The Himalayan Writing Retreat

Writing take time and skill. In this course we inspire, upskill and get you started. 100+ of our participants have published books, mostly after this course. Join now, and turn your dream book into a reality too.

Rahul Pandita is a master of non-fiction writing. Renowned for his coverage from conflict zones, he has four bestsellers under his belt. This Yale World Fellow and former journalist is also editor of Open Magazine.

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is an award-winning Indian filmmaker, writer, and producer known for emotionally rich storytelling and empathetic portrayals of ordinary lives. A former advertising creative and applied arts gold medallist, she made acclaimed works including Nil Battey Sannata, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Panga, Faadu, and System. She also co-founded Earthsky Pictures and authored the novel 'Mapping Love'.

Through the course, Annie Zaidi, a bilingual writer and current research scholar (Creative Writing) at Durham University, the winner of international Nine Dots Prize (2019), and of the Tata Literature Live Award for fiction (2020), will introduce storytelling across various non-fiction formats and sub-genres.

The Himalayan Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write with the Himalayas as their muse. It aims to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. It's going to be hard work, and fun.

All seats in this course are now taken. If someone cancels a spot may open. To join the waitlist for this course, and to stay informed about future courses, please click here. So you're a teen and you love writing? You love creating characters, imagining new worlds, and dreaming up stories? Explore the writer within […]

Amitabha Bagchi is the author of five novels including the DSC Prize winning Half the Night is Gone. His debut, Above Average (2007), was a bestseller. The Householder (2012) was a novel inspired by Amitabha’s reading of Shrilal Shukla, and received critical acclaim. Amitabha’s third novel This Place (2013) was a love-letter to the city of Baltimore in the US. His most recent work is the novel Unknown City which is a sequel to Above Average. Amitabha has also translated the ghazals on Muneer Niazi into English under the title Lost Paradise (Juggernaut, 2022).

The oceanside venue for Himalayan Writing Retreat courses. Manav Kaul is a strong proponent of literature, with 14 books to his credit and one poetry collection. Although famous for many talents including writing, playwright and an actor-director, he is a writer first – and an amazing and prolific writer at that.

This iconoclastic writer-director will work closely with 10 handpicked screen-writing enthusiasts in the Himalayas. In a small group, you'll get much wisdom and personal attention from Dibakar.

Varun Grover is a lyricist, writer, stand-up comedian and filmmaker.

He's written lyrics for almost 30 films, and won the national award for writing "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage". He co-created "Aisi Taisi Democracy" and is currently touring the country as a stand-up comic. He has written "Paper Chor", "Hari Patang Pe Hara Patanga" and other books. He directed "All India Rank" which closed the Rotterdam Film festival, and most recently his short film "Kiss" released on Mubi. He has written many films including the critically acclaimed "Masaan", eight shows, and was the writer and executive producer for "Sacred Games".

His work ranges from sheer beauty in his lyrics to pure masala entertainment to social and political commentary in his comedy to heavier themes like LGBTQ and censorship in "Kiss".

Because of very high demand, we have opened 3 more seats on a non-residential basis. That means you will attend the full workshop at the retreat, have all meals there etc, but you will sleep elsewhere. We will help you with numbers of nearby hotels / guesthouses where you can stay. The price for the […]

Writing take time and skill. In this course we inspire, upskill and get you started. 53 of our participants have published books, mostly after this course. Join now, and turn your dream book into a reality too.