OSAI 2025 SELECTIONS

Log in to the applicant portal to view your OSAI 2025 decision letter! Visit the Selections FAQ for assistance.

Disciplines

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ACTING

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CHORUS

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CREATIVE WRITING

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DANCE

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DRAWING & PAINTING

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FILM & VIDEO

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ORCHESTRA

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PHOTOGRAPHY

2025 Creative Writing

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Mark Turcotte (Turtle Mountain Band Ojibwe) is author of four books, including The Feathered Heart and Exploding Chippewas. His work has appeared in national and international journals and is included in the NEA/Poetry Foundation high-school recitation project Poetry Out Loud. Turcotte was awarded 1999 and 2003 Literary Fellowships by the Wisconsin Arts Board and was the recipient of a 2001-2002 Lannan Foundation Literary Completion Grant.

Mark Turcotte

2025 CREATIVE WRITING INSTRUCTOR

Creative Writing students explore writing techniques through practice, group discussion, and individual critiquing sessions with faculty. Emphasis is placed on developing a keen awareness of the sound, shape, and connotative possibilities of the written word. Various types of creative writing may be explored, but there will be a strong emphasis on poetry. Applicants should be aware that class discussions are on a collegiate level and may contain mature subject matter. Up to 16 students are accepted.

Writers with strong storytelling abilities and an interest in filmmaking are encouraged to audition for both film & video and creative writing.

Requirements for Applicants

To apply to the creative writing program, applicants will submit a sample of previously written work and a new work created for this audition. Writing submissions may be any combination of poetry, fiction, personal essay, and/or an excerpt from a longer work. The sample of previously written material should not exceed 750 words and the new work should not exceed 500 words. The new work must include all of the following elements: an animal, an irritating sound, and a soft light.

Application Deadline: Monday, February 17, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.

Download Complete Creative Writing Applicant Guide

Funding for the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute creative writing program is generously provided, in part, by the Neustadt Charitable Trust Writing Endowment Fund.

OAI Quartz Preview Days

Interested in auditioning for the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute but don’t know where to start? Each fall, OAI is offers free workshops as part of the OAI Quartz Preview Days!

Fall 2025 Preview Days will be announced later this year.

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