When Christine Holbert came up with the idea for Get Lit!, Spokane's annual literary festival, she wasn't met with overwhelming support.
"It took some major convincing," Holbert says. "However, I was a rambunctious graduate student with all sorts of ideas."
Her idea was to create a celebration of all things literature in Spokane, something that had yet to be done in the area.
"I wanted to create a literary vortex," she says.
Holbert's then-graduate adviser at Eastern Washington University, Christopher Howell, warned her of the roadblocks she might encounter while establishing the festival. Having founded a Portland poetry festival, Howell tried to discourage Holbert from getting in over her head.
Holbert had hardly any experience in the literary world besides the knowledge gained from her near-complete degree in publishing, but she wasn't about to give up so quickly.
"I couldn't get the idea out of my head," she says. "So I just kept nagging him until he finally agreed to help me get the permissions I needed from the administration. He was there to make sure I didn't do anything stupid."
Holbert and Howell took off running and in 1998, the very first Get Lit! Festival was held at the Bing Crosby Theater over the course of one day.
The festival was originally intended specifically for MFA students from EWU. Holbert thought learning from established authors was just as helpful as what graduate students were learning in the classroom.
Now, Get Lit! is celebrating its 25th anniversary as Spokane's premier literary festival. Taking place April 20-23, the festival is open to the public, and events are spread out at venues across downtown Spokane.
In the 25 years since its inception, Get Lit! has experienced both growing pains and extreme triumphs. While the festival has hosted big-name authors like Kurt Vonnegut, Roxane Gay and Denis Johnson, children's programming has shrunk, and the pandemic forced 2020's event to cancel, and 2021's festival to convert to a completely virtual format.
But each year, the festival perseveres.
"[Get Lit!] continues to be possible through lots of hard work and fundraising each year," says Kate Peterson, the event's director. "We don't get an operating budget from the university, so we raise the funds via grants, sponsorships and community partners."
At one point, Get Lit! grew enough to warrant spreading events over the course of a week. Now, it's just four days long. Peterson says future festivals will likely continue to shrink in size, but only due to new ventures behind the scenes.
"We are very likely going to be growing to join forces with Eastern's Visiting Writers program and their Writers in the Community program," she says. "So, we will be back to doing more youth events, including sending writers into local schools, hospitals, shelters, etc."
25 Years Later: Celebrating the Festival's Founders
Sat, April 22 from 10-11 am, $20 (included with event pass), Montvale Event Center
More at getlitfestival.or
"The festival will be just as dynamic and fun if we end up going back to our roots as just one big day of events. But it means that folks should really come out and take advantage of all of the opportunities we're offering this year for our big anniversary."
The opportunities Peterson speaks of are diverse and specifically targeted at Spokane's avid readers. One look at this year's schedule, and attendees may have a hard time choosing just a few events to attend: the annual book fair with 25-plus local booksellers, a discussion about freelance journalism featuring regional journalists, and a festival-goer favorite, Pie & Whiskey, hosted by Kate Lebo and Sam Ligon. The list goes on and on and on... (see page 30 for more of our top recommendations).
The author lineup for this year's festival doesn't disappoint in terms of hyper-local talent. Featuring local authors like Laura Read, Jess Walter, Leyna Krow and Chelsea Martin, attendees have the chance to learn more about the writers who make the Inland Northwest a literary powerhouse.
"We're not just focused on readers," Peterson says. "But both readers and writers. We offer access to highly sought-after writers from around the country, but in an intimate setting where attendees are able to chat with them after events — maybe see them at more than one event over the course of the weekend."
As for a big-name draw for this year's author lineup, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón takes the cake. Limón is the first Latina to be appointed as U.S. poet laureate and has authored six books of poetry. In addition to her mainstage event with Laura Read and Gabrielle Bates at the Bing Crosby Theater on Saturday, Limón is also hosting a class on how to begin to write a poem. Who better to learn about poetry from than the nation's current poet laureate?
"I'm most excited about bringing Ada Limón to Spokane," Peterson says. "I'm always excited to show off our beautiful city to the authors who visit from out of town. Having 70-plus writers all participating together and getting to meet and connect in our community, and 'ooh' and 'ahh' over how beautiful Spokane is in the spring, is really special."
As Get Lit!'s legacy becomes stronger, it's clear that the word "special" defines what the festival has been about from the beginning.
"The festival has gone through lots of changes over the years," Peterson says."But, the core mission and goals of celebrating the power of the written word have always been the same." ♦
