Costa da Caparica, Portugal
2026 Women Writer’s Retreat
A sisterhood of voices that will support your career long after you leave the Portuguese coast!
We are opening our 2026/27 Publishing List to 16 women, divided into two intimate cohorts of eight (Sept 17–23 and Sept 24–30 2026) to publish a full length book of poetry, fiction or creative non-fiction by Femficātiō Publishing. While many writing retreats offer the hope of one day being discovered, this is the only experience that bridges the gap between the craft of writing and the publication of your work.
We don't just provide a beautiful desk, tranquil atmosphere and scenic landscape for writing and contemplating writing; we provide a guaranteed publishing house for your work, ensuring your manuscript moves from a private draft to a globally distributed title.
This is a life-changing threshold where the solitary act of writing meets a high-level and collaborative production engine, all within a safe and nurturing community of women. You aren't just attending a retreat—you are joining a cohort of 16 authors, entering a sisterhood of voices that will support your career long after you leave the Portuguese coast.
We are as dedicated to developing your emerging voice, as we are in supporting women who have previously published - women who want to relax, heal and get feedback in a space of peace, positivity and cooperation. Our retreat is held in a beautiful rustic house, walking distance from a lake and woodland area and quaint Portuguese restaurants, eateries, and the spectacular sea!
The Lorraine Hansberry Room is our private single suite, a dedicated sanctuary for the author who requires a "still point" of solitude to refine her unique voice. The Brontë Room is our duo residency, celebrating the "creative friction" of sisterhood and collaboration, when sisters or friends draft separate masterpieces within a shared studio. Finally, Saturday Nighters is our high-energy collective suite for three writers, inspired by the poet Georgia Douglas Johnson, who turned her home into the most significant literary hub in D.C., hosting a circle of brilliant Black intellectuals who met to critique work, share meals, and sustain one another’s ambitions.
More than just a retreat, this is a life-changing stay where the physical space you inhabit finally matches the scale of your creative imagination.
September by the Sea: Women’s Writing & Publishing Retreat
Early bird special - secure your room today with only a 10% deposit payment!
Need more info? Book a Project Call, and Kamaria or Malkia will be in touch.
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Where the Atlantic Meets the Page. Costa da Caparica is a place of wild beauty—where golden sands meet the cooling pine forests of the Arriba Fóssil. Just south of Lisbon, about 20 minutes by car, it offers the perfect balance of rugged coastal energy and the sophisticated quietude of the Portuguese countryside.
The Venue in Charneca. We will reside in a light-filled, fully equipped villa in Charneca for 6 nights. Check-out is at 3:00 PM on the final day, allowing for one last morning of writing and a final communal farewell lunch.
Facilities: Three shared bathrooms and a spacious, fully-quipped kitchen. Rooms and bathroom professionally cleaned throughout the week.
Transfers: Stress-free arrival. We provide a complimentary shuttle to pick you up from Lisbon Airport (LIS) and return you there at the end of your stay.
Quiet time: This retreat is about writing first and foremost, and guaranteeing the best possible work for publication—this retreat offers ample outdoor space, including a pool and access to a beautiful lake to ensure there is ample opportunity for inspiration.
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We are seeking 16 manuscripts for our 2026/27 publishing list. We invite submissions of Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Non-Fiction (Essay and Memoir).
For this submission call: We are looking for work that explores the universal complexities and powerful craft. We value stories that are timeless rather than topical. To maintain the creative focus of these specific cohorts, we are seeking manuscripts that steer clear of overt partisan themes. Book a Project Call for more details.
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08:00 – 09:30 | Morning Silence & Nature
The house remains quiet for early risers. Take a guided walk through the local trails or enjoy a coffee in the garden. Meat and Vegan options.
09:30 – 11:00 | A La Carte Breakfast
Visit the kitchen for your cold-pressed juice and a tailored Mediterranean breakfast (like our Sourdough Tartine or Organic Açai Bowls) whenever you are ready.
11:00 – 13:00 | The Daily Craft Workshop
Gather for our only formal session of the day. Led by your facilitator, we focus on the "Project Roadmap"— Mechanics of poetry and novel writing, maintaining momentum, presentation as an author (including digital tools), creating a final draft.
13:00 – 14:00 | A La Carte Lunch
Enjoy a Portuguese Harvest Salad or local seafood on the terrace before the afternoon’s deep-work session begins. Meat and vegan options.
