2024 OSWS Retreat
September 17-20 | Flandreau, SD
The Oceti Sakowin Writers Society’s 31st Annual Tribal Writers Retreat will take place Tuesday, Sept. 17, to Friday, Sept. 20, in Flandreau, SD. The retreat will take place at Eastman Hall, a fitting location given its namesake, Charles Eastman, was the first published Dakota writer.
The OSWS Board of Directors has been busy planning and raising funds for this year’s retreat. We are pleased to announce that we have received a generous donation from the Henry Luce Foundation to support our retreat!
An official agenda will be posted soon; until then, here’s a quick overview of this year’s retreat:
9/17: Hotel check-in and welcome dinner at 6 p.m.
9/18 & 9/19: Writing activities and workshops with mentor, Diné poet Esther Belin.
9/20: Retreat concludes after breakfast.
We’re excited to also announce that Pamela Matthews (Oglala Lakota) of Lightning Bull Consulting has been hired as this year’s retreat coordinator. Pam has extensive experience organizing large events. She will reach out to verified OSWS members in the coming weeks with more details about how to register for the retreat, including information about travel scholarships, which cover hotel, food, and mileage.
After the retreat, OSWS members have the option of attending the South Dakota Festival of Books (Sept. 20-22 in Brookings). We’ll have a vendor booth and host three sessions, including an honoring for our co-founder, the late Elizabeth Cook-Lynn; a panel discussion on Native literary sovereignty; and a community reading with OSWS members.
The Oceti Sakowin Writers Society is continuing to expand and grow in a number of good ways. We can't wait to share them with you this September at the 31st annual retreat in Flandreau!
Chris Bordeaux, Sarah Hernandez, Kim TallBear, Diane Wilson, and Taté Walker