Reading and Writing Workshops in Sydney

On the weekend of 1 & 2 July I’ll be running workshops in both fiction and non-fiction at Ace Hotel. Bookings are now closed.

I work with Aweventurer to host group trips, in australia and around the world, for people who love learning.

Group sizes are strictly small, and the fellow travellers you’ll meet are all committed to being generous, culturally-sensitive tourists. I create bespoke writing, reading, and thinking workshops depending on our location and itinerary. I also curate a list of books for reading preparation, movies and documentaries, articles and podcasts, for fellow nerdy travellers to get excited about. But these are optional! Lots of people come along with a totally open mind and have a wonderful time.

Trips typically sell out quite quickly, and we won’t go back to the same international destination twice. :)

My next international literary adventure with Aweventurer will take place in February 2024 and you can read all about it and book in here: https://www.aweventurer.com/awexpeditions/brileeegypt UPDATE this trip SOLD OUT in three days. A new record! Stay tuned for another destination and announcement very soon. xx

Testimonials from Türkiye guests about the workshops and trip

To anyone who is hesitant, or wondering if doing a literary tour hosted by Bri is the right thing for them: this tour will change your life dramatically. Travelling to Türkiye and Morocco with Bri was so deeply affirming and inspiring, and I have come away from both trips with a clearer sense of who I am as a person and how I want to create and work. These tours are awe inspiring, funny, immersive and deeply profound experiences when shared with a group of like-minded individuals. Not only are the travel experiences wonderful, but the workshops with Bri create such a depth of conversation within the group that I come away from each workshop having learnt something new and force me to interrogate the way I have previously thought about concepts. - Emma

Bri's workshops are transformative, and I've never been to anything like them before. I've had half of a manuscript sitting untouched for months and I walked away from these workshops feeling as if I could breathe new life into it. There are no expectations to be a particular type of writer (or a writer at all!), Bri creates a beautiful and supportive space for any and all who may have a passion for words, books, or new ways of looking at the world. Highly recommend for all nerds, 0-102 years of age. Thank you again for one of the most wonderful things I think I've ever had the opportunity to be a part of. It brings a literal tear to this huge nerd's eyes to think about what an open-minded, positive, and pro-learning environment we all created. - Tiana

Having never attended any kind of writing/reading workshop before, I found each workshop to be really accessible. I really enjoyed understanding the structure from the outset and found there was a good balance of Bri discussion vs group discussion v generative exercises. I’ve come away from these workshops with a completely different way of thinking about and approaching my reading and a renewed enthusiasm to just get on with it and put the pen to paper! - Ash

The workshops were wonderful! I feel like I've had a creative block for a few years, and in Workshop 2 I finally started to chip away at it and wrote a short piece that I'm quite proud of. The whole trip helped me to immerse back into a more creative and thoughtful way of looking at the world, and the workshops were a great way to focus on turning that into words. I particularly enjoyed the question prompts that you gave to start discussion - I think they were really thoughtful and made me look at the text in ways I wouldn't have otherwise. I also really appreciated the dedicated time to do generative exercises, and the fact that these were relatively short time periods, which meant there wasn't time to self-criticise. - Amy

I really enjoyed the workshops! I don't really know what it is that I want to accomplish as a writer, but I do know that I want to be a better reader, and each workshop gave me specific, tangible tools and ideas that I can carry into my reading life, and by extension into my work as an editor. I absolutely loved how the ideas introduced in workshops created a link between our shared novel and the places we were discovering. - Freya

Bri’s workshops are fantastic. She offers her own blend of practical, genuine tools to help you move forward in your reading and writing practice, no matter where it may be sitting. Bri is a fantastic verbal communicator who builds a genuine feeling of community and trust in the room. There is zero pressure to share or participate in any way, just gentle encouragement and the excitement of creating on the spot. Come with an open mind and leave with a buzzing hum of ideas.
Claire - Bri's Turkey workshops were some of the most informative writing workshops I've done. Bri carefully curated workshops rooted in writing essentials while generously cultivating the time and space for creativity by balancing instruction, discussion and exercises. Bri created a safe space to share ideas but also respected those who were not ready to share, respecting preferences. I left the workshops energised and bursting with ideas! - Larissa

Mate your workshops are the trip highlight for me. I always, always walk away with a deeper appreciation for writing and reading. Peaks, troughs and passages - game changer. For the first time in Türkiye I could actually write something! Texts that I read now and the written words bring me joy. Your workshops have helped me shed the idea of perfection and the power of the good ol’ dot points. There is never any pressure to perform or to share and I froth that entirely. It’s a HOOT to hear others share and I look at the amazing people around me and think “damn ya’ll are so special, capable and wonderful”. Thank YOU for bringing us together Bri and yes matching the material to the place as well as the balance between yarns/writing is excellent. - Hannah

The workshops are where Bri's knowledge and passion for writing truly shine. I feel as though I'm watching a master at work and always come away with new understandings, useful exercises and a heart and mind exploding with love for this wonderful craft. - Em

