder and This Place. His highly-anticipated new novel Half The Night Is Gone will be published in May 2018. Ratika Kapur is the author of The Private Life of Mrs Sharma and Overwinter. The third mentor on the program, Chandrahas Choudhury is the author of Arzee the Dwarf and the recently-published novel Clouds and was formerly the Fiction & Poetry editor of The Caravan.

Under the guidance of mentors, the workshops at the retreat will tackle the process of building sustainable creative momentum, creating compelling characters and editing written work. The retreat has been founded by journalist and editor Tara Khandelwal who previously ran the Paper House Writers’ Retreat, in the Parvati Valley in Himachal Pradesh last year. The Bound Writer’s Retreat is open to writers of all formats and comes with a fee of Rs 32,000.