Yes! Lunch & dinner are included in the costs of registration (you will need to bring your own breakfast). Please indicate in the registration form if you have any food allergies or dietary restrictions.

The venue address is 91 North Lakeshore Drive; Lake Junaluska, NC 28745.

The closest airport is the Asheville Regional Airport, which is about 30 minutes away. The second-closest airport would be the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which is about 2.5 hours away.

Any student younger than thirteen must be accompanied by an adult. For students thirteen and older, parents are not required to attend, but we’d welcome them to still come–and we have special sessions for attending parents. We do recommend that all minors have a legal adult staying in the on-site housing options with them.

We’d love to help you better support your young writer through our general sessions and through special parent sessions. Click here to learn more about our options for parents at the retreat.

Anyone spending time at the retreat center must register and have a ticket.

All current students in the Young Writers Workshop are welcome to the retreat. If you’re a former YDubber or the sibling of a YDubber and are younger than 26, you’re also welcome to attend. If you’ve never been in the Workshop, but are the friend of a current student and would like to attend, please fill out this form to get permission prior to signing up.

Click this link to learn more about our lodging options.

Gathering roommates is not only an amazing way to trim down the cost of on-site lodging, but it also adds to the experience. To find roommates, we recommend posting in the YWW Retreat Roommate Matchup space on the YWWC. You can also reach out individually to your friends to see if they’d like to share a room.

We do have a limited number of slots for students to practice pitching a novel to Talia Messina at the retreat. Any student who has completed at least the first draft of a 40,000+ novel can claim a spot. Because there are limited slots, attendees are not guaranteed an opportunity to pitch; slots will go on a first-come/first-serve basis.

UPDATE: As of April 1st, all appointments with Talia Messina are full. Please email Josiah DeGraaf ([email protected]) if you’d like to be on a waitlist in case of a cancellation.

While we don’t have an official dress code, we do ask that you dress in a God-honoring manner. The general attire will be summer dresses/t-shirts and jeans.

If something comes up and you’re not able to attend, you’re eligible for a 50% refund until April 27th. After April 27th, we will no longer be able to issue refunds for conference charges. Please email [email protected] to request a refund.

You can email our Retreat Manager, Samantha Hopper, at [email protected].