2019 GetLit Literary Festival Guide

APRIL 22–28 TICKETS : GETLITFESTIVAL.ORG Supplement to the

WELCOME

G

et Lit! is an annual, week-long literary festival that celebrates the written word through a diverse range of free and low-cost programs. Attendees can immerse themselves in readings, panel discussions, poetry slams, book launches, craft classes, open mics, literary happy hours, and more. Acclaimed poets and writers from across the nation will participate in the festival, among them Roxane Gay, Tommy Orange, Kaveh Akbar, Claudia Castro Luna, Keetje Kuipers, and Leni Zumas.

Get Lit! Festival and its parent organization, Get Lit! Programs, relies on the generous support of our community to run both the festival and our educational outreach programs. This year we are grateful to have so many community sponsors and partners who make it possible to bring best-selling and highly sought-after poets and writers to Spokane. We are always seeking partners to help us present a wide range of talented authors to our community. If you are interested in helping to sponsor an author or event for next year’s festival, visit our sponsor page at www.getlitfestival.org for more information. If you are a writer seeking to be part of next year’s festival, review our submissions guidelines at www.getlit.submittable.com. We will be taking submissions until October 1, 2019.

Your support is needed to continue bringing quality topliterary programs to the Inland Northwest.

Get Lit! would not exist were it not for the generous volunteer efforts of our community and the talents of our student interns, most especially this year’s assistant coordinator, Kailee Haong. Our program also owes a debt of gratitude to the generous writers and artists who donated their time, energy and talent to be part of the festival this year. Special thanks goes to Eastern Washington University and its College of Arts, Letters & Education.

Visit our donation page at www.getlitfestival.org/donate

Kate Peterson Director, Get Lit! Programs

Every donation counts!

Get Lit! couldn't succeed without the support of our community.

2

getlitfestival.org

TICKET INFO All events are FREE unless otherwise stated.

All ticketed events can be purchased through TicketsWest.

TicketsWest: To purchase event tickets from TicketsWest, visit ticketswest.com, call 1.800.325.SEAT, or visit the Spokane Arena at 720 W. Mallon Ave. Note: students will need to show valid student ID at all ticketed events.

Ticket price listed on events does not include tax.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Calendar of Events ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 6 Inspired Partnerships ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 8 Four Seasons Fundraising Dinner �������������������������������������������������� 9 WITC Poetry Slams ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 10 Women Writing the West ��������������������������������������������������������������� 11 Claudia Castro Luna ������������������������������������������������������������������������12 Tommy Orange �������������������������������������������������������������������������������13 Jonathan Johnson and Sharma Shields ����������������������������������������13 Pie & Whiskey ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������14 Yoga for Writers ������������������������������������������������������������������������������15 Playwriting in the Inland Northwest ����������������������������������������������16

ABOUT GET LIT! PROGRAMS

Kelly Schirmann ������������������������������������������������������������������������������17

Get Lit! Programs is housed within Eastern Washington University, we are a nonprofit organization that relies on grant funding, community and university sponsorships, ticket and merchandise sales, and donations to run both the festival and our outreach programs. Get Lit! Programs also facilitate educational outreach programs such as the Writers in Residence(WiR) and the Author’s Tour, Elementary, respectively, teaching tenweek creative writing courses.

For 2018/2019 we have local talents Ellen Welcker and Leyna Krow in On Track Academy and Orchard Center Elementary. We would like to thank The Welty Foundation for their continued support of the WiR program.

Get Lit! at EWU Cheney ������������������������������������������������������������������18

Kaveh Akbar ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������17

Isaac Marion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������19 Bethany C. Morrow �������������������������������������������������������������������������19 Poetry Salon �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������20 Festival Hub: Montvale Event Center ��������������������������������������������21 Craft Classes ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 23 Native Voices ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������24 Women of Elephant Mountain ������������������������������������������������������ 25 Pup-up Prose ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������26 Mandy Manning ������������������������������������������������������������������������������26 Power 2 the Poetry ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 27 Leni Zumas and Kirsten Sundberg Lunstum �������������������������������� 28 Roxane Gay ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������29 EWU Alumni Reading ��������������������������������������������������������������������30 Event Locations and Accommodations ����������������������������������������31 getlitfestival.org

3

FESTIVAL SPONSORS

EVENT SPONSORS

Department of English Office of Diversity and Inclusion Multicultural Center Women's and Gender Studies Secondary English Education Pride Center

4

getlitfestival.org

COMMUNITY PARTNERS Thank you to the following businesses who hosted events.

The Bing Crosby Theater

Thank you to the following organizations and businesses who donated items for our author bags.

* The Saranac Building / Niche

SPECIAL THANKS Get Lit! Staff Director: Kate Peterson Assistant Coordinator: Kailee Haong

Co-working Learning Studio *First Avenue Coffee

Interns: Alex Dew, Jamie Flores,

*The Gilded Unicorn

Ben Kuntz, Ian Lovering, Riley

*Interpunct- Press

Osborn, Kristyna Schedine,

*Neato Burrito

Greg Scheiber, Grace Wahlman

*North Idaho College

Community College Liaisons:

Montvale Event Center

Jonathan Frey, NIC

* Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital

Gwendolyn James, SCC

* The Saranac Building / Niche

Tim Greenup & Laura Read, SFCC

Co-working Learning Studio

Festival Guide Printer:

*Spark Central

The Inlander

* Spokane Community College

Festival Art: Keely Honeywell

* Spokane Falls Community

Graphic Design: Ginny Baxter

College * Spokane Public Library,

Special Thanks:

Downtown The Washington Cracker

Get Lit! would like to thank

Co. Building

the College of Arts, Letters, &

*The Wandering Table

Education, especially Interim

*The Spokane Yoga Shala

co-deans Dr. Brian Donahue, and Dr. Pete Porter, and

*Indicates donated space

administrative staff members

HOTEL PARTNERS Mention "Get Lit!" for a special rate with our hotel partners: • The Montvale Hotel • Hotel Ruby • Ruby 2 • Ruby River Hotel • The Centennial Hotel • Northern Quest Resort

Tesha Panther and Bekah Bray.

We would also like to thank

CONTACT Questions?

EWU’s Office of Grant and Research Development, the EWU Foundation, and EWU’s

Email: getlit@ewu.edu

department Marketing and

Phone: 509.828.1498

Communications.

getlitfestival.org

5

MONDAY, APRIL 23 CALENDAR OF EVENTS All Month Visit our festival bookseller, Auntie’s Bookstore, to pick up books by our festival authors. 10% of sales from all festival authors’ titles go to Get Lit! Programs throughout April.

All Week Food and drink specials inspired by the festival authors: Bellwether Brewing First Avenue Coffee The Gilded Unicorn Incrediburger & Eggs Neato Burrito/Baby Bar Ruins Volstead Act The Wandering Table Yard’s Bruncheon

Mon., April 22 4–5:30 p.m.

Mon., April 22 6 p.m.

(6:30 p.m. dinner)

Four Seasons: A Pairing of the Arts and Fine Cuisine The Montvale Event Center, Montvale Hall TicketsWest.com

Tue., April 23 4:30–5:30 p.m.

Buying Time: The Ins and Outs of Writing Fellowships and Residencies Saranac Building, Third Floor, Niche Coworking Learning Studio

5:45–6:45 p.m.

Out There: Writing the Natural World Saranac Building, Third Floor, Niche Coworking Learning Studio

(4:15 p.m. reading begins)

Inspired Happy Hour: A Four Seasons Poetry Preview The Wandering Table

5:30–6 p.m.

7–8 p.m.

Women Writing the West Saranac Building, Third Floor, Niche Coworking Learning Studio

Youth Slam

6–7 p.m.

College Slam

7–8 p.m.

Writers in the Community Poetry Slams

Kitchen Fires featuring Claudia Castro Luna

Neato Burrito

Spark Central

6

getlitfestival.org

Noon–1 p.m.

Reading and Revision with Joe Wilkins and Melissa Kwasny EWU Spokane Center, Suite 257

2–3:20 p.m.

Intro to Literature with Claudia Castro Luna EWU Cheney, JFK Auditorium

6:30–9 p.m.

