Join us for a national writers retreat June 9-13, 2027 at B Bar Ranch in Emigrant, Montana, dedicated to nonfiction and creative nonfiction writers. All subjects and stories welcome.

Applications are open now, click the button below.

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This retreat is open to all nonfiction writers and provides a unique opportunity to focus on your writing, share your ideas with fellow writers, and immerse yourself in your creative work. Set on B Bar Ranch, a working cattle ranch in Paradise Valley sharing a 6-mile border with Yellowstone National Park, this retreat will offer you space to think deeply, work intentionally, gain insight from colleagues and facilitators, and move your writing project forward. Learn more about B Bar Ranch

mountain view

 

The Setting

Amenities at the B Bar Ranch include chef-prepared meals made from local ingredients, private accommodations, 20+ miles of trails, and a shared 6-mile boundary with Yellowstone National Park. Learn more about B Bar Ranch's Amenities

Lead Facilitators

Tiya Miles, author

Tiya Miles - author of All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, A Black Family Keepsake

Tiya Miles is an award-winning and bestselling author, a MacArthur Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. All That She Carried won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, the Frederick Douglass Prize, and the PEN John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction among many other awards. She is currently the Michael Garvey Professor of History at Harvard University and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. (bio)

 

William G. Thomas III, author

William G. Thomas III - author of A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War

Will Thomas is a Guggenheim Fellow and a Lincoln Prize Laureate. A Question of Freedom won the Mark Lynton History Prize from the J. Anthony Lukas Prizes, the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic Book Prize, and was a Washington Prize finalist, among other awards. He is currently the Dean of the College of Letters and Science and a Professor of History at Montana State University. (bio)

 

What Writers Have Said...

Bring yourself and your writing exactly as they are, and then relax into a landscape, a writing space, and an extraordinary group environment that will support you as you move ahead in your work. Whether you're starting something new, big, and scary, or working out the knots in an ongoing project, this retreat will help you.

Linda Karell, Associate Professor of Literature
Heaven might be a Montana kind of place. What an amazing privilege to learn from Will and Tiya in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, with stellar company and gourmet meals. Both craft talks were unique and incredibly interesting. Alexandra Stern, Assistant Professor of History at City College of New York
Tremendous experience, top to bottom. The craft chats by Tiya and Will gave me a lot to think about. I came in wrestling with structural questions about my book and left with a much clearer sense of how to approach it, thanks in no small part to ideas I picked up from both sessions and from conversations and ideas they sparked. I also can't speak highly enough about the community we created.Jason Heppler, Environmental Historian of the North American West and the Great Plains 

Sample Schedule

Wednesday, June 9

  • 3:00 pm - Welcome & Orientation
  • 4:00 pm - Ranch Tour
  • 5:00 pm - Group Dinner
  • 6:30 pm - Writing Time
  • 8:00-9:00 pm - Networking Reception, optional

Thursday, June 10

  • 6:30 am - Group Hike, optional
  • 7:00-9:00 am - Grab & Go Breakfast available
  • 8:00 am - Group Breakfast, optional
  • 10:00 am-2:00 pm - Private Writing Time
  • 12:00-1:00 pm - Lunch
  • 2:00 pm - Group Activity, optional
  • 3:30 pm - Craft Talk with William G. Thomas III
  • 5:00 pm - Group Dinner, with the option of Private Dining
  • 6:30 pm - Writing Time
  • 8:00-9:00 pm - Networking Reception, optional

Friday, June 11

  • 6:30 am - Group Hike, optional
  • 7:00-9:00 am - Grab & Go Breakfast available
  • 8:00 am - Group Breakfast, optional
  • 10:00 am-12:00 pm - Private Writing Time
  • 12:00-1:00 pm - Lunch
  • 1:00-2:00 - Craft Talk with Tiya Miles
  • 2:00-4:00 pm - Small Group Workshop Session
  • 4:00 pm - Break
  • 5:00 pm - Group Dinner, with the option of Private Dining
  • 6:30-8:00 pm - Private Writing Time
  • 8:00-9:00 pm - Networking Reception, optional

Saturday, June 12

  • 6:30 am - Group Hike, optional
  • 7:00-9:00 am - Grab & Go Breakfast available
  • 8:00 am - Group Breakfast, optional
  • 10:00 am-12:00 pm - Private Writing Time
  • 12:00-1:00 pm - Lunch
  • 1:00 pm - Deadline to submit any writing you want workshopped. 
  • 1:00-2:00 - Craft Talk
  • 2:00-4:00 pm - Small Group Workshop Session
  • 4:00 pm - Break
  • 5:00 pm - Group Dinner, with the option of Private Dining
  • 6:30-8:00 pm - Private Writing Time
  • 8:00-9:00 pm - Networking Reception, optional

Sunday, June 13

  • 6:30 am - Group Hike, optional
  • 7:00-9:00 am - Grab & Go Breakfast available
  • 9:00-10:00 am - Group Breakfast
  • 10:00 am - Photos and Group Celebration
  • Depart

Retreat Cost

For applicants not affiliated with Montana State University, the retreat will cost $2,000. This includes 3-night lodging at B Bar Ranch, chef-prepared meals, airport shuttle from Bozeman to the ranch on June 9 and back to the airport on June 13, and amenities. (Flights or travel to Bozeman not included.) 

 

Apply Now