Frequently Asked Questions

We struggle to describe ourselves properly, and change our wording often. Right now, let's say we're both
a) a literary* travel** journal and
b) a roving school, embracing slow travel and in-person gathering as pedagogy.
Soon, we would also like to be
c) a radical press, connecting readers to books and zines made by our sprawling, global community of writers.

*literary in the sense that we like stories and poems, not in a la-di-dah academic way
**travel + place + culture + identity, etc.

You'll be learning from many different folks depending on which program you are enrolled in. Our team is diverse in background and experience ~ a collage of kind and passionate writers, editors, designers, printmakers, community organisers, academics, poets, farmers, producers, political educators and even a Buddhist priestess.

Between us, we have a breadth of experience. We've hosted radio shows, written front-page news stories, produced podcasts, published books, started publications, founded businesses and completed PhDs. Though many of us have worked Real Jobs, we're mostly self-employed: operating as freelancers and/or founders. Astray programs are seasonal, so when we're not teaching, we're making money elsewhere. That might be connected to creative pursuits, but it also might be stuff like translation or family violence prevention or marketing.

Astray does not run an institutional classroom. You will not be graded, and you won't get in trouble if you don't come to class.

One of the core principles we embrace is horizontal learning. That means the boundary between teacher and student is porous. All of us know a lot about some things. Some of you have organized in your communities, some of you have published work, some of you speak multiple languages, some of you have survived things others haven't. We want to create space for all of that knowledge to circulate.

Classes are a mix of instruction, demonstration, panel discussions, group work, prompts, readings, sharing our writing, and lots and lots and LOTS of conversation. When things get heavy in class, maybe we'll jump up and do some Rajio Taiso or sit down and do a Mr Squiggle. If you're feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed or exhausted at any point, you can simply duck out, and you will never get in trouble for missing anything.

We get hundreds of beautiful applications and wish we had the capacity to take everyone, but we have neither the means nor the desire to expand.

There is no singular framework for selecting students to come on our programs. We formulate a shortlist and then call everyone on the phone. We are moved by all sorts of things: sincerity, the ability to tell a good yarn, a unique way of looking at the world, an open mind, a willingness to learn, a dazzling enthusiasm, someone in need of a break. Mostly, we are looking for people with open hearts and open minds who are committed to actively practicing care.

Maybe you've never written anything beyond a secret diary of poetry; perhaps you've already had your food reviews published in a magazine or interned in a bunch of newsrooms. Each participant brings something different to the program, and your age and experience do not necessarily matter.

There is no such thing as underqualified — formal qualifications are becoming less important in the writing world and freelancing economy, and we're of the opinion that if you are passionate about writing, then you can be a writer. In terms of being overqualified, we'll delve into a bunch of writing styles, from copywriting and editorial to investigative feature writing, so if you've done that in a journalism degree or job, perhaps some of the content will be old hat.

On top of that, we'll focus heavily on media literacy, understanding power and expanding our concepts of justice; as well as pitching, working as a freelancer and starting a publication, magazine, newsletter — practical and important skills we tend to find universities neglect. If you're already working as a freelance writer, or you have extreme confidence pitching and have been published by a range of mediums already, then perhaps this program isn't for you. If, however, your writing training has been super structured — like you've done a degree and worked only in the confines of a newsroom or academia — many of the practical skills we impart, especially with regards to freelancing and more liberated styles of writing, will likely be useful, as will all the hearty discussions.

When we've been able to, we have offered students living under hardship or in countries with a weak currency/low earning capacity heavily discounted (or even free) trips, as we really want our learning experiences to be accessible and strongly value the perspectives that people from all different backgrounds bring to the program.

Every course we offer has between 1 - 3 fully supported places, but we have stopped advertising this due to the amount of applications we received from folks who are in positions to pay.

What we are able to offer everyone are flexible payment plans. Rather than working with formal afterpay infrastructure, we prefer to draw up contracts manually to meet folk where they're at, operating on a basis of mutual respect and trust. Sadly, this does result in the odd ghosting by students who never pay us back, but it is rare (maybe seven people out of 1000+ in 12 years), and we are committed to this system as a means of keeping our programs accessible.

We put a lot of thought into pricing our programs ~ trying to balance accessibility with sustainability and fairness. Program profits are split equally with all facilitators when they are co-founded (otherwise teachers are paid $100USD an hour to reflect the level of care and energy required for this work). External collaborators (e.g. our language teachers) are paid the rate they charge us. What remains pays our contributors $100USD a story, covers website fees and subscriptions, and pays our editor-owner-operator a living wage (~$45,000USD for the financial year 2025).

We've welcomed students from Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico, Nepal, Ireland, Singapore, Italy, Vietnam, Nigeria, Fiji, India, Grenada, the U.S., Bolivia, Germany, France, Canada, the UK, Norway, Australia and more join us before.

If you come from somewhere where it's difficult to get a travel visa, let us know so we can brainstorm. If you come from a place of financial hardship or a country where it's hard to earn and save up but you really wanna join us on a program, ask. If English is not your strongest language, reach out so we can talk about it.

Though classes are taught in English (except for language classes ~ Indonesian, Spanish, Japanese, Nepali etc. depending where you are), often we find non-native English speakers to be the most sensationally beautiful writers, bringing unique turns of phrase and perspective to their work. So don't let your perceived lack of English hold you back.

We're always up for a chat about what you need to feel supported, and have welcomed many folks in the past with specific needs: wheelchair users, d/Deaf participants, people with autism and sensory sensitivities, and mums with toddlers in tow. Basically, we just want to make sure your time with us is possible and pleasurable, so just get in touch by filling in a contact form or by emailing astrayproject@proton.me, and we can go from there!

We firmly believe that institutionalised education is not necessarily for everyone. Don't be afraid to apply if you've never been to uni before! If you are currently studying though, depending on your field, you may be able to obtain credit for doing a workshop with us.

Since we started running month-long writing programs in 2015, we've had students from a range of Australian, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canadian, British and United States universities get credit before, from Griffith to La Trobe to Wollongong to Curtin to Massey to the University of Queensland. We have had official partnerships with Griffith and RMIT in the past, and if your university wants to get on board, we'd be stoked to tee up something official.

For the most part though, you need to sort the credit situation yourselves (with our help). The majority of communicationss and journalism degrees have a Work Integrated Learning unit, which is usually the best avenue for credit. Talk to your head of department about what you need to do. Other options we've seen students have success with are open electives or internship units. Usually, we need to sign some forms and assess you afterwards, which we are more than willing to do.

Many students who do our writing courses continue to contribute for Astray on a freelance basis. We pay $100USD a story. Several former students have become teachers years after doing a program, and if the right idea is pitched and we have capacity, we would definitely consider a collaboration. Right now however, we are not looking for new facilitators for our writing program, and have a large roster of fabulous humans already. Also, for the most part, our teachers are local facilitators who speak the language of the country we are in and are deeply familiar with its systems and ways of being.

If we have to cancel, the program is fully refundable. If you have to cancel, the situation depends on when you notify us. Each program's deposit is non-refundable, as we use it to lock in your place with our service providers and can't get that money back. The actual price of the course, however, is fully refundable less the deposit until 60 days before the program starts, by which time we've spent all your money arranging the trip and will have a very difficult time finding someone rich and spontaneous enough to replace you. For your safety and ours, we strongly recommend you take out travel insurance with pre-trip cancellation, so that if anything happens that prevents you from coming, you are able to recover costs.