(6 p.m. sign up)

Broken Mic featuring Claudia Castro Luna Neato Burrito

7–8 p.m.

The Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities at SCC Presents Tommy Orange Lair Auditorium, SCC Building 6

Thur., April 25 7–8 p.m.

Poetry & Prose with Jonathan Johnson and Sharma Shields Downtown Public Library

Teen Slam

7:30–8:30 p.m.

Wed., April 24

9–11:30 p.m.

Pie & Whiskey: Heroes and Villains The Washington Co. Cracker Building $5, 21+ over

Fri., April 26 8:30–9:30 a.m.

Yoga for Writers The Spokane Yoga Shala Registration required: spokaneyogashala.com

10 a.m.

Meditative Poetry with Ellen Welcker and Janaka Stucky The Spokane Yoga Shala

Get Lit! at EWU Cheney 9–10 a.m.

Social Media and the Art of Promotion

10:20–11:20 a.m.

Page to Screen

11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Northwest Boulevard

Celebrates Thom Caraway

12:30–1 p.m.

Bethany C. Morrow

1:15–1:45 p.m.

Isaac Marion

2–3:20 p.m.

Intro to Literature with Rebecca Brown All of the above are at the EWU Cheney Campus, JFK Library

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Fri., April 26 9:30–10:30 a.m. repeated at

10:30–11:30 a.m.

Contemporary Comics SCC Library, Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities, Bldg. 16

9:30–11:20 p.m.

Fiction Writers Breaking New Ground Spokane Falls Community College, Bldg. 24-110, The Palek Auditorium

12–1 p.m.

Playwriting in the Inland Northwest

Sat., April 27 Get Lit! Festival HUB:

The Montvale Event Center (MEC)

9–5 p.m. See page 19 All panels and readings are free. Stop by our book fair on the first floor for local deals.

Craft Classes

$30, $20 (student ID) Register at TicketsWest.com

Morning Session

9:30–11:30 a.m.

Mining the Poetic Unconscious Classroom 3

First Avenue Coffee

The Outdoor Writer’s Tool Kit

9 p.m.

Poetry Salon

Featuring Poets Kaveh Akbar, Kelly Schirmann, Janaka Stucky, Claudia Castro Luna and Anastacia-Renee Tolbert Downtown Public Library, Third Floor

1:30–2:30 p.m.

Pop-up Prose: Airing Dirty Laundry

No Normal: Unpredictable Pathways to Success

Elements of Erasure and Visual Poetry

Downtown Public Library, Third Floor, $12, free for students

Montvale Hall

Classroom 2

5:30–6:30 p.m.

Popular Poetry: Kelly Schirmann and Kaveh Akbar

Fugue and Willow Springs Magazines

Ella’s Theater

Afternoon Session

7–8 p.m.

Noon–1 p.m.

ake it Real!

M Creating Characters and Worlds

North Idaho College, Seiter Hall, Room 102

Readings from University of Hell Press

Sat., April 27

3:15–5:15 p.m.

Classroom 3

Classroom 2

10–11 a.m.

A Celebration of Native Voices: Readings of Poetry and Craft 3rd Floor Ballroom

11:45–12:45 p.m.

Adventures in Publishing 3rd Floor Ballroom

11:45–12:45 p.m.

Women of Elephant Mountain: Readings From North of the Border Ella’s Theatre

1:30–2:30 p.m.

3rd Floor Ballroom

2–3 p.m.

7–8 p.m.

An Evening with Roxane Gay Bing Crosby Theater $35 or $25 with student ID TicketsWest.com

Sun., April 28

Mandy Manning: National Teacher of the Year

2–3 p.m.

Montvale Hall

Interpunct-Press

4–4:30 p.m.

3:15–3:45 p.m.

Power 2 The Poetry Open Mic

Interpunct-Press Shop Tour

Montvale Hall

Interpunct-Press

4–5 p.m.

4–5 p.m.

Leni Zumas and Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum: A Reading Ella’s Theater

Regional MFA Reading

MFA Alumni Reading Featuring: Gregory Spatz Rob Carney Ellie Kozlowski Laura Read Wendy J. Fox Interpunct-Press

getlitfestival.org

7

ALL MONTH

ALL WEEK

FESTIVAL BOOKSELLER

INSPIRED PARTNERSHIPS Various Locations

Various Locations

Visit our festival bookseller, Auntie’s Bookstore, to pick up books by our festival authors.

10% of sales from all festival authors’ titles go to Get Lit! Programs throughout April.

Local restaurants are partnering with Get Lit! to offer food and drink specials inspired by the festival and our authors. One dollar from every inspired special sold throughout the week will be donated to Get Lit! Programs.

• • • • • • • • •

Gilded

UNICORN

Baby Bar / Neato Burrito Bellwether Brewing First Avenue Coffee The Gilded Unicorn Incrediburger & Eggs Ruins Volstead Act The Wandering Table Yard’s Bruncheon

MONDAY, APRIL 22 INSPIRED HAPPY HOUR: A FOUR SEASONS POETRY PREVIEW The Wandering Table

4–5:30 p.m.

Join us for a free preview of our festival kick-off fundraiser. This event will feature appetizers and drinks inspired by our festival authors.

One dollar from every sale will go directly to Get Lit! Programs.

A reading featuring Laura Read, Dujie Tahat, Claudia Castro Luna and Keetje Kuipers will begin at 4:15 p.m.

The Wandering Table is a local, New American restaurant located in Kendall Yards in Spokane. Chef and owner Adam Hegsted was a semi-finalist for the prestigious James Beard Best Chef Award, Northwest Region 2016, a distinction that places among the best chefs in the Pacific Northwest.

8

getlitfestival.org

MONDAY, APRIL 22 23 FOUR SEASONS: A PAIRING OF THE ARTS & FINE CUISINE (SPECIAL FUNDRAISING EVENT) The Montvale Event Center, Montvale Hall

Join us at the beautiful Montvale Event Center for a dynamic evening of poetry, live music, visual art and fine cuisine inspired by the four seasons. The evening centers around a 12-course tasting menu prepared by awardwinning chef Adam Hegsted, inspired by the poetry of Keetje Kuipers, Laura Read, Claudia Castro Luna, and Dujie Tahat.

The poetry will serve as inspiration for the evening’s musical performances and presentations of visual art.

The evening’s musicians are Ruthie Henrickson, Jenny Anne Mannan, Liz Rognes, Gregory Spatz and Caridwen Irvine-Spatz.

Visual artists taking part in the event are Remelisa Cullitan, Antonio Romero, Julia Ugarte and Azzah Sultan, brought to us by Spokane Arts and their SATURATE program Proceeds from this fundraising event benefit Get Lit! Programs.

Doors: 6 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m.

See below

Laura Read is the author of Dresses from the Old Country, Instructions for my Mother's Funeral and The Chewbacca on Hollywood Boulevard Reminds Me of You. She is the recipient of a Washington state Artist Trust grant and several other prizes.

Claudia Castro Luna is the Poet Laureate of Washington State and the author of Killing Marias and This City. Her poems and nonfiction work have been published in several journals and anthologies.

Keetje Kuipers is the author of All Its Charms, Beautiful in the Mouth, and The Keys to the Jail. She holds several fellowships and residencies and has had poems published in over one hundred journals.

Dujie Tahat has had poetry published in The American Journal of Poetry, Yes Poetry, Sugar House Review, and others. He is a Hugo House and Jack Straw fellow and is a co-host of The Poet Salon Podcast.

*Full bios can be found on getlitfestival.org We would like to thank Adam Hegsted and Eat Good Group, Le Catering Co., AMPD Lighting and Audio Visual, The Montvale Event Center, and Spokane Arts for their support and sponsorship.

Tickets are $100 per person and are available through ticketswest.com.

For more information: getlit@ewu.edu. getlitfestival.org

9

MONDAY, APRIL 23 22 WRITERS IN THE COMMUNITY POETRY SLAMS Neato Burrito

Youth: 5:30–6 p.m. Teen: 6–7 p.m. College: 7:30–8:30 p.m.

