(Wahpeton)– The headliner has been announced for this year’s Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat coming up in September. Organizer Julie Gammack, a former columnist for the Des Moines Register, says it’s someone extremely well known in Hollywood circles…
“David Kirkpatrick was the president of Paramount Pictures and he’s the founder of Story Summit which is an international writer’s organization. He has been the film director and producer for some of the most successful box office movies ever made.”
Gammack says Kirkpatrick will be among about 60 other presenters from across the country that will be at this year’s event…
“So we have Pulitzer Prize winners, we have Grammy nominated singers and songwriters, we have a gentleman by the name of Peter Hedges who was nominated for an Academy Award for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, and just a lot of folks who are lesser known that are coming but they’re going to help folks start a memoir project or work on a novel. It’s really an exciting thing in Okoboji that’s kind of one of the best kept secrets.”
Gammack says the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ retreat got its start about five years ago. Since then, she says the number of attendees has grown exponentially…
“Primarily from around the Midwest and Iowa, but as the years go by we’ve got more and more participants from around the country. Writers kind of communicate with one another, authors communicate with one another, they tend to go to a lot of conferences, but this one is one they want to come year after year after year to. There’s just something special about Okoboji.”
Gammack says the retreat is intended for those who are already writers along with those who are aspiring to be writers…
“Half of our writers have no experience, the other half are published to some degree, some are career professionals, but it’s a great mix of all skill levels and everyone’s welcome. I would say 40 percent of the people come because they want to get around to writing a memoir project and they don’t know where to start and they don’t know how to do it.”
This year’s Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ retreat will be held September 27th-30th at Lakeside Laboratory. More information on the cost and registration can be found at okobojiwritersretreat.com. Gammack, who’s an author herself, says scholarships are available thanks to some beneficiaries.
