Black Women Writers: A Retreat In Gratitude 2026

sis·ter·hood

/ˈsistərˌho͝od/

1: the feeling of kinship with and closeness to a group of women

2: a community of women linked by a common interest

Dear Sisters,

We are still so moved by the deep connections we made at the inaugural Black Women Writers’ Retreat last year. We are planning something special for 2026 and are so pleased to announce that we will be hosting our second retreat at the Highlights Campus on August 6–9, 2026 and you are invited.

We have established a three-year fellowship model in hopes to build a sustained community rooted in care and long-term support. In other words, gathering once just wasn’t enough. We would like to invite you to continue in this cohort. As a part of this cohort, you are invited to participate in the following:

• Summer 2024: inaugural in-person retreat
• Fall/Winter 2025-26: virtual gathering & remote connections
• Summer 2026: final in-person retreat

In the fall of 2026, we will assemble a new cohort, inviting some of you to co-plan and lead the next three-year cycle.

We stay committed to making sure this is a retreat. Your time is your own, with opportunities to participate in casual, morning conversations, writing sessions, mini craft and industry workshops, and artmaking activities. Just as with our first retreat, it is our hope to honor you and give you space to rest, reflect, and rejuvenate. This is our way of saying, Thank you for being who you are, Thank you for what you do. It is our way of saying, We see you, we respect you. It is our way of saying, Keep going, keep going.

This retreat provides full tuition and a travel stipend to ensure you can attend the retreat at no financial cost of your own. Please reach out to the Highlights Foundation team if you have any questions. Please confirm your attendance by October 15, 2025. Once you accept this invitation and confirm your attendance. We will be in touch via email and Discord with information about our virtual gathering.

In the meantime, we encourage you to reach out to someone you connected with at the retreat. Let’s check on each other and be intentional about this sisterhood: “We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.” —Gwendolyn Brooks 

With respect and appreciation,

Edi Campbell, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, and Renée Watson

About the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center

All in-person Highlights Foundation workshops and retreats (including this one) are held at our Retreat Center: The Barn at Boyds Mills.  This site was the home of the original founders of Highlights for Children Garry and Caroline Myers, and is located in the Poconos Mountains of Pennsylvania on the traditional lands of the Lenape Nation.

The Highlights Foundation strives for a safe and inclusive environment. You will have access to our Community Standards prior to the retreat where we ask for your respectful engagement with fellow creatives, including our faculty and staff.

To assist the staff in caring for you at the retreat, please fill out the registration form, including details about your dietary needs and accommodations.

Comments from last year’s retreat:

“I love how it was a retreat. One that was meant to offer nothing but fellowship, release, and relaxation. The retreat offered the gift of time–time to do absolutely nothing or what you wanted to do–which we are never given.”

“It was just the boost I needed both creatively and socially, and the retreat space is truly magical, just as everyone told me beforehand.”

“I loved the morning reflections. There was so much healing that resulted from those open, intimate times of sharing, of letting our hair down, of feeling seen and known together in that space. Just not having to be “on” for several days was a gift, in itself. We could all be real with each other.”