June is registration month for the Orcas Island Writers Festival, which will take place September 4 – 7, 2008. The workshops have limited space for participants (12 people per workshop for a total of 48 spaces), so potential participants are encouraged to sign up before the workshops fill up. Those who register for the $325 Festival Package by June 28 will receive a discount voucher to be used to purchase a visiting author’s book.

Workshops will include “The Art of Writing Nonfiction” with Matthew Goodman, “Memoir and Fiction” with Diane Lefer, “Poetry/Strategies for Revision” with Peggy Shumaker, “Fiction” with Ellen Lesser, and on Saturday, “Children’s Books” with Paul Owen Lewis. A Q & A session will also be offered on Saturday with local children’s authors Mel Boring and Michele Griskey.

Those who don’t wish to attend the workshops but would like to attend the lecture, readings, and additional classes can purchase a $65 Festival Pass. Unsold tickets to individual events will be on sale a week before the festival.

Members of the steering committee will be available to help with registration and to answer questions about the festival at the Orcas Island Public Library on Thursday, June 12 and Friday, June 13 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and at the Farmers Market on June 28. Registration is also available anytime at the library. More information about the festival can be found at www.orcasislandwritersfestival.com. Partial scholarships are available. Contributions are welcome.