Truth and Beauty: Explore the craft of writing at the Ossabaw Island Writers' Retreat

“Ossabaw island represents the beauty that we are hoping our writers will connect with and be able to instill in their own works,” said Tony Morris, director of the Ossabaw Island Writers’ Retreat. “Beauty, truth and love, these are the basis. These can pull people together, align them in a space to accomplish beautiful, authentic work.”

And this year the respected retreat offers four full scholarships, plus additional funds to defray some travel costs, to the six-day experience, March 8 through 13. The scholarship application deadline is February 1, with regular admissions deadline February 15. Total attendance costs for the 2024 spring writing intensive are $3,195.

A scholarship to the Ossabaw Island Writers’ Retreat could profoundly transform the life and prospects of an artist clear of vision yet lacking means to see it through.

The program got its start in 2011 after Georgia Southern University creative writing professor Tony Morris connected with Ossabaw Island Foundation to create a multi-day getaway for writers. His thought was, set apart on the island, surrounded by mentors and like-minds, writers would benefit from focusing on their work while exchanging ideas and receiving guidance from established authors.

Now, poets, crafters of fiction and creative non-fiction seek out the rustic six-day intensive where workshops, shared meals, nature and extended opportunities for writing help shape and further their ideas.

Life-changing experience for emerging writers

Melanie McGhee attended in spring of 2022. A resident of West Columbia, South Carolina, she was 52-years-old and caring for her mother during the pandemic when her mother passed from cancer. After her mother’s death, McGhee, unpublished, wanted to write a memoir about the experience of being both daughter and caretaker. She submitted the first pages of a manuscript and was accepted.

“I received affirmation from faculty and realized that it would take help from others to finish my book,” reflected McGhee. “I needed the camaraderie of a writing group and possibly the deadlines of a class structure. While at Ossabaw, I decided that I wanted to go back to school. I’ve just finished my masters in creative nonfiction at a low-residency program and am starting two more semesters for my MFA.”

Though McGhee was able to attend without a scholarship, she sees the value of financial assistance important in opening opportunities for writers, acknowledging that the program is “cost prohibitive for most young writers, not just young in age, but young in their writing.” The scholarships make the program viable for a wider range of talent.

McGhee is in the process of finishing her memoir.

Atlanta resident, Judy Keenan, had multiple bylines and publication credits before arriving at Ossabaw. The former environmental editor of “Garden Club of Georgia” and editor of “The Physics Teacher” magazine, had a different focus in mind when she applied in early 2018. Keenan submitted the beginnings of a complex historical fiction project she’d been tinkering with for years.

“I got so much out of the retreat, the friendships, everything, and $3,000 shouldn’t prevent anyone from having this experience,” emphasized Keenan. “Getting in is a big deal. Getting in and getting a scholarship means someone probably has real talent. And right now, we need thinkers and creators of content not just consumers of content. Art provokes people to think. We need people who think for themselves, who create engaging and thought-provoking work.”

Keenan, still refining her novel, is currently enrolled in the creative writing certificate program at Emory University. Profoundly affected by her writers’ retreat experience, she now supports a portion of scholarship funding through her family’s charitable organization, Diggs Family Foundation.

“The things that matter to me are art, education and the environment,” said Keenan. “I’d rather give to a small organization where my donation could really make a difference. Hopefully, the scholarship and retreat will make a difference in somebody’s life.”

Last March, Kim Owens was one of those writers for whom the financial assistance made a transformative difference. She attended the retreat on full scholarship. Owens, who’d been blogging independently for years, unexpectedly found herself advocating for her 10-year-old son when he rapidly lost vision due to a rare genetic condition. She shifted in her blogging and began sharing what it was like to navigate multiple bureaucracies having a child with special needs.

She spent a lot of time maneuvering through health care and education in rural Georgia and wanted to decant those experiences into a memoir educating people about disability rights and advocacy. The Ossabaw Writer’s Retreat was the perfect opportunity for her to explore this project.

“I went to Ossabaw feeling really insecure,” recalled Owens. “I was there on a scholarship with no professional writing credits, just dedication and an idea. I told many people I am not a writer, but when I left Ossabaw, I could confidently say I am a writer. So many of us struggle with imposter syndrome starting out, but when I left the retreat, I was confident in my ability to tell the story.”

Within two weeks of completing her retreat, Owens landed a literary agent who is currently shopping the manuscript to different publishers.

Relationships made at retreat lead to professional opportunities

Retreat assistant director, Danelle Lejeune, attended on full scholarship in 2014. The experience opened a series of doors through which she published her first book of poetry, “Landlocked: Etymology of Whale-Fish and Grace” in 2017 with Finishing Line Press. For Lejeune, learning the nuts and bolts of publication was a game changer.

“It’s the secretarial work of being a writer, learning how to write and where to send a query letter, sending thank you notes,” emphasized Lejeune. “These are important skills you learn at Ossabaw that are essential in developing good relationships in the industry.”

Lejeune also points out that all submissions are reviewed without a name attached to them by former retreat faculty from the genres of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. Past faculty include Craig Johnson, who authored the Longmire mystery novels, and Beverly Denofrio, known for her 1992 memoir, “Riding in Cars with Boys.” Naval warfare novelist, David Poyer, has also served as faculty.

“My favorite part of writers’ retreat is the reading at the end where participants share whatever they want,” said Lejeune. “We do an extra special meal. There’s a bonfire, and people bring instruments. There’s an intimacy at Ossabaw I’ve never experienced anywhere else. The connection is irreplaceable. Writing is something so solitary, but the friends you meet here are special and very much become lifelong relationships.”

Interested in applying:

Scholarship application deadline: Thursday, Feb. 1

Regular admission deadline: Thursday, Feb. 15

Info and application: ossabawwritersretreat.org

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Scholarship applications open for Ossabaw Island Writers' Retreat