The Writers in the Community poetry slams turn the spotlight on young poets, (ages 12-15) teens (ages 15-18) and college students of any age who want to share their original poetry in a supportive environment. Poets will perform their work in the form of a friendly competition, scored by experienced judges Mark Anderson and Fitz Fitzpatrick. Each participant should bring two poems. Each performance will be scored following the same rules as Spokane Poetry Slam. Poets will be judged on content, originality and performance, and limited to three minutes per round. One winner from the college slam will be invited to read at Broken Mic on Wednesday, April 24th.

Participants: *Registration begins 30 minutes before each slam. We ask that participants bring new or used books as a registration fee. Books will be donated to the Books for Prisoners program. Participants may compete alone or in teams. Participants on the cusp of one age group may choose where they feel more comfortable competing. We don’t place language or content restrictions on the slams, so we leave this decision to the poets and their parents. For more information contact witc.ewu@gmail.com.

The poetry slams are hosted by EWU’s Writers in the Community, a program that allows graduate students in Eastern’s creative writing MFA program to volunteer as creative writing teachers at area schools, correctional facilities, hospitals, shelters and other community organizations.

TUESDAY, APRIL 23 BUYING TIME: THE INS AND OUTS OF FELLOWSHIPS AND RESIDENCIES Saranac Building, Niche Co-working Learning Studio

4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.

FREE

This panel discussion, featuring six award-winning writers, will provide insight into how to find the right experience for you. The writers will discuss their experiences—from research to the application process to making the most of your time.

Lindsey Drager has received fully funded residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts and the I-Park Foundation. Sierra Golden has been awarded fellowships and residencies by Hedgebrook, Hugo House, and The Elizabeth George Foundation.

Keetje Kuipers has been a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, a Bread Loaf fellow, and the Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Resident. Rena Priest has been a Sustainable Arts Fellow at Mineral School and attended a writer’s residence at Hawthornden Castle in Scotland in 2019. Anca L. Szilágyi is the recipient of awards and fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, Artist Trust, 4Culture, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Made at Hugo House, and Jack Straw Cultural Center. Dujie Tahat has earned fellowships from the Richard Hugo House and Jack Straw Writing Program.

10

getlitfestival.org

MONDAY, APRIL 23 TUESDAY, OUT THERE: WRITING THE NATURAL WORLD Saranac Building, Niche Co-working Learning Studio

Get Lit! is teaming up with the Spokane Riverkeeper to bring you a reading and discussion from writers whose work celebrates the natural world.

5:45 p.m.–6:45 p.m.

FREE

Summer Hess is the managing editor of Out There Outdoors, the Inland Northwest guide to travel, adventure and outdoor living.

Paul Lindholdt is the author of In Earshot of Water: Notes from the Columbia Plateau and editor of The Spokane River. In 2012, Lindholdt won the Washington State Book Award for his ecological memoir.

Joe Wilkins is the author of Fall Back Down When I Die, The Mountain and the Fathers, and several other poetry and short fiction collections. Wilkins writes about growing up in the rural west, family, violence, and how place shapes the people who live there.

WOMEN WRITING THE WEST Saranac Building, Niche Co-working Learning Studio

This reading, presented in collaboration with the Center for Justice and the Spokane Riverkeeper, brings together three women whose work both celebrates, and is informed by, the natural world – especially the rural West.

We would like to thank the Community Building Foundation and Niche Co-working Learning Studio for hosting our three events at the Saranac Building.

7–8 p.m.

FREE

Jennifer Boyden is the author of The Chief of Rally Tree, which won the Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature. She is also the author of two books of poetry. Boyden was a PEN Northwest Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Resident.

Keetje Kuipers is the author of All Its Charms, Beautiful in the Mouth, and The Keys to the Jail. She has had poems published in over one hundred journals, and holds several fellowships and residencies, including the PEN Northwest Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Residency.

Melissa Kwasny is the author of six books of poetry, a collection of prose writings, and Putting on the Dog: The Animal Origins of What We Wear. Kwasny is the recipient of the Poetry Society of America's Cecil Hemley Award and Alice Fay di Castognola Award for a work in progress from the Montana Art Council, Artist's Innovation Award. getlitfestival.org

11

TUE., APRIL 23 KITCHEN FIRES FEATURING CLAUDIA CASTRO LUNA Spark Central 7 p.m.

FREE

Join us for the Spark Central Kitchen Fires anthology release and reading.

Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, Kate Lebo, Megan Cuilla, Laura Read, Mark Anderson, and many other writers from our creative community will share pieces about the food that fills their kitchens.

Book sales benefit Spark Central.

WED., APRIL 24 INTRO TO LITERATURE WITH CLAUDIA CASTRO LUNA EWU Cheney, JFK Auditorium 2–3:20 p.m.

FREE

Eastern’s “Introduction to Literature” course opens its doors to the public for a special talk and reading from current Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna. Castro Luna served as Seattle’s first Civic Poet from 2015-2017 and is the author of Killing Marías and This City.

12

getlitfestival.org

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 READING AND REVISION WITH JOE WILKINS AND MELISSA KWASNY EWU Spokane Center, Suite 257

12–1 p.m.

FREE

Get Lit! and the Writers’ Center at EWU have teamed up to present readings from Melissa Kwasny and Joe Wilkins, followed by a discussion with these writers on the editing and revision process. The discussion will be moderated by Taylor Kensel.

Melissa Kwasny is the author of six books of poetry, most recently Where Outside the Body is the Soul Today. Kwasny recently published her first book of nonfiction, Putting on the Dog: The Animal Origins of What We Wear.

Joe Wilkins's debut novel, Fall Back Down When I Die, speaks to the community, struggle, violence, and care Joe knew growing up in the rural West.

He is a Pushcart Prize winner.

BROKEN MIC FEATURING CLAUDIA CASTRO LUNA EWU Cheney, JFK Auditorium

6:30–9 p.m.

FREE

Broken Mic, Spokane’s longest-running weekly poetry slam series, and Get Lit! present a feature from Washington state’s Poet Laureate, Claudia Castro Luna. This event will also feature a reading from one of the winners of our 2019 Writers in the Community Poetry Slams. Writers interested in reading at this event should sign up by 6 p.m. at Neato Burrito.

Claudia Castro Luna is the Poet Laureate of Washington state (2018-2020) She served as Seattle’s first "civic poet" from 2015-2017, and is the author of Killing Marías and This City. Born in El Salvador, she came to the United States in 1981 fleeing civil war.

She has an MFA in poetry from Mills College, an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA and a K-12 teaching certificate. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, La Bloga, Diálogo, Psychological Perspectives and the Taos Journal of International Poetry and Art, among others. Her non-fiction work can be read in various anthologies. Living in English and Spanish, Claudia writes and teaches in Seattle where she gardens and keeps chickens with her husband and their three children.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 THE HAGAN FOUNDATION CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES AT SCC PRESENTS

TOMMY ORANGE Lair Auditorium, Spokane Community College, Building 6

7–8 p.m.

FREE

This event will begin with a short reading from Tommy Orange followed by an on-stage conversation facilitated by writer and professor Shawn Vestal, author of Daredevils and Godforsaken Idaho.

Tommy Orange is the author of There There, a multi-generational, fastpaced novel about a side of America few of us have ever seen: the lives of urban Native Americans. A New York Times top book of 2018, and the most honored literary debut of 2018, There There shows us violence and recovery, hope and loss, identity and power, dislocation and communion, and the beauty and despair woven into the history of a nation and its people. There There is the winner of a National Book Critics Circle best new book award and the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction. Orange also recently received the PEN/Hemingway award honoring a distinguished new novel.

Orange, an Oakland native, is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.

We would like to thank the Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities at Spokane Community College for presenting this event.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25 POETRY & PROSE WITH JONATHAN JOHNSON AND SHARMA SHIELDS Downtown Public Library

7–8 p.m.

FREE

Join us for our annual cross-genre reading featuring two local literary powerhouses who are both debuting new books this year!

Jonathan Johnson’s latest poetry collection is May Is an Island. He is also the author of the collections, In the Land We Imagined Ourselves and Mastodon, 80% Complete, and the memoirs Hannah and the Mountain and The Desk on the Sea. His poems have been published in many prestigious literary journals.