14:00 – 18:30 | Writing Excursion or Villa Sanctuary
On excursion days, our van departs for the rugged cliffs of the beach or a quiet Lisbon gallery for sensory-based writing. On villa days, this is your "Deep Work" zone. The house enters a zone of creative silence, and this is also when individual 1:1 massages take place.
18:30 – 19:30 | Sundowners & Solitude The "bar" opens. Enjoy a glass of organic wine, a craft beer, or an organic gin and tonic as the sun sets over Charneca. Use this time to read, reflect, or rest before dinner.
19:30 – 21:30 | The Communal Table A multi-course, chef-prepared dinner is served. This is our time to come together as a cohort, share the day’s breakthroughs, and enjoy the best of Portuguese organic viticulture.
21:30 Onwards | Moonlight Reading or Rest
Optional fireside readings or early rest. The night is yours to find your final flow or sleep deeply in the coastal air.
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What’s Included
6 Nights Accommodation: Stay in our light-filled, shared villa in Charneca with 3:00 PM late checkout on the final day.
Roundtrip Airport Transfers: Complimentary shuttle service to and from Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS).
6 Months of Professional Coaching: An initial 1:1 virtual strategy consultation upon deposit, followed by monthly check-ins for half a year after the workshop.
Full Publishing Contract: Guaranteed publication under our house imprint with global distribution.
Professional Production Suite: Includes expert copyediting, custom cover art design, and professional interior formatting.
Two Individual ISBNs: Unique global identifiers registered specifically for your manuscript for ebook and print distribution.
Kirkus / Clarion Reviews: Pre-paid professional trade reviews (up to $1,149 USD value) to ensure industry-standard credibility.
The Author’s Gift Bag: A curated welcome collection featuring high-quality notebooks, professional stationery, and local keepsakes.
Organic Full-Board Dining: A la carte Mediterranean breakfast and lunch, followed by multi-course communal dinners.
The Organic Bar & Juicery: Unlimited filtered water, daily cold-pressed juices, organic wines with dinner, and a selection of organic gin and craft beer.
Curated Excursions: Three driven trips to the Costa da Caparica beach for writing sessions and two trips to local art galleries or cultural centers.
On-Site Wellness: One professional 1:1 massage session included during your stay.
What’s Not Included
Airfare: All flights to and from Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) are the responsibility of the author.
Travel Insurance: Travel insurance is a mandatory requirement for all attendees.
Additional Spirits: While we provide an organic bar, any spirits or beverages beyond the provided selection are at the guest's expense.
Personal Transportation: Transportation outside of the scheduled group shuttle and planned writing excursions is not included.
*If you need any assistance with flights or travel insurance, just let us know - femficatio@femficatio.com
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Nourishment is central to our process. We use organic, locally sourced ingredients to keep your mind sharp and your body rested.
Hydration: Infinite filtered water and daily cold-pressed juices served with breakfast and lunch.
The Bar: We provide a curated selection of organic wines with dinner. We also provide a limited supply of organic gin and craft organic beer for sundowners on the terrace.
Meals: A relaxed, a la carte breakfast and lunch, followed by a communal multi-course dinner (optional, but highly recommended).
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Retreat costs:
Lorraine Hansberry Room: €2,850
The Brontë Room: €5,000 (Total for 2 people)
Georgia’s Saturday Nighters: €2,400 per person
To ensure the quality of our 2026/27 list, we are limiting this cohort to 16 authors.*
The Deposit: A 15% deposit per person/room is required to secure your room and unlock your first 1:1 coaching consultation.
The "Cooling Off" Guarantee: We offer a 7-day cooling-off period. If you decide the project isn't the right fit within 7 days of your deposit, we will refund in full.
Flexible Payment Options We offer an incremental payment plan to help you manage your investment. The non-refundable deposit secures your placement and immediately unlocks your pre-retreat coaching. Following your deposit, the remaining balance is divided into three equal installments, with the final balancing payment due no later than July 31st, 2026, at which point the publishing contract is issued. Full terms and conditions can be found on your invoice.
The Early-Bird Advantage: Pay in full at the time of reserving by January 31st, 2026 and receive a 10% discount on your total residency costs and your publishing contract.
*Note for trios in the The Brontë Room: If booking the Bronte Room room for three instead of two, please indicate in the booking notes: "A third writer will be accompanying me."
