Created in 1998, the Willard R. Espy Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Oysterville, Washington and dedicated to advancing and encouraging the literary and visual arts. The Foundation was named for Oysterville native Willard R. Espy, a wordsmith and memoirist, whose prolific career celebrated language, word play, light verse, and what Henry James once called the “visible past”: the events in the history of a time and place that can be recovered and preserved by the reach of a long memory and a gifted imagination. Serving the needs of emerging as well as established writers and artists, the Foundation’s main focus is our residency program.

Since the Program’s inaugural year in 1999, residencies have become the centerpiece of the Foundation’s service to writers and artists. The Foundation’s goal is to provide an environment in which residents can pursue their work without interruption. Writers and artists live and work in the serenely beautiful village of Oysterville--a national historic district--located near the northern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula, on the southwest coast of Washington State.

The Espy Foundation also nurtures the literary and visual arts through our growing Humanities and Arts Education Program for secondary school students, and unique collaborations with local and regional organizations including the Columbia Land Trust.

In its brief history, the Foundation has also built the Espy Library in Oysterville and has plans to build a compound that will include cottages, studios, a larger library, a central kitchen and gathering space.

What's happening at Espy?

click here for current and upcoming events

In August 2007, local public radio station KMUN aired a segment by Lisa Smith about the Espy Foundation.  The piece included an interview with Espy President Polly Friedlander and shared exciting news about the future of the Foundation. Click here to listen! (3 minutes)

Read an Espy update sent at year-end to our supporters

About Willard R. Espy