Sharma Shields is the author of a short story collection, Favorite Monster, and two novels, The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac and, most recently, The Cassandra. Shields’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Kenyon Review, Iowa Review and elsewhere. Shields won the 2016 Washington State Book Award, the Autumn House Fiction Prize, and a grant from Artist Trust. getlitfestival.org

13

THURSDAY , APRIL 25 PIE & WHISKEY: HEROES AND VILLAINS

The 2019 Pie & Whiskey readers include: Samuel Ligon Kate Lebo Jess Walter Tommy Orange Tony Flinn Alexis Smith Bruce Holbert Matthew Sullivan Anastacia-Renee Tolbert Leni Zumas CMarie Fuhrman Chris Maccini A limited number of chapbooks containing work from the readers will be on sale for $10.

The chapbooks were designed by Lost Horse Press, printed by Gray Dog Press, and hand-stitched

by EWU students. While sales of the chapbook help support the event, donations are also gladly accepted.

9–11:30 p.m.

*$5 at the door / 21 and older

Photo: Adriana Janovich

The Washington Cracker Co. Building

Everyone’s favorite event, Pie & Whiskey, is back for it’s 8th year, with an exciting twist! To celebrate Sam Ligon’s serialized novel Miller Cane: A True and Exact History, published in weekly installments in The Inlander, the event will have a special "heroes and villains" theme. Pie & Whiskey features 12 authors reading flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and poetry inspired by a deep affinity and abiding appreciation for pie, whiskey, heroes and villains.

Pie & Whiskey is hosted by Samuel Ligon and Kate Lebo. Ligon is the author of two novels—Among the Dead and Dreaming and Safe in Heaven Dead—and two collections of stories, Wonderland, and Drift and Swerve. Lebo is the author of the cookbook Pie School, and the poetry chapbook From a Tree. Her first collection of essays, The Book of Difficult Fruit, is forthcoming from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Ligon and Lebo also co-edited the anthology Pie & Whiskey: Writers Under the Influence of Butter and Booze.

* Admissions includes one slice of homemade pie and one shot of Dry Fly Whiskey. Pies served at the event are baked by Kate Lebo, in partnership with Made with Love Bakery, and with funds generously provided by DOMA Coffee Roasting company. DOMA says, “It’s true we like pie and we like whiskey, but we love a good story with our coffee. We hope DOMA coffee inspires you to share your human experience and contribute to your community, culture and greater meaning.”

We would like to thank Don Poffenroth and Dry Fly Distilling for generously donating the whiskey. We would also like to thank Gray Dog Press, Lost Horse Press, DOMA Coffee Roasting Company, Terrain, Made with Love Bakery, The Inlander, Overbluff Cellars, and Willow Springs. This event would not be possible without their donations of time, space, energy and funds.

14

getlitfestival.org

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 YOGA FOR WRITERS The Spokane Yoga Shala

CONTEMPORARY COMICS SCC Library, Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities (Bld. 16) 9:30–10:30 a.m. repeated at 10:30–11:30 a.m.

FREE

8:30–9:30 a.m.

Registration required at spokaneyogashala.com

Join us for a kundalini yoga class designed for the writer’s mind and body.

The class will be taught by owner and founder of Spokane’s Yoga Shala, Ara Lyman. All experience levels are welcome. For registration and payment visit spokaneyogashala.com.

Poetry reading to follow (below).

MEDITATIVE POETRY WITH ELLEN WELCKER AND JANAKA STUCKY The Spokane Yoga Shala 10 a.m.

Free

Following our special Yoga for Writers class (above) will be a poetry reading from Ellen Welcker and Janaka Stucky.

Spokane-based poet Ellen Welcker’s books are Ram Hands, The Botanical Garden, and several chapbooks.

Janaka Stucky is a mystic poet, performer, and founding editor of the award-winning press, Black Ocean. He is also the author of The Truth is We Are Perfect and The World Will Deny it For You.

Join us for an exploration into contemporary comics and their place in the literary canon. Four artists and writers will discuss their journeys into the world of comic creation and how you can find your own style.

Kate J. Reed lives, writes, draws and works in Spokane. Her fiction has appeared in The Copper Nickel, The SpokesmanReview summer stories and various online journals. Her first published comic appeared in Lilac City Fairytales: Towers and Dungeons. She took up illustration again after finding life as a working parent didn't afford the quiet hours sitting at a writing desk she needed.

Tim Greenup’s first poetry collection, Without Warning, was published in 2016 by Scablands Books. His work has appeared in LEVELER, Sixth Finch, BOAAT, and elsewhere. He teaches at Spokane Falls Community College.

Emma Noyes (Sinixt band of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) is an artist, researcher, and educator living and working in Spokane. Emma has continued the story telling tradition of her family by finding ways to depict characters of chaptix’/coyote stories. She mainly works in brush and ink.

Maxx Follis-Goodkind is an interdisciplinary artist, crafter, designer, curator and community organizer. She is the director and co-founder of Push/Pull, program director of Greater Ballard Arts and teaches classes at Push/Pull and other locations in Seattle.

We would like to thank Spokane Community College for their sponsorship.

getlitfestival.org

15

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 FICTION WRITERS BREAKING NEW GROUND Spokane Falls Community College, Bldg 24-110, The Palek Auditorium

From robots to Tasmanian tigers to “modern-day witch hunts” and a kid with a pet octopus, these fiction writers are breaking new ground and making waves in the literary scene. With riveting prose, unusual characters, and gripping plotlines, these writers will make you see the world in a new way. This panel will be moderated by Spokane poet and SFCC professor Benjamin Cartwright.

9:30–11:20 p.m.

FREE

Simeon Mills is a writer, cartoonist and teacher. His novel The Obsoletes, is forthcoming this summer.

He is also the author/creator of the graphic novel Butcher Paper.

Leyna Krow is the author of the short story collection, I’m Fine, But You Appear to be Sinking and is currently teaching in SFCC’s English department.

Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum is the author of What We Do With the Wreckage, which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is also the author of Swimming with Strangers, and This Life She’s Chosen.

Leni Zumas is the author of Red Clocks, Farewell Navigators, and The Listeners. Red Clocks is a finalist for the Oregon Book Award and has entered its third printing. She is the director of the creative writing program at Portland State University.

PLAYWRITING IN THE INLAND NORTHWEST North Idaho College, Seiter Hall, Room 102

Noon–1 p.m.

FREE

Join Get Lit! on the campus of North Idaho College in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, to hear from local playwriting professionals. Susan Hardie has performed in and directed scores of productions throughout Spokane and the region for nearly forty years. Her collaborative work with playwright Bryan Harnetiaux and performer David Casteal in the original play, York, traveled extensively throughout the country and earned a City of Spokane Arts Award. Bryan Harnetiaux has been a playwright-in-residence at Spokane Civic Theatre, since 1982. Thirteen of his plays have been published, including stage adaptations of Ernest Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Killers. Sandra Hosking is a professional editor, writer, playwright and photographer based in Spokane. Her plays have been performed in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Canada, New Zealand and elsewhere. Kathleen Jeffs is chair of the Theatre and Dance Department at Gonzaga University. Jeffs completed her doctorate. at the University of Oxford, lectured on Golden Age drama at Oxford and Cambridge, and taught drama at the University of Sussex.

This discussion will be moderated by Jonathan Johnson, author of three collections of poetry, and a creative writing professor at EWU. His play about John Keats and Fanny Brawne, Ode, premiered in 2013 as part of the Get Lit! Festival. Johnson is currently teaching a special graduate-level playwriting course at EWU.

We would like to thank North Idaho College for their sponsorship.

16

getlitfestival.org

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 READINGS FROM UNIVERSITY OF HELL PRESS First Avenue Coffee

5:30–6:30 p.m.

FREE

University of Hell Press, based in Portland, Oregon, promotes artists who are creating irreverent and thought-provoking works in quiet corners of their worlds. Join us for a reading with University of Hell Press founder and publisher Greg Gerding and Spokane-based writers Joseph Haeger and Lauren Gilmore, whose collections have been published by University of Hell Press. Greg Gerding is the author of five books of prose poetry, a collection of essays, and his most recent book, I’ll Show You Mine. Lauren Gilmore is the author of Outdancing the Universe, published by University of Hell Press.

Joseph Edwin Haeger is the author of Learn to Swim, also published by the University of Hell Press.