We will then issue the supplemental invoice including 10% booking fee and contract for the third member.
The possibility for an additional writer, increasing the cohort numbers, will not affect the comfort or rigorous editorial support for other writers during the retreat.
What to expect
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01 / Relaxing Surroundings
Our retreat takes place in an intimate, serene beach-and-golf resort in Costa da Caparica, Portugal, a charming coastal town just a short drive from Cacilhas and Lisbon. Nestled between golden beaches and rolling cliffs, Caparica offers a perfect balance of relaxation and creative stimulation. The resort itself features modern, comfortable lodging, tranquil gardens, and a sparkling pool—ideal spaces for reflection, writing, and meaningful conversation among women writers.
Caparica’s proximity to Lisbon opens up a world of art, culture, and history to explore. The city is a vibrant hub for Lusophone and Afro-descendant culture, offering rich layers of heritage beyond the usual tourist narratives. Writers will have the chance to immerse themselves in Lisbon’s galleries, contemporary art spaces, and street art, as well as discover music, literature, and performances celebrating Black and Lusophone voices. These excursions are thoughtfully woven into the retreat schedule, combining creative workshops with visits to museums, local galleries, and the beach, allowing participants to draw inspiration directly from the landscapes, colors, and stories around them.
The retreat is designed to be more than a writing getaway—it’s a cultural immersion, a chance to recharge creatively, and an opportunity to engage deeply with both your own work and the rich artistic communities of Portugal. Every detail, from morning walks on the Caparica coast to afternoon gallery visits, is intended to enrich the writing process, spark new ideas, and deepen connections between participants and the broader artistic world.
02 / Expert Facilitation
Kamaria Muntu is a poet, writer, arts, and women’s advocate, whose work has reached audiences internationally. She has published both poetry and non-fiction in her literary and activist career, appearing in countless anthologies, journals and other publications. She has also led and developed women’s groups in the US and UK, creating spaces where women can find and amplify their voices and connect with one another.
As founder of Femficātiō alongside her daughter, Malkia Charlee, Kamaria brings a wealth of expertise in both creative and editorial practice. At the retreat, she will lead workshops on poetic craft, developing compelling characters and narrative themes, strengthening lyrical voice, writing effective and entertaining non-fiction, making time and space for your creative practice, writing and emotional healing, creative meditation, and accessing the deep feminine reservoir within. Her goal is to guide participants through the process of creating work that resonates with readers. Her facilitation combines rigorous literary skill with an intuitive understanding of creativity and self-expression, offering a transformative experience for writers ready to take the next step toward publication.
Malkia Charlee is a writer, novelist, and co-founder/co-editor of Femficātiō Publishing. Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in Stand Our Ground: Poems for Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander and African Writer Magazine. In 2012, she co-edited Femficātiō Litzine with her mother, Kamaria Muntu. Her debut novel, The Lion and the Wolf, is scheduled for release through Femficātiō Publishing in 2026.
Malkia brings experience of seeing complex creative projects through to completion, from editorial decision-making and marketing to guiding writers through contracts, website presence, and development. At the retreat, she will lead workshops on how to see a book or creative project to completion, as well as practical sessions on website design, marketing, and the business side of publishing. In addition, as a holistic coach, Malkia will oversee the retreat’s healthy, nourishing meals, ensuring that participants are fuelled for both creativity and wellness.
03 / Publication with Femficātiō
Imagine a space where your distinctly creative voice is celebrated, nurtured and developed for publication. Our women-only writers’ retreat offers exactly that—a rare opportunity to join an intimate cohort of only 16 women writers, receiving mentorship, workshops, and guidance designed to bring your work to life and into the world. Poetry, fiction, nonfiction—any genre except pornography—is welcome, especially those forms that traditional publishers overlook. While fewer than 1% of submissions are accepted by mainstream presses, leaving the remaining 99% of talented voices navigating a $1.25 billion self-publishing industry largely alone, we are doing something different: we cultivate talent intentionally, providing the support, resources, and publishing pathway that transforms potential into achievement.
