Writers' Retreat Update

... look what's happening

To our new subscribers: Julie Gammack produces the annual Okoboji Writers’ Retreat held September 17-20, 2023. One year ago, she began offering a paid subscription option to this column as a way for people to support scholarships for the retreat. As a result, lives are transformed in so many ways. Today’s post is an update. Please don’t feel pressured to become a paid subscriber. We know there are a lot of tugs and pulls on your checkbook, and we want you here as a reader. But if you would like to be in support, here’s the link to upgrade.

Dear Paid Subscriber,

I want to let you know we have 20 scholarship recipients for the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat, thanks to you. Some are young, emerging journalists and poets. Others have a story to tell and need to understand how to do so.

Each scholarship recipient deserves to be highlighted, but I will single out D. J. Savarese today. From his website:

DJ Savarese promotes tools toward living self-determined, inclusive lives for nonspeaking autistics and community workshops designed to shift public misconceptions about nonspeaking people.

Savarese is a writer, nonspeaking self-advocate, and a 2016 ASAN Scholar Fellow. Co-producer and writer of the documentary film Deej: Inclusion Shouldn’t Be a Lottery, he is a published author and a national social activist working to make literacy-based education and communication a given for all nonspeaking people. Savarese graduated from Oberlin College in May 2017 with a double major in anthropology and creative writing.

DJ and his assistant will have a full scholarship to the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat, including room and board on campus.

Thanks to you.

Inclusion is a focus when selecting faculty and attracting participants for the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat. As a result, magic happens. It is fascinating to watch how we all learn from one another. Fiction writers see possibilities in character development and learn about nuances they had not considered before. Nonfiction writers become acquainted with story possibilities they hadn’t considered. Agents and publishers are introduced to new talent. Contacts are made, and friendships are formed.

In addition to panel discussions on Fiction, Memoir, Nonfiction, Publishing, a Masterclass on Local Reporting, and Commentary, Writing about the Environment, we will have a panel on Writing with Sensitivity and Respect for Other Cultures this year.

You are helping to make this event what literary agent Andy Ross said:

“The Okoboji Writers’ Retreat is the best writers’ conference I’ve ever attended…” [and he’s been to a lot of them] Andy Ross, author: http://www.andyrossagency.com/agency.html

I am capping enrollment at 200; we are nine spots away from that milestone. By limiting attendance, we ensure small group workshops remain intimate, therefore, most productive.

This is the third year for O.W.R., and it promises to be the best. We have 38 speakers from across the country. Many familiar names, and others who will be. For more about the speakers: https://okobojiwritersretreat.com/speakers/

Please know the biggest challenge I face in bringing in new participants is the overwhelming self-limiting belief:

I am not a writer.

You are. Did you send someone an email today? You’re a writer. Seriously, half of our participants consider themselves on a scale of 1-10, [one a beginner to 10, professional] between a one and a 5; the other half, between a five and a 10. The self-described skill levels are evenly divided. So, don’t let intimidation hold you back. One wag whose been column writing for decades said:

I can’t believe how much this old dog picked up from the workshops I attended the first year! Poetry, for godsakes. I’ve never taken a poetry workshop before! And so much more. I still have plenty to learn, I guess.

Here is the link to enroll: https://square.link/u/Cu7Bv6SV

Please consider attending from September 17-20th.

OKOBOJI WRITERS’ RETREAT SPEAKERS

Nicole Baart

Rekha Basu

Laura Belin

Kesley Bigelow

Douglas Burns

Maura Casey

Rachelle Chase

Courtney Crowder

Art Cullen

Todd Dorman

Allison Engel

Deb Engle

Grant Faulkner

Arnold Garson

Scott Garson

Nik Heftman

Beth Hoffman

Phoebe Wall Howard

Chris Jones

Rachel Jones

Robert Leonard

Polly Letofsky

Kyle Munson

Kim Norvell

Kathie Obradovich

Chuck Offenburger

Caleb Rainey

Lee Rood

Andy Ross

Ty Rushing

Steve Semken

Mary Sharp

Carol Spaulding-Kruse

Larry Stone

Mary Swander

Cheryl Tevis

Patricia Tyrer

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The River Knows

Author Neil Hamilton will be our Monday Zoom Lunch guest. Here is a review fellow Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member Larry Stone, wrote about Hamilton’s latest book:

The River Knows

THE IOWA WRITERS’ COLLABORATIVE

Do you subscribe to the weekly roundup of columns by the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members? Try it. There are several newer members, including Jeff Morrison, who is a real treasure. This week he debunks what has been considered one of Iowa’s most famous headlines:

Iowa’s most famous headline that never was

Here is last week’s roundup (and this week, we have steller commentary and reporting coming up). Subscribe. It’s free. If you don’t like it, just hit ‘unsubscribe.’ Since we have a 99% retention rate, we doubt you will.

Smile.

July in Iowa

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