We would like to thank First Avenue Coffee for hosting this event.

POPULAR POETRY: KELLY SCHIRMANN AND KAVEH AKBAR Downtown Public Library, Third Floor

7–8 p.m.

$12 through ticketswest.com

Join us for a special evening of poetry featuring readings from two highly talented young writers, Kelly Schirmann and Kaveh Akbar.

Kelly Schirmann is a writer, musician, ceramicist and visual artist from Northern California. She is the author of Popular Music and the co-author, with Tyler Brewington, of Boyfriend Mountain and Nature Machine. Her music projects include headband (solo), Sung Mountains (with Jason Fiske), and Young Family (with Sam Pink). She is the founding editor of Black Cake, a record label for contemporary poetry and other experiments, and the co-creator of OMO, Public Access and Friendship Collective.

Kaveh Akbar poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The New York Times, The Nation, Paris Review and elsewhere. His first book, Calling a Wolf a Wolf, was published by Alice James in the U.S. and Penguin in the UK. Akbar is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America.

We would like to thank EWU’s Board of Trustees for sponsoring this event via a Diversity Initiative grant.

getlitfestival.org

17

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 GET LIT! AT EWU CHENEY EWU Cheney, JFK Library Varies

FREE

We are bringing Get Lit! to Cheney for a day filled with panel discussions and readings.

All events are free and open to the public.

9–10 a.m.

Social Media & the Art of Promotion: a panel discussion

10:20–11:20 a.m.

Page to Screen: a panel discussion

SOCIAL MEDIA & THE ART OF PROMOTION EWU Cheney, JFK Library

9–10 a.m.

FREE

EWU’s Career Services is co-sponsoring a panel discussion that will help writers master the art of self promotion. This panel will be moderated by career advisor and MFA alumus, Aileen Keown Vaux.

Asa Maria Bradley, author of the sexy modern-day Viking Warriors paranormal romance series. Her work has received many accolades, including a Holt Medallion and a Booksellers’ Best Award.

Isaac Marion author of Warm Bodies, a New York Times Bestseller.

Bethany Montgomery is an Eastern Washington University alumna who is currently pursuing her passion for poetry. She envisioned the concept of Power 2 the Poetry, which is a collective that aims to increase poets visibility and empower them to help make positive social changes.

Margaret Starry is the events coordinator for Auntie’s Bookstore in Spokane. With a particular passion for literary events, she has organized readings and hosted bestselling authors at Auntie’s such as Ransom Riggs, Kate Quinn, Delia Owens, and Stephanie Land.

EWUStudent Affairs

PAGE TO SCREEN EWU Cheney, JFK Library

10:20–11:20 a.m.

FREE

a reading

Join us for a conversation about the ins and outs of writing scripts for television and movies, adapting literary writing to the screen and working with producers, actors and directors to make your vision come to life on the screen. The discussion will be lead by EWU film professor and director of the Spokane International Film Festival, Chase Ogden.

Ogden has been a part of hundreds of film projects and commercials and has had short films in over 50 festivals around the world.

12:30–1 p.m.

Isaac Marion author of Warm Bodies, which inspired a major film.

11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Northwest Boulevard:

Bethany C. Morrow: a reading

Juan Mas is a local producer and director who works in film, television and theater. He was a director for five seasons on SyFy’s Z NATION.

1:15–1:45 p.m.

Jason (J.D.) McKee has served as VFX supervisor on a horror film and on the Z NATION series. He has also directed multiple episodes of Z NATION. J.D. has edited multiple feature films, directed many short films and episodes for television, and is the co-founder of MODEfx, a Spokane based VFX company.

Isaac Marion: a reading

2–3:20 p.m.

Intro to Literature with Rebecca Brown

Bethany C. Morrow created a two-quarter, independent study course while studying at UCSC to produce and direct an original screenplay adapted from one of her short stories. Her screenwriting is currently represented by Lia Chan at ICM. Malcolm Pelles is a screenwriter, playwright and professor. He has written scripts for CBS Entertainment, the National Football League, Gameloft, the United States Army, and other organizations. His plays have been performed Off-Broadway in New York City and in Washington, DC.

18

getlitfestival.org

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 NORTHWEST BOULEVARD CELEBRATES THOM CARAWAY EWU Cheney, JFK Library

11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

FREE

Northwest Boulevard, EWU’s undergraduate literary magazine aims to provide students with an opportunity to publish their creative work. Many writers published in Northwest Boulevard have gone on to publish in nationally renowned journals, and some have even gone on to publish full-length collections.

Join us as we celebrate one of those writers, Thom Caraway, who is celebrating his new book, What The Sky Lacks. Caraway is the editor of Rock & Sling, the publisher of Sage Hill Press and the director of Millwood Print Works, a nonprofit letterpress and screenprint shop. The reading will be hosted by Northwest Boulevard’s Julia Cox.

BETHANY C. MORROW EWU Cheney, JFK Library

12:30–1 p.m.

FREE

Join Bethany C. Morrow for a reading from her debut novel MEM, which was selected as an Indies Introduce and Indie Next pick by the American Booksellers Association. MEM has been featured on Book Riot, Buzzfeed, Seattle Review of Books, the LA Times, Tor.com and Locus Magazine, among others. Morrow is the author of a range of speculative fiction for both the adult and young adult market, including the forthcoming YA novel, A Song Below Water, and anthology, Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance, for which she serves as editor and contributor.

ISAAC MARION EWU Cheney, JFK Library

1:15–1:45 p.m.

FREE

Don’t miss author Isaac Marion as he reads from the long-awaited conclusion to his Warm Bodies series. Marion grew up in small towns around the Pacific Northwest, pursuing careers in writing, painting and music throughout his youth. One of these finally sparked in 2010 with the publication of his debut novel, Warm Bodies, which become a New York Times Bestseller, inspired a major film and was translated into 25 languages. He spent the eight years writing the rest of the story over the course of four books, now concluded with The Living. He lives on Orcas Island and plays music in Seattle with the band, Thing Quartet.

INTRO TO LITERATURE WITH REBECCA BROWN EWU Cheney, JFK Library 2–3:20 p.m.

FREE

Eastern’s Introduction to Literature course opens its doors to the public for a special talk and reading from Rebecca Brown. Brown is the author of dozens of books, most recently Not Heaven, Somewhere Else. She has been awarded fellowships to MacDowell.

Yaddo, Hedgebrook, Hawthornden Castle, The Millay Colony and elsewhere. She was the first writer in residence at Hugo House, co-founder of the Jack Straw Writers Program and former creative director of the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference in Port Townsend.

For 20 years she taught in the low residency MFA program at Goddard College, and is currently senior-artist inresidence at the University of Washington, Bothell. She lives in Seattle with her spouse.

getlitfestival.org

19

FRIDAY, APRIL 27 POETRY SALON Downtown Public Library, Third Floor

Originating in 18th–century Paris, a salon gathers people together around discussions of literature, art and philosophy.

9 p.m.

FREE

Kaveh Akbar's poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The New York Times, The Nation, and elsewhere. He is the author of Calling a Wolf a Wolf and the chapbook Portrait of the Alcoholic.

Poets Kaveh Akbar, Claudia Castro Luna, Kelly Schirmann, Janaka Stucky and Anastacia Renée will read short selections from their work, answer questions and talk about the writing life.

Claudia Castro Luna is the Poet Laureate of Washington State and was Seattle’s first Civic Poet. She is the author of Killing Marías and This City. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, La Bloga, Diálogo, Psychological Perspectives and the Taos Journal of International Poetry and Art.

This discussion will be moderated by poet Ellen Welcker, author of Ram Hands, The Botanical Garden, and several chapbooks, including The Pink Tablet.

Kelly Schirmann is the author of Popular Music and the co-author, with Tyler Brewington, of Boyfriend Mountain and Nature Machine. She is the founding editor of Black Cake, a record label for contemporary poetry and other experiments.

This is an event that you will not want to miss!

Janaka Stucky’s books include The Truth Is We Are Perfect, Your Name Is The Only Freedom, The World Will Deny It For You and Ascend Ascend. His poems have appeared in Denver Quarterly, Fence, and North American Review, and he is a twotime National Haiku Champion.

