Registration Opens for Washington Island Lit Fest

A view of Washington Island from the Mountain Park Lookout Tower. Photo by Len Villano.

The Washington Island Literary Festival (WILF), often described as among the best small literary festivals in the country, is accepting registrations for its 5th annual event. This year’s theme is “Exploring Frontiers Real and Imagined.” The fest will be held Sept. 22-24 at Trueblood Performing Arts Center (TPAC) and other island locations.

This year’s program features Dan Egan, the New York Times-reviewed author of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes; Rachel DeWoskin, author of Blind, a young adult novel; Amy Hassinger, author of After the Dam; David Stuart MacLean, author of The Answer to the Riddle Is Me: A Memoir of Amnesia; and Kao Kalia Yang, author of The Song Poet.

Optional workshops for writers and readers will be presented Sept. 22. From 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, Karla Huston, Poet Laureate of Wisconsin, will present “Reading Poetry for Pleasure; Reading Like a Writer.” Also Friday morning, poet James McCormick, who teaches at State University of New York at Buffalo, will present “Formalism: Poetry with the Net Up.”

Friday afternoon from 2:30 to 4:30 pm, four workshops will be presented: “The How of Where: Writing Place” with Hassinger; “Memoir While Falling Down Stairs” with MacLean; “The Present Tense Drama of Young Adult Writing” with DeWoskin; “Poetry in Prose” with Yang. Workshop registration is open to all interested readers and writers separate from festival registration. Costs are $75 for the first workshop, and $65 for any additional workshops.

Registration options available for this year’s festival program are: Standard Program, $125 – Friday reception, continental breakfast at TPAC, all presentations on Saturday, the Backstage Book Store and author signings, and dinner at Historic Island Dairy Saturday evening and presentation of the 2017 Norbert Blei Award for Poetry; Single Day, $90 – Continental breakfast at TPAC, all Saturday presentations, Backstage Bookstore and author signing; and Optional Sunday Brunch, $30 – Brunch at Hotel Washington with the authors and WILF committee members, with a discussion of what authors and guests are reading.

A 10-percent early bird discount is available until Aug. 15 for the Standard Program and Single Day options.

For registration forms or more information, visit truebloodpac.com or washingtonislandliteraryfestival.com; or stop by Fair Isle Books at 1885 Detroit Harbor Road, next to the Red Cup Coffee House.