Led by Kamaria Muntu and Malkia Charlee, founders of Femficātiō, whose Litzine has already published award-winning authors and helped early-career writers win accolades internationally, have designed this retreat to blend craft development, editorial expertise, and holistic support with the joy of collaboration and creative discovery. You will leave not only with a finished manuscript, but with a publication that magnifies your voice, and a community of sisters to help you step more fully into your author journey. In the case of previously published writers, this retreat will be a continual source of practical encouragement, fostering women’s artistic community, and spring-boarding future creative endeavors. This is more than a retreat; it is a launching pad for women writers to break through gatekeeping, honor their craft, and contribute boldly to the literary world. To be one of 16 selected women is to be part of something rare, transformative, and truly life-changing— to have your writing, your story, your art, recognized and celebrated exactly as it deserves to be.
Questions & Answers
Do I have to have been previously published? No. Whether you are a first-time author or have a shelf of work behind you, Femficātiō is interested in the power of your current voice. We’re helping to cultivate manuscripts with a clear vision, regardless of your publishing history. Book a project call.
If I haven’t begun my book, will you help me develop my idea? Absolutely! Your journey begins the moment you pay your deposit. You will receive an initial strategy call to map out your "Project Roadmap" before you even arrive in Portugal. The retreat and the following six months of coaching are specifically designed to move you from a strong concept to a completed, published work.
If I am a seasoned writer, will I still get the expert support I need? Yes! For seasoned writers, our support shifts from "development" to "refinement and trajectory." We focus on high-level professional editing, trade reviews (Kirkus/Clarion), and global distribution strategies that respect and elevate your existing career.
What if I am uncomfortable sharing a room? We offer the Lorraine Hansberry Room specifically for authors who require total privacy and a "still point" of solitude. If you prefer a shared environment but want to ensure comfort, our Brontë and Saturday Nighters suites are professionally managed with strict quiet hours and curated for a respectful, professional atmosphere.
Will I be able to spend time on my own? Yes! Solitude is a requirement for great art. Our schedule is designed with "Deep Work" blocks and silent morning hours. While there is a two hour workshop every day, excursions to help enrich your writing, in addition to communal dinners, your mornings and afternoons are yours to spend at your desk, in the forest, or by the sea.
Are there additional amenities I can look forward to? Beyond the publishing suite, you will enjoy a professional 1:1 massage session, a curated "Author’s Gift Bag" of professional tools and local keepsakes, and full-board organic dining. Our "Organic Bar" also features a selection of local wines, craft beers, and cold-pressed juices.
Are there discounts if I book early, or with friends? We offer a reduced rate for the Saturday Nighters room and the shared Brontë Room when booking as a duo or trio, just get in touch. Additionally, because the 15% deposit unlocks your coaching immediately, booking early gives you a longer runway of support—up to a full year of guidance—for the same price.
Will I get feedback and ongoing support before the workshop? Yes! You don't have to wait until September. Your deposit triggers your first virtual strategy consultation with our editors. We provide a 6-month support window around the retreat to ensure your manuscript is ready for the production phase.
What if I am based in Portugal, can I still attend? Yes! We love welcoming local residents into our English-speaking cohorts. If you’re based in Portugal, we offer two ways to join:
Local Resident (On-site): If you wish to stay in the villa for the full immersive experience, you receive a €300 discount on your chosen room package.
Commuter/External (Off-site): If you do not require accommodation at the villa, you can receive a up to €1,000 discount on the package. You will still have full access to all communal meals, writing excursions, the organic bar, professional coaching, and the guaranteed publishing contract. We can also help you find a room nearby or, depending on interest, may organize a dedicated "local house" for writers. Please get in touch at femficatio@femficatio.com to discuss options.
2026 Writers Retreat
Most retreats end with a suitcase full of notebooks and the same daunting question: “What now?” At Femficātiō, we answer that question before you even pack your bags. This is the only residency in the world that combines the sanctuary of a writer’s retreat with a guaranteed publishing contract.
When you are accepted into a 2026 cohort, you aren't just booking a room; you are securing your future as a published author. You will have six months from the final day of the retreat to polish your manuscript under our guidance, supported by a professional production engine ready to bring your voice to the global stage.
The First Step: Your 30-Minute Vision Call: We don’t believe in cold queries or automated rejections. Your journey begins with a private, 30-minute strategic consultation with our editors. In this call, we move past the "how-to" and dive into the "why." You will gain a deep understanding of our unique publishing process, meet the team who will champion your work, and map out the specific goals for your manuscript. This is where your work stops being a "project" and starts being a book.
[Explore the Femficātiō Litzine Archive, Our Current Releases and our general Submission guidelines]