Anastacia Renée, is writer-in-residence at Hugo House. She has received poetry fellowships from Cave Canem, Hedgebrook, VONA, Edge (Artist Trust), and Jack Straw, as well as a writing residency from Ragdale. She is the author of 26 and Forget It. 20

getlitfestival.org

SATURDAY, APRIL 27 GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB The Montvale Events Center

Vendor/Book Fair

Elephant Mountain Literary Festival Fugue Latah Books LiTFUSE Lost Horse Press Lynx House Press

FREE

Join us for a dynamic day of events in the beautifully restored Montvale Events Center. The first floor ballroom, Montvale Hall, will be bustling with book sellers, small presses, and other local bookish organizations — there will also be children’s activities courtesy of Spark Central and Washington State Book Award winner J. Anderson Coats.

There will be readings, poetry slams, and book signings in the Hall from 9 a.m.–5 p.m., while craft classes, panel discussions and readings will take place on the second and third floors. We’ll even be presenting a talk with the 2018 National Teacher of the Year, Mandy Manning!

Millwood Press Montana Book Festival Must Read Fiction Northwest Boulevard NW Independent Writer’s Association Parrish & Grove Power 2 the Poetry Riverside Storybook Rock & Sling Sage Hill Press Scablands Spark Central Spokane Sequential University of Hell Press WS/Books Willow Springs Magazine

Don’t miss the following community partners who will be celebrating with us this year: River City Brewing has teamed up with DOMA Coffee Roasting Company to infuse their popular Riverkeeper IPA with DOMA cold brew, which they have donated to Get Lit! Programs; River City will also have their River City Red on tap. Every attendee over 21 will get two free pints between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. Thank you, River City!

DOMA will also be bringing back their highly sought-after festival blend! This coffee features aromas of dark chocolate, flavors of molasses and walnut, aftertastes of clove, a muted acidity, a smooth body and a bold sweetness. Bags of the special DOMA blend, featuring festival art designed by Keely Honeywell, will be available for purchase all day. DOMA believes a healthy community is one full of artists. That’s why they support original artwork on their coffee bags and cans, eco-friendly art and fashion such as Junk 2 Funk, and Get Lit! Programs. We thank them for their support!

getlitfestival.org

21

GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB: THE MONTVALE EVENT CENTER

Auntie’s Bookstore

9 a.m.–5 p.m.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27

GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB: THE MONTVALE EVENT CENTER

Montvale Hall, First Floor

Restroom

Montvale Hall

Montvale Hall, Second Floor

Ella's Theater Classroom 2

Montvale Hall, Third Floor

3rd Floor Ballroom

Classroom 3

22

getlitfestival.org

SATURDAY, APRIL 27 CRAFT CLASSES $30 general admission, $20 with student ID

TicketsWest.com

Mining the Poetic Unconscious with Kaveh Akbar

Make it Real! Creating Characters and Worlds with Isaac Marion

MEC, Classroom 3

MEC, Classroom 2

9:30–11:30 a.m.

9:30–11:30 a.m.

Max Ritvo wrote that if the world outside a poet’s head is more interesting than the world inside their head, they might as well become a journalist. His point: it’s what’s inside the poet’s mind, what (or who) is hooting or singing or moaning or gagging inside the poet’s own unique psychic ecosystem that allows the poet access to a singular voice.

In this workshop we’ll explore our own cognitive machinery (using things like meditation, and bibliomancy and Rorschach tests), mining our discoveries for poetic language, imagery and more.

We’ll generate drafts, jumping off points for new poems and, hopefully, better relationships with the little voices in our heads

Join us for an exciting foray into the craft of fiction writing with author Isaac Marion. Whether you write high fantasy or strict realism, whether you’re inventing a galactic civilization or just one person, you face the same challenge: how do you make it real? How do you give your fictional world the depth and detail of reality? And how do you fill it with people instead of cardboard cutouts? We’ll examine the subtle differences between 2D and 3D fiction and figure out how to make yours pop.

We’ll try out some practical techniques for adding texture to your settings and life to your characters.

And we’ll discuss the underlying principle that powers all of this: believing in your story.

Elements of Erasure and Visual Poetry with Kathryn Smith and Nance Van Winckel

The Outdoor Writer’s Tool Kit with Eli Francovich and Summer Hess

MEC, Classroom 3 3:15–5:15 p.m.

Join us for an interactive craft class taught by writers Kathryn Smith and Nance Van Winckel.

The word “erasure” implies removal, disappearance, destruction. In poetry, erasure is not so much about what has been removed, but what remains— lifting language to what author Jen Bervin calls “a divergent elsewhere.” We’ll discuss philosophies behind erasure poetry and also consider the relevance of the source material, the visual impact of blotted-out text, and what makes for a successful marriage of text and image. We’ll draw on these concepts to re-form texts of our own.

MEC, Classroom 2 3:15–5:15 p.m.

In this two hour craft class, Eli Francovich of The Spokesman-Review and Summer Hess of Out There Outdoors will introduce essential tools and techniques for writing about the outdoors, including selecting topics, pitching ideas, adding color and life through details, conducting interviews and structuring articles. Writers will participate in free-writing exercises, engage in discussion, and will be encouraged to submit work to a writing contest put on by Get Lit!, Out There Outdoors and The Spokesman-Review. Contest guidelines are available via getlit.submittable.com.

getlitfestival.org

23

GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB: THE MONTVALE EVENT CENTER

Craft classes offer attendees the chance to study an element of craft from a published author.

These classes may include discussion, generative exercises and free writing. Please bring your preferred writing materials. Tickets are available now via TicketsWest.com and will be on sale at the Montvale Event Center as space allows.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27 A CELEBRATION OF NATIVE VOICES: READINGS OF POETRY AND CRAFT

GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB: THE MONTVALE EVENT CENTER

MEC, 3rd Floor Ballroom

10–11 a.m.

FREE

This reading features talks by poets whose work appears in Native Voices: Indigenous American Poetry, Craft and Conversations, published by Tupelo Press. This book embodies conversations that take place in indigenous poetry across generational, geographic, and stylistic divides. By foregrounding craft, we hope to initiate a conversation about indigenous writing that moves beyond theme and narrative, considering instead the ways that form and technique can be politically charged. The discussion will be moderated by anthology co-editor CMarie Fuhrman.

CMarie Fuhrman is the co-editor of the anthology Native Voices and the forthcoming chapbook Camped Beneath the Dam. Her work has appeared in The Yellow Medicine Review, High Desert Journal, and Sustainable Play. CMarie is the 2019 recipient of the Grace Paley Fellowship and winner of the Burns Award for poetry. She is of Southern Ute and Italian heritage.

Dawn Pichón Barron (Choctaw/Mexican/Euro) earned her MFA at Queens University of Charlotte, NC and is currently working on her doctorate in indigenous development and advancement. She is the director of the Native Pathways Program, and a faculty member at Evergreen State College. She published her chapbook, Escape Girl Blues, in 2018.

Ruby Hansen Murray is a writer and photographer whose work has appeared in Moss, World Literature Today, CutBank, The Rumpus and American Ghost: Poets on Life after Industry. She was the winner of the 2017 Montana Prize in Creative Nonfiction and has been awarded fellowships. She holds an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts.

LeAnne Howe (enrolled citizen, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is the author of Shell Shaker and Savage Conversations. She is at work on a new novel for which she received a Fulbright Scholarship. Howe is the Eidson Distinguished Professor at the University of Georgia, Athens.

Laura Da’ (Eastern Shawnee) studied creative writing at the University of Washington and The Institute of American Indian Arts. She is a recipient of multiple fellowships and her first book, Tributaries, won the 2016 American Book Award. Her newest book is Instruments of the True Measure, published by the University of Arizona Press.

24

getlitfestival.org

FUGUE AND WILLOW SPRINGS MAGAZINES MEC, Montvale Hall Noon–1 p.m.

FREE

Fugue and Willow Springs are both nationally distributed literary journals managed and edited by graduate students in the MFA programs at University of Idaho and EWU, respectively. Both Fugue and Willow Springs have published the finest writers in contemporary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry This event will feature readings from Rebecca Brown and Shannon Cram.

