JustWrite In the Mountains is open for Registration!!!

• Ages 18+
• October 16-18th 2026
  
  • Workshop weekend with TBA OR your self-directed writing retreat
    
  • LIMITED ENROLLMENT: Black Cat Guest Ranch (near Hinton, AB) has 11 rooms and can accommodate 22 people MAX (double occupancy).
    
  • Once you have registered, you will be sent an email asking for a writing sample. These samples are a necessary part of your registration process. 

JustWrite Rates:

Note: If you come alone, and select DOUBLE, you will be paired with someone else signed up for JustWrite, AHS restrictions permitting. If you already know who you are sharing a DOUBLE occupancy room with, please indicate their name when you are registering so we know whom to pair you with.

Note: due to limited capacity, single occupancy rooms are only available to those taking the workshop option. 

1. Workshop Option is $665 per person for SINGLE

2. Workshop Option is $560 per person for DOUBLE

4. Retreat Option is $470 per person for DOUBLE

If you choose to pay via PayPal you will be charged a 5% service fee.

Fees include:

• A weekend of instruction and writing activities led by highly qualified instructional and supervisory staff (or time by yourself, simply to write!)
• Friday JustWine&Cheese
• Saturay breakfast, lunch, supper, snacks
• Sunday breakfast, lunch
• Guest speakers and panel discussions (more details TBA)

Please note: JustWrite may fall under professional development or your wellness benefits. Installment payment options are available - email [email protected] for further details.

Please note

All fees include a $100 non-refundable fee. No refunds will be made if registration is cancelled after October 1, 2026. A full refund will be made in the event an applicant is not accepted into the program. YouthWrite Society Canada reserves the right to cancel courses and restrict enrollment. Courses, instructors and supervisors may be subject to change.

A full refund will be possible in the event an applicant is not accepted into the program or if COVID restrictions require that we cancel or reconfigure JustWrite. YouthWrite Society Canada reserves the right to cancel courses and restrict enrollment. Courses, instructors and supervisors may be subject to change.

YouthWrite Director- Coordinator

Gail Sidonie Sobat

is a multi-award-winning teacher and author, with thirteen books for children, teens and adults, and a number of educational and academic articles. A Global News Woman of Vision and an Arts and Culture Citation Award recipient, she is the YouthWrite creator/ coordinator, an international presenter, an instructor in the professional writing program at MacEwan University and in the Faculty of Education at U of A. Gail was The Writers’ Union of Canada Regional Representative for Alberta, NWT and Nunavut, and writer in residence with the Metro Edmonton Federation of Libraries. 

She has moved forty times in her life from Badlands to Siksika Nation Reserve to hideous suburbs to Istanbul to the Sunshine Coast to her writer’s garret in a century-old temperamental house. She adores all of her Supers & Coordinators equally, and loves YouthWrite like a madwoman!