Event and Book

This free event is a partnership between Interlochen and National Writers Series.

Patrice Gopo is an award-winning essayist and the author of Autumn Song: Essays on Absence, All the Colors We Will See, and All the Places We Call Home. She is the recently announced winner of the inaugural Pattis Family Foundation Creative Arts Book Award, given out by Interlochen Center for the Arts. The $25,000 prize recognizes the best literature in the creative arts field.

Gopo will be honored in-person and the event is hosted by bestselling author and National Writers Series co-founder Doug Stanton.

Online RSVPs are requested in advance, limited to 4 seats per registration. Doors and public reception begin at 6:30 pm with the centerpiece presentation starting at 7:00 pm. Complimentary food and drink will be served.

Patrice Gopo is an award-winning essayist and author of books for adults and children. Her essay collections include Autumn Song, recipient of the inaugural Pattis Family Foundation Creative Arts Book Award, and All the Colors We Will See, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her picture books include All the Places We Call Home and Ripening Time, both inspired by several of her essays. As the child of Jamaican immigrants who was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Patrice writes stories steeped in themes of place, belonging, and home. Her essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including Catapult, Charlotte Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, and AFAR Magazine.

Her essay “That Autumn” received a notable mention in the Best American Essays 2020 and earned a National City and Regional Magazine Association award for best essay, criticism, and commentary. In addition to other honors, Patrice is the recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship and a Sustainable Arts Foundation Award. When she’s not writing, Patrice hosts the podcast Picture Books Are for Grown-Ups Too! because she believes in the power of stories to help build connections between people. Patrice lives with her family in North Carolina, where she enjoys walks just after dawn and thinks a perfect day ends with ice cream. Visit patricegopo.com to learn more.

Doug Stanton is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of In Harm’s Way and 12 Strong, made into a major motion picture by Jerry Bruckheimer, and The Odyssey of Echo Company. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, Time, The Washington Post, Men’s Journal, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, Esquire, and Outside.

He was awarded the 2021 Steven Ambrose Oral History award. He attended Interlochen Arts Academy, Hampshire College, and received an MFA from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. He created the National Writers Series in 2009 with his wife, Anne, and attorney Grant Parsons. He and Anne have three children and live in Traverse City.