Shannon Cram's work has appeared in Fugue, Environmental Humanities, Public Culture, and elsewhere. Her current book project, Exposure Scenario: Nuclear Life and the Politics of Impossibility, explores contamination and cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Rebecca Brown is the author of over a dozen books. She was the first writer in residence at Hugo House, co-founder of the Jack Straw Writers Program, and former creative director of the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference. She is currently Senior-Artist in-Residence at University of Washington, Bothell.

MONDAY, APRIL 23 SATURDAY, 27 AUTHOR PHOTOS BY KEELIN ELIZABETH PHOTOGRAPHY

WOMEN OF ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN: READINGS FROM NORTH OF THE BORDER MEC, Ella’s Theatre

11:45–12:45 p.m.

MEC, Classroom 2

FREE

Noon–1 p.m.

FREE

Keelin Elizabeth Photography will be offering writers a free author photo taken in one of the Montvale Event Center’s historic green thrones. This is first-come-firstserved and interested writers should meet on the second floor of the MEC in Classroom 2.

ADVENTURES IN PUBLISHING MEC, 3rd Floor Ballroom

11:45–12:45 p.m.

FREE

Come hear publishers and authors share their experience in the publishing industry. The conversation will be moderated by Christine Holbert, founding director of Lost Horse Press.

Panelists include Kelly Schirmann, author of Popular Music and Nature Machine. She is the founding editor of Black Cake, a record label for contemporary poetry and other experiments. Christopher Howell has published eleven poetry collections, most recently Love’s Last Number. He has won three Pushcart Prizes, two National Endowment Fellowships, two fellowships from the Artist Trust, and the Stanley W. Lindberg Award for Editorial Excellence. Janaka Stucky is the founding editor of Black Ocean. His poetry collection, The Truth Is We Are Perfect was the inaugural title of Third Man Books, a publishing imprint of Jack White’s Third Man Records. Greg Gerding is the author of five books of prose poetry, a collection of essays, and an oral history on the subject of intimacy. Gerding is the founder of University of Hell Press, which started as a self-publishing brand, and is the editorin-chief of The Big Smoke America. getlitfestival.org

25

GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB: THE MONTVALE EVENT CENTER

Get Lit! is excited to welcome a panel of women writers from Nelson, B.C. Leesa Dean is the author of Waiting for the Cyclone, and is currently working on two other works of fiction. She is an instructor at Selkirk College. J.G. Toews is the author of Give Out Creek, a mystery inspired by her mountain town home of Nelson. Jane Byers is the author of two collections of poetry, Acquired Community and Steeling Effects. She was a writer-in-residence for the Archives of Lesbian Oral Testimony at Simon Fraser University. Anne DeGrace is the author of four works of fiction, Treading Water, Wind Tails, Sounding Line, and Flying with Amelia.

The Elephant Mountain Literary Festival is an annual literary festival that takes place in Nelson, B.C., and will feature these talented writers and many others this July 11-14.

MONDAY, APRIL 2327 SATURDAY, APRIL POP-UP PROSE: AIRING DIRTY LAUNDRY

GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB: THE MONTVALE EVENT CENTER

MEC, Ella’s Theater

“Air Your Dirty Laundry” is the latest installment of Pop-Up Prose, a queer-minded and queerhearted reading series founded in Moscow, Idaho. Pop-Up Prose is committed to spotlighting genre-bending, boundarypushing work from diverse communities of writers in unconventional reading locations. This time around, they’re making space for getting our hands dirty and sharing sordid stories without scrubbing or sanitizing – their exquisite squalor, but also without letting each other hang out to dry.

Join us for a spin—no rolls of quarters necessary!

Full bios at getlitfestival.org

1:30–2:30 p.m.

FREE

Steven Pfau is a nonfiction writer. He is the managing editor of Fugue journal and one of the coordinators of the POP-UP PROSE reading series.

Austin Maas is nonfiction writer studying at the University of Idaho. Their writing often explores ideas of rural queer identity. Austin is an intern for Fugue literary journal and a coordinator of the POP-UP PROSE reading series. abigail j. hansel is a trans poet from Idaho Falls. Her likes include the smell of gasoline, the feeling of snow in her hair and looking at piles of dirt. Her dislikes include gender, capitalism and poseurs.

June Sanders is a writer and photographer from Kennewick, WA. She holds an MFA from Washington State University and a BA in media disparity from Fairhaven College. Her work is about gender, dirt, expansions, home.

Lauren MacDonald writes short poems. She uses words to describe her cosmic entanglements and feelings felt heart side.

Laura Gould is a writer and elementary school teacher from the Texas Panhandle. She is co-host of the POP-UP PROSE reading series in Moscow, ID. Rebecca Brown is the author of dozens of books, most recently Not Heaven, Somewhere Else. She was the first writer in residence at Hugo House, co-founder of the Jack Straw Writers Program and former creative director of the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference in Port Townsend.

Amanda V. Mead is a high school librarian, writer, and activist living in Spokane. She is currently serving as the vice chair of Odyssey Youth Movement, Spokane’s only nonprofit serving LGBTQ+ youth. Amanda was chosen to be a 2018 Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Fellow.

MANDY MANNING: NATIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR MEC, Montvale Hall

2–3 p.m.

FREE

Join us for a special talk from 2018’s National Teacher of the Year, Mandy Manning. Manning teaches English to newly arrived refugee and immigrant students in the Newcomer Center at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane. In her classroom, Manning uses experiential projects such as map-making to help her students process trauma, celebrate their home countries and culture, and learn about their new community. Manning encourages educators to teach their students to overcome their fears and seek out new experiences.

Manning has taught for the past 19 years, seven of which have been in her current role. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Washington University, a Master of Arts from West Texas A & M University, and a Master of Fine Arts from Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. Mandy is a National Board Certified Teacher.

26

getlitfestival.org

MONDAY, APRIL 23 SATURDAY, 27 NO NORMAL: UNPREDICTABLE PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS MEC, 3rd Floor Ballroom

1:30–2:30 p.m.

POWER 2 THE POETRY OPEN MIC FREE

Sharma Shields is a Washington State Book Award winner whose latest novel The Cassandra is a re-telling of the Greek Cassandra myth set during development of the atom bomb.

Simeon Mills is a writer, cartoonist and teacher. His novel The Obsoletes is forthcoming in May from Skybound Books.

His graphic novel Butcher Paper received a 2012 Artist Trust grant.

4–4:30 p.m.

FREE

Power 2 the Poetry is a new movement on the rise.

Power 2 the Poetry promotes freedom of expression, providing a platform to underrepresented demographics in our community including people of color, LGBTQ+, women, etc.

Power 2 the Poetry invites up to eight poets to sign up to read their own original work for three minutes.

We ask that poems shared in this space be appropriate for audiences of all ages.

Sign up beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Jeremy N. Smith is the author of Breaking and Entering, Epic Measures and Growing a Garden City. Smith has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic and Discover, among others.

Rob Schlegel is the author of three awardwinning poetry collections, including In The Tree Where the Double Sex Sleeps, winner of the 2018 Iowa Poetry Prize.

Kisha Lewellyn Schlegel is the author of the essay collection Fear Icons, winner of the inaugural Gournay Prize. Her essays have appeared in journals such as Conjunctions, The Iowa Review, Gulf Coast and others.

Amy Ratto Parks is the author of How to Remember the World (forthcoming), Song of Days, Torn and Mended, and Bread and Water Body, the winner of the Merriam Frontier Chapbook Prize.

getlitfestival.org

27

GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB: THE MONTVALE EVENT CENTER

Six writers who met in Missoula, Montana, will discuss their long, strange, meandering pathways to publication.

This panel will take a close look at obstacles, frustration, rejection, gratitude and the rare and exultant fist-pump of triumph. At the heart of the discussion is the notion that there is no normal, easy route to literary success, and that success is itself, an ever-morphing and elusive animal.

This discussion will be moderated by Sharma Shields.

MEC, Montvale Hall

MONDAY, APRIL 2327 SATURDAY, APRIL

GET LIT! FESTIVAL HUB

LENI ZUMAS AND KIRSTEN SUNDBERG LUNSTRUM: A READING MEC, Ella’s Theater

Don’t miss a paired reading from award-winning fiction writers Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum and Leni Zumas.

