Food & Drink
Get Lit at the Second Annual Orcas Island Literary Festival
A word party returns to Orcas Island
By Gavin Borchert March 26, 2019
This article originally appeared in the April 2019 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the April 2019 issue. Click here to subscribe.
Considering Orcas Island’s reputation as the artsy jewel of the San Juan islands, you may wonder why no one had launched a literary festival prior to 2018. But last year’s inaugural Orcas Island Lit Fest proved worth the wait; basking in the afterglow, participating YA author Jennifer Longo later called it “three days of book love…a celebration of books, readers, writers, librarians, teachers, bookshops and our literary Pacific Northwest home.”
The second fest includes open-mike events, writers’ workshops, panel discussions, readings, signings, parties, a book fair and a Saturday-morning kids’ fest; among the scheduled authors are Seattle novelist Nicola Griffith, NPR contributor Mat Johnson and New Yorker staff writer Judith Thurman. 4/5–4/7. Times and prices vary. Orcas Center, Eastsound, 917 Mount Baker Road; oilf.org
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