Washington Island Literary Festival
2024: Come This Far
September 19 - 21, 2024
Thursday, September 19: Creative Lab
Friday, September 20: Writing Workshops
Saturday, September 21: Author Talks & Panel Discussions
2024 Presenting Authors
LEIF ENGER, FICTION
Author of I Cheerfully Refuse, Leif Enger grew up in Osakis, Minnesota, and worked as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio before writing his bestselling debut novel Peace Like a River, which won the Booksense Award for Fiction and was named one of the Year's Best Books by Time Magazine and the LA Times. His second novel, So Brave, Young, and Handsome, was also a national bestseller. It was a Midwest Booksellers Honor Book, and won the High Plains Book Award for Fiction. His third novel, Virgil Wander, was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and was named a best book of the year by Amazon, Library Journal, Bookpage and the Chicago Public Library. He lives with his wife Robin in Duluth.
Leif Enger
Fiction
Kelcey Ervick, Nonfiction
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 a 2023 Ohioana Book Award. Her three previous award-winning books of fiction and nonfiction are The Bitter Life of Božena Němcová, Liliane's Balcony, and For Sale By Owner. She is co-editor, with Tom Hart, of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature. Kelcey's stories, essays, and comics have appeared in The Rumpus, The Believer, Washington Post, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. She has received grants from the Indiana Arts Commission, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and New Frontiers in Arts and Humanities at Indiana University. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and is a professor of English and creative writing at Indiana University South Bend.
Kelcey Ervick
Nonfiction
Maggie Ginsberg, fiction
Maggie Ginsberg is a senior editor at Madison Magazine and the author of Still True, which won the 2023 WLA Literary Award for Fiction and was the honorable mention selection for the 2022 Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award. Before turning to fiction she freelanced for city, regional and national magazines since 2006, publishing hundreds of articles and earning numerous honors from the City Regional Magazine Association, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the Milwaukee Press Club. She was born in Minnesota and has lived in Wisconsin since 1985.
Maggie ginsberg
fiction
Nicholas gulig, poetry
Nicholas Gulig is a Thai-American poet from Wisconsin. A 2011 Fulbright Fellow, Gulig has received numerous other accolades for his work including the Rushkin Art Club Poetry Award, the Black Warrior Review Poetry Prize, the Grist ProForma Award, and the CSU Open Book Poetry Prize. He serves as the 2023-24 Poet Laureate of the state of Wisconsin. He is Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and lives with his wife and two daughters in Fort Atkinson.
nicholas gulig
poetry
julie schumacher, fiction
Julie Schumacher is the author of eleven books, including the national bestseller Dear Committee Members, winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. She completed her Dear Committee trilogy in 2023 with the publication of The English Experience. Schumacher’s other works include a short story collection, a satirical coloring book, and five novels for younger readers. A Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota, she has received multiple teaching awards and has been recognized as a Scholar of the College.
julie schumacher
fiction
Festival Schedule
Thursday, September 19, noon - 3 pm: FREE Community Creative Lab
Thursday's Creative Lab is free; no registration required. Open to all!
Friday, September 20: Writing Workshops & Opening Reception
Writing workshops held at various locations. Find descriptions below.
10:00 am - noon and 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Welcome reception at the Farm Museum for all registrants, workshop leaders, presenters, and their guests.
4:30 - 6:00 pm
Open Mic at the Farm Museum. Share your words with other Festival attendees! Guests and non-Festival attendees are welcome.
6:00 - 7:00 pm
Saturday, September 21: For Readers & Writers: Author Talks
MORNING WORKSHOPS: 10 aM - noon
PROSE: Practice Resurrection with Leif Enger
The difference between a story flying and falling nearly always lies in revision - in your willingness to examine the work from a fresh angle, to question it honestly without condemnation, and to trust that rewriting will, at last, fetch it back to life. For both fiction and nonfiction writers.
POETRY Ghost Work: On Negative Capability and Eco-Poetics with Nicholas Gulig
How might the haunted spaces of paradox breathe new life into the tools we use as poets and help us to see these tools as the embodiment of our poetic principles? Part craft lecture, part creative prompt, we'll think anew about the ways our aesthetic and ecological principles can change the way we write our poems.
FICTION Don't Say It: How to Ramp up Subtext in Your Writing with Maggie Ginsberg
Too often as writers, we want our readers to know as much as we do about our characters—but that’s a mistake. We’ll look at ways to pit our characters’ deepest beliefs, desires and motivations against each other to drive plot and infuse every page with tension and subtext.
TBD details coming in late April
AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS: 1:30 - 3:30 PM
PROSE: Have Fun with Form with Julie Schumacher
Combat the terror of the blank page by kick-starting an essay or story or novel by playing with a particular structure rather than with subject or character. In this workshop we'll experiment and play with a number of options. Bring material from your real life or imagination, and get ready to have fun with form.
NONFICTION Writing -- and Drawing -- Life Stories with Kelcey Ervick
Most of us writers don’t do a lot of drawing, but it can be a powerful tool for honing our powers of observation and tapping into our imaginations. Drawings can be used simply to generate ideas for stories—or as an integral part of the stories themselves. In this workshop, we will do a series of quick drawing and writing exercises to mine our memories and make unexpected connections. We’ll discuss examples of powerful visual storytelling and practice key comics techniques that will transform your personal stories.
POETRY Bearing Witness with Albert DeGenova
This workshop will consider examples of how poets connect personal poetry to the wider social experience, telling the stories of their lives in the context of society with all its good and ill. Writing prompts will be designed to open an exploration into poetry that lives inside us while connecting us to the world we live in.
Writing 101: A Beginners Toolkit with Paula Carter and Marianne Fons
Many people who love words and stories would like to try writing, but something holds them back. Maybe they fear the blank page, or they think real writers belong to some secret club, or they're just not sure how to start. If you have a novel or memoir inside you -- a story that needs to be told -- or you're just curious about what you could create, this workshop will demystify the solitary process of writing and equip you with tools to start your own writing practice.
2024 Books click cover to order
About the Washington Island Literary Festival
The Washington Island Literary Festival is a moveable feast of writing, reading, discussion, and thought about the written word. Writers' workshops, author panels and presentations, readings and social activities are scheduled at various quaint, historic, and beautiful venues around the Island.
Participants have a unique opportunity to share time with prominent authors and dedicated readers in the intimate, friendly setting of Washington Island, a half-hour by ferry from the Door County mainland, in September's color and warmth.
If you aren't an Island resident, we recommend you secure your housing as soon as possible! Visit Destination Door County for a listing of accommodations. (Narrow your search to Washington Island.)
Come for all or just part of the Festival. We look forward to welcoming you to our community!
Thank you to our partners and sponsors
Connect and Celebrate with Literature:
What Past Participants Love
Marion Boyer
The venues chosen for all the events were just perfect. The barn was magical with its lights and chickens and beautifully laid tables. I appreciated being able to give my workshop on the veranda of such a lovely hotel! The auditorium was perfect for the panel and readings. It was lit so well and the sound systems were flawless. Believe me, as planning chair I appreciate these things.
Paula Carter
An intimate engagement with world-renowned writers.
Sandra Lindow
Intelligent and challenging workshops in an absolutely gorgeous setting.
Libby Sachs
Washington Island is a perfect place to read and write and therefore a perfect place to immerse one's self in the spoken and written word.