4–5 p.m.

FREE

Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum is the author of three collections of short fiction: What We Do With the Wreckage (the 2017 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction winner), Swimming With Strangers, and This Life She’s Chosen. Her fiction has appeared in One Story, Ploughshares, The American Scholar, Willow Springs, and elsewhere. She has been the recipient of a PEN/O. Henry Prize and was a 2016 Jack Straw Writers Program fellow.

Leni Zumas’s 2018 novel Red Clocks was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, an Amazon Best Book of the Month, and an Indie Next pick. Vulture recently named it one of the 100 Most Important Books of the 21st Century. Zumas is also the author of the story collection Farewell Navigator and the novel The Listeners, which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. She directs the creative writing program at Portland State University.

Special Thanks!

Thank you to EWU’s Secondary English Education department for helping us to bring Claudia Castro Luna to Spokane, and thank you to EWU’s Multicultural Center for hosting Claudia for a special meet and greet with students.

Thank you to EWU’s American Indian Studies Program and Spokane Community College for helping us to present students with intimate oncampus discussions with author Tommy Orange.

Thank you to EWU’s Board of Trustees for the Diversity Initiative grant that allowed us to bring Kaveh Akbar to Spokane.

Thank you to On Track Academy and Spokane Community College for helping us to present a reading and talk from author Bethany C. Morrow to students from On Track Academy and other local high schools.

28

getlitfestival.org

Thank you to Orchard Center Elementary for hosting author J. Anderson Coats for a school visit.

Thank you to the Arts in Healing Program at Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, EWU’s Writers in the Community, Spark Central, and poet Yvonne Leach for partnering to bring poetry to patients in the Pediatric Oncology unit.

Thank you to Entre Rios Books for sponsoring our 2019 Author’s Reception.

Get Lit! would like to thank Gonzaga University’s English department, Whitworth University’s English Department and Central Washington University’s Professional and Creative Writing Programs for purchasing tickets for their students to attend festival events.

MONDAY, APRIL 23 SATURDAY, 27 AN EVENING WITH ROXANE GAY The Bing Crosby Theater

7–8 p.m.

$35 or $25 with student ID. TicketsWest.com

Roxane Gay is an author and cultural critic whose writing is unmatched and widely revered. Her work garners international acclaim for its reflective, no-holds-barred exploration of feminism and social criticism. With a deft eye on modern culture, she brilliantly critiques its ebb and flow with both wit and ferocity.

Words like “courage,” “humor,” and “smart” are frequently deployed when describing Gay. Her collection of essays, Bad Feminist, is universally considered the quintessential exploration of modern feminism. NPR named it one of the best books of the year and Salon declared the book “trailblazing.” Gay’s other titles include An Untamed State, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, and Difficult Women. Gay also edited Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture, an important and searing anthology. She recently became the first black woman to write for Marvel, writing a comic series in the Black Panther universe called World of Wakanda.

Gay’s newest book, How to Be Heard, is set to release in 2019.

We would like to thank the generous sponsors and community partners that made this event possible. These sponsors include the Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund, Spokane County Library's Friends of the Library Foundation, The Community Building Foundation, the YWCA of Spokane, Eastern Washington University's Department of English, EWU's Office of Diversity and Inclusion, EWU's Multicultural Center, EWU's Women's and Gender Studies, EWU's Pride Center, and Gonzaga University's Department of Political Science. Thank you all for helping us to bring Roxane Gay to Spokane!

Department of English Office of Diversity and Inclusion Multicultural Center Pride Center Women's and Gender Studies

getlitfestival.org

29

SUNDAY, APRIL 28 REGIONAL MFA READING Interpunct-Press

2–3 p.m.

FREE

INTERPUNCTPRESS SHOP TOUR Interpunct-Press

Graduate students from three regional MFA programs will come together to share fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Readers include: Cassandra Lee, Rebecca Swanberg, and Taylor White, from the University of Montana.

Caitlin Hill, Caitlin Palmer and Stacey Boe Miller from the University of Idaho.

Kailee Haong, Caylie Herrmann and Hannah Metcalf from Eastern Washington University.

Come enjoy light refreshments and beer – courtesy of generous sponsorships from Global Credit Union and River City Brewing – as you meet the rising stars of our regional literary scene.

3:15–3:45 p.m.

FREE

Bethany Taylor owner/ operator of Interpunct-Press will be giving a tour and demonstration of letterpress printing. Enjoy a step back in time where every letter is an object and every page is hand cranked through a press one color at a time.

Wristbands for beer will be provided for anyone 21 and over. Please bring photo ID.

MFA ALUMNI READING AND FACULTY FEATURE Interpunct-Press

4–5 p.m.

FREE

Come cap off this year’s Get Lit! Festival with readings from alumni and faculty of EWU’s MFA program in creative writing. This year we are celebrating the successes of program director and professor Gregory Spatz, along with four distinguished alumni who have all published new books in the last year.

Gregory Spatz is the author of many novels and short story collections including Inukshuk, Half as Happy, and the forthcoming linked collection of stories and novellas, What Could Be Saved.

Rob Carney is the author of five books of poems, most recently The Book of Sharks and 88 Maps, which was named a finalist for the Washington State Book Award.

Ellie Kozlowski’s first book Best Tent Camping Washington was released in 2018. She is currently researching her next book, Washington Day Trips by Theme (forthcoming from AdventureKEEN, spring 2020).

Laura Read is the author of The Chewbacca on Hollywood Boulevard Reminds Me of You and Instructions for My Mother’s Funeral.

Wendy J. Fox is the author of The Seven Stages of Anger and Other Stories, which was the inaugural winner of Press 53's short fiction competition.

We would like to thank Global Credit Union for sponsoring Sunday's events, and River City Brewing company for donating a special festival beer created in partnership with DOMA Coffee Roasting Company.

30

getlitfestival.org

EVENT LOCATIONS Bing Crosby Theater 901 W Sprague Ave., Spokane 509.227-7638 Eastern Washington University (EWU) 526 5th St., Cheney 509.828.1498 EWU Spokane 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd., Spokane 509.828.1498 First Avenue Coffee 1011 W. 1st Ave Suite B, Spokane 509.863.9442 The Gilded Unicorn 110 S Monroe St, Spokane 509.309.3698 Interpunct-Press 2618 Sinto Ave. 615.481.4950 Neato Burrito 827 W 1st Ave, Spokane 509.847.1234 North Idaho College 1000 W Garden Ave. Coeur d'Alene, ID 208.769.3300 Montvale Event Center (Festival Hub) 1017 West 1st Avenue, Spokane 509.413.2915 The Saranac Building / Niche Co-working Learning Studio 25 W. Main Ave Ste. 300, Spokane 509.768.1066

EVENT LOCATIONS Spark Central 1214 W. Summit Parkway, Spokane 509.279.0299 Spokane Community College (SCC) 1810 N Greene St. Spokane 509.533.7000 Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr., Spokane 509.533.3500 Spokane Public Library, Downtown 906 W. Main Ave, Spokane 509.444.5300 The Spokane Yoga Shala 731 S. Garfield St., Spokane 509.838.0545 Washington Cracker Co. Building 304 W. Pacific, Spokane The Wandering Table 1242 W. Summit Pkwy, Spokane 509.443.4410 For information on parking at individual venues, please refer to their websites or email questions to getlit@ewu.edu.

UNIVERSITY PARKING EWU Spokane: Metered parking is available at most campus lots, with an all-day maximum of $6. Free one-hour street parking is available.

SFCC: Two-hour guest parking spots are available in the P1 lot off of Ft. George Wright Drive.

For other locations or longer periods of time, free one-day passes are available from the secretary of the nearest campus building.

SCC: Visitor parking passes are available for free at the security office located on the first floor of Building 1.

NIC: Temporary permits are available at the Parking Office in the Headwaters Complex B; College Relations office in the Sherman Administration Building; and the Admission office located in Lee Hall.

Metered on-street parking is also available.

ACCOMMODATIONS Persons needing accommodations may make arrangements by calling Get Lit! Programs at 509.828.1498

by April 13.

getlitfestival.org

31

GETLITFESTIVAL.ORG