Testimonials from previous Bay of Fires workshop participants

The Bay of Fires workshops were inspirational, practical, and thoroughly enjoyable. Through sharing personal anecdotes about her experiences as a writer, passing along advice from other exceptional authors and providing a space for passionate discussion, Bri revitalised my love for reading and writing and positively impacted my style and approach. I would attend again in a heartbeat! - Ruby

Leading into the Bay of Fires trip, I was anchored by an intense fear that I wouldn't be 'legitimate' enough to offer anything of value to the group. Five minutes into the first workshop, I realised I was in for a profound experience, both personally and professionally. Bri maneuvered the group through a series of critical conversations masterfully interspersed between her valuable insights, allowing us to feel connected, educated and empowered all at once. The workshops created a space to safely refine our reading and writing practices. We shared resources, reflected on helpful and not-so-helpful discourse about writing and developed our ‘intuitive synthesis’. I left feeling understood, valued and excited about my writing for the first time in a long time. - Emma

Bri’s workshops at the Bay of Fires were exactly the kick in the bum I needed to start reading, writing and taking myself seriously again. You can expect an excellent reading list (in advance! with options!) and some excellent company, plus insights into Bri’s own reading and writing process. A huge highlight was hearing everyone’s reading recommendations, which included podcasts, theatre, kid’s books, novels, everything. Bri is incredibly casz (cash? cazsh? casual, lol) and conversations ranged from really mechanical analysis of texts we’d read to more general writing and life advice. Super grateful! And what a bunch of fabulous humans I got to share it with! - Charlotte

If you read, write or think – this trip is for you. The Bay of Fires trip hosted by Bri Lee was magical. The location is beautiful, the like-minded beings (aka your fellow writers, readers and thinkers) are inspiring, and the workshops are exciting. Bri is generous with sharing her experience and knowledge. She kindles your enthusiasm to read widely and deeply, and to consume content – in all its forms! Bri is also genuinely interested in everyone’s perspectives, passions and pursuits. Bri’s workshops were the highlight of the trip. I never wanted them to end. Fortunately, the workshops were followed by discussions around the campfire, with good wine and even better company. If you were waiting for a sign to book your spot on this trip – this is it. - Katherine

Bri distills her years of experience into a practical and inspiring blend of brilliant writing craft advice and a conversation about how to live a creative life. Unlike some workshops, Bri doesn't pretend she can teach you how to write in a few hours. Instead, she gives you the tools to form a sustainable and rewarding reading and writing practice with your own style, passions and definition of success at its centre. These are workshops that could only be delivered by Bri, wholly inspired by her years of thinking deeply about writing, reading and life. I came away from Bri's workshops with a renewed sense of what kind of reader, writer, thinker and member of a creative community I wanted to be. - Miranda

Turkey - April 2023 (sold out)

I’m so thrilled this trip sold out in less than two weeks. After feedback from Morocco we’ve extended the tour length from 10 to 12 days, and built in more ‘downtime’ for workshops and resting and reading. We’ll see Istanbul, do more cooking lessons, learn about the history of the country, and go hot air ballooning over Cappadocia. Together, we will all read and do workshops around Orhan Pamuk's masterpiece, The Museum of Innocence.

Bay of Fires, Tasmania - October 2022 (sold out)

This time we’ll be taking a special half-day hike with wukalina Walks, in amongst the long weekend of workshops, food, and wine. I’m teaching three long workshops, and have sent out the recommended reading list of both ‘craft’ and ‘reading’ works.

Morocco - April 2022

We spent 10 days travelling around the whole country. Cooking lessons, meeting local authors and community-run initiatives for women, the history, the culture, Yves Saint Laurent’s museum, and the extraordinary landscape from the coast in Tangier to the Atlas Mountains and Agafay Dessert. The three workshops were about diarising/note-taking, sensorial detail for evocative writing, and ‘deep reading’.

Bay of Fires, Tasmania - February 2022 (sold out)

We had four days in beautiful ‘glamping’ tents, were welcomed to larapuna by Carly from wukalina Walks, had marshmallows and wine by the fire, and did three great workshops.

Testimonials from Morocco guests about the workshops

The workshops and hearing about your personal process and approaches to writing, both formally as you were presenting and informally in conversation over the course of the trip, was immensely fascinating. It was evident you had put a lot of thought into preparing the content prior to the trip and I appreciated all the writing excerpts from other authors that we received too, which added excellent color and depth to the topics you covered with us.

I LOVED the workshops, and doing them was something I was most excited for about this trip. I really enjoyed the themes of diarising, carnality and reading better… Absolutely loved it!!!!

I got so much from all the workshops, and found they added a lovely additional dimension to the trip. Because we were spending time thinking about how to remember our trip, notice the world around us through all our senses, I feel like I was much more receptive to what we were seeing, hearing, learning on the trip. I worry a lot about superficial or extractive travel, and I feel like a trip that invites people to engage deeply, intellectually, culturally and sensorially with a place is a good antidote to this tendency. The workshops kept my brain whirring on another level, and helped me make links between what we were seeing, reading, hearing, experiencing, which added so much richness to the trip.

I loved the workshops! Bri is an awesome speaker and facilitator with a wealth of knowledge, and they were also a great chance for us to bond and connect as a group. I felt privileged that Bri spoke to us so openly and granted us so much access into her own experiences and processes.