After a two-year pause due to COVID, the Orcas Island Lit Fest (OILF) is back, and I can hardly wait for it to begin next Friday, June 3. I was honored to serve on the OILF Board for its first two years, and I’ve missed this gathering of renowned authors and avid readers in the intimate setting of Orcas Center. Clearly, the current Board has been hard at work to recreate the festival, this year both in person and virtual.
You can read about all the featured artists, but here’s a brief rundown of the headliners:
Seattle journalist and author of nine books, Timothy Egan
Nicola Griffith, writer and queer cripple with a PhD who divides her time between Seattle and Leeds
Rosanne Parry, author of novels for young readers, including A Whale of the Wild
Danzy Senna, memoirist and fiction writer challenging our culture’s defined states of race, class, and gender norms
Octavio Solis, author of over twenty plays that both draw on and transcend the Mexican-American experience.
They’ll be joined by a long list of guest artists who will participate in panels and Friday night’s Lit Walk. I’m thrilled to be among the readers on Friday night and to share the stage at Tide Pool Coffeehouse with fellow Homebound Publications authors Heather Durham and Kip Robinson Greenthal.
You’ll find the entire Festival Schedule for the weekend online, but here’s a quick overview:
Friday, June 3, 5-8 pm. Lit Walk –Three phases of readings by local and regional writers, hosted at six different venues around the village of Eastsound. Free to the public.
Saturday, June 4
Book Store presented by Darvill’s Bookstore at Orcas Center
Book Fair in the Madrona Room at Orcas Center – Exhibits by literary journals and independent and small-press publishers alongside local merchants and artists.
Kids’ Fest, Saturday morning at Orcas Island Public Library – family event with readings by two award-winning children’s and young adult authors (free and open to the public).
Panels, Performances, and Interviews with acclaimed authors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more, held at Orcas Center(ticketed)
“Words Onstage,” Saturday night at Orcas Center with readings by featured artists plus musical performances (ticketed)
Just to further entice you, watch this short clip from the last OILF in 2019.
You know you don’t want to miss this festival!
In person tickets available here.
Virtual Only tickets are available here.
For more information, email info@oilf.org
As author Judith Thurman says, “It’s a magic ride!”
Iris Graville - Author 