Three Days Designed for Readers and Writers
Come This Far is the theme for the 12th annual Washington Island Literary Festival to be held Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, September 19, 20, and 21. Featured presenters are Wisconsin’s Poet Laureate Nicholas Gulig; graphic memoirist and nonfiction writer Kelcey Ervick; and novelists Leif Enger, Maggie Ginsberg, and Julie Schumacher. Participants can attend all three days or come for just a portion of the festival. Presented by Write On, Door County, the festival takes place at the Trueblood Performing Arts Center (TPAC) and other locations around the island.
The festival kicks off Thursday afternoon, September 19, with a free creative lab open to the community. Participants are invited to a bring-your-own-lunch social hour from noon – 1 pm followed by a creative writing session. Led by island residents Don Morgan and Alessandra Simmons Rolffs, the session will encourage writing to the theme, Come This Far. The program is free and open to all; no previous writing experience is required.
Friday, September 20, is dedicated to writing workshop, with four workshops in the morning and four in the afternoon. There are workshops for people with little-to-no writing experience as well as more advanced writers, according to Write On’s artistic director Jerod Santek. Many workshops are close to being fill and Santek encourages registering as soon as possible. Along with the featured presenters, additional workshops are being offered by Paula Carter and Marianne Fons (prose), Albert DeGenova (poetry) and Catherine Jagoe (nonfiction). Registration for each workshop is $80.
Saturday, September 21, is devoted to readers as well as writers with a panel discussion with all five featured presenters as well as individual talks by each. Authors will be signing books, which will be available for sale through Fair Isle Books.
Leif Enger is the author of several novels, most recently I Cheerfully Refuse. His debut novel, Peace Like a River, was named one of the year’s best books by Time Magazine. His novel, Virgil Wanders, was the 2019 selection for Door County Reads.
Kelcey Ervick is the author and illustrator of the graphic memoir, The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law that Changed Women’s Lives, winner of the 2023 Ohioana Book Award. Her writing and comics have appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Post and LitHub.
Maggie Ginsberg is a senior editor at Madison Magazine. Her debut novel, Still True, received the 2023 Wisconsin Library Association Literary Award for Fiction. Portions of the novel were worked on during workshops at previous Island Literary Festivals.
Nicholas Guilig is the current Wisconsin Poet Laureate. A Thai-American poet and former Fulbright Fellow, he teaches English and creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Julie Schumacher is the former director of the creative writing program at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She is the author of eleven novels, including the national bestseller Dear Committee Members, which won the Thurber Award for American Humor.
For more information and to register for the festival, visit www.writeondoorcounty.org. Write On, Door County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Write On conducts programs to inspire people to write and share their stories at various venues throughout Door County.
