Now in its third year, the Orcas Island Writers Festival plans to make 2010 its transition into an ongoing annual tradition for many regional writers.

Since its beginning in 2008, the festival has offered workshops, classes, and readings in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. As faculty, it has invited award-winning authors, including California Poet Laureate Emeritus Al Young.

In 2010, the challenge of the festival is to streamline its operations, secure solid and reliable financial backing, and prepare the way for a traditional, annual event.

“We’ve had excellent feedback the last two years from our participants,” said Festival Director Barbara Lewis. “They’ve told us how much they’ve loved our faculty and how their writing has ‘taken huge leaps.’ We’re looking forward to making the festival into a traditional event – something for writers to look forward to, year after year.”

She says the picture looks good. The festival has as faculty some of the best teachers of writing the nation has to offer. This summer the festival has invited teachers from the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing program: David Jauss, Sue Silverman, and Nance Van Winckel. For an affordable cost, says Lewis, local and regional writers receive intensive instruction for three days. Faculty also deliver lectures and participate in panels and readings.

“Good news for OIWF is good news for Orcas Island, too,” Lewis said. “The Orcas Island Writers Festival draws off-islanders, who support island hotels, restaurants and shops.”

The Orcas Island Festival is volunteer-run, with low operating costs, and most of its income comes from admission sales. As with most arts organizations, the festival also depends on additional donations to meet its operating costs. In 2010, the festival will seek reliable funding for the ongoing costs of the festival.

“We’d like to keep our low-cost options for islanders and continue to offer scholarships,” Lewis said. “We’d like to be able to keep offering this gem of a festival on our wonderful island for years to come.”

For more information or to support the festival, call Barbara Lewis at 360-317-4383 or visit www.orcasislandwritersfestival.com