For its 25th occurrence, Eastern Washington University's Get Lit! Festival once again offers something for readers and writers of all kinds with more than 40 unique events. From author readings to hands-on writing workshops, sessions on storytelling, journalism, podcasting, poetry, creative writing and more, the toughest challenge for attendees is squeezing everything in across the event's four-day run.
After perusing this year's expansive programming schedule, here are seven recommendations, in addition to the two Get Lit! events featured in this week's Inlander: a lookback on the festival's 25 years (page 28), and an evening of poetry with U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, alongside Laura Read and Gabrielle Bates (page 32). For complete details and registration, head to getlitfestival.org.
PIE & WHISKEY
Thu, April 20 at 8 pm, $5 (ages 21+), Montvale Event Center
After a three-year hiatus, this beloved facet of Get Lit! returns, offering the trifecta of pie, whiskey and whiskey-influenced writers. Hosted and created by esteemed local writers Sam Ligon and Kate Lebo, this year's event showcases poetry and prose by 13 regional writers, among them Jess Walter, Emma Noyes and the Inlander's editor, Nick Deshais. Besides the evening's reader lineup, Pie & Whiskey — of course — includes home-baked pie and whiskey from Dry Fly Distilling. This popular event is known to hit capacity each year, so get there early to snag entrance.
WOMEN WRITING IN FULL COLOR
Fri, April 21 at 7 pm, free, Central Library's nxyxyetk Hall
The most crucial element of writing (and reading) is that it allows us to share experiences and perspectives far beyond our individually limited world views. Three Northwest writers who excel at prompting readers to empathetically expand their minds are spotlit during this reading. The writing of CMarie Fuhrman, Toni Jensen and Jane Wong is united by interwoven threads of race, culture and underrepresented voices in both literature and society. Jensen explores gun violence and the experiences of Indigenous women, and Wong examines what it means to be a Chinese immigrant in America, while Fuhrman writes about the West from an Indigenous perspective. They'll each read and talk about how their identities inform their work.
CASCADIA FIELD GUIDE: ART, ECOLOGY, POETRY
Sat, April 22 at 1 pm, $20 (included with event pass), Montvale Event Center
A captivating setting can both literally and figuratively center a piece of writing. Here in the Northwest — or, more broadly, the Cascadia region of the U.S. — this sense of place is vast with possibilities, from the unforgiving, sagebrush-dotted scablands to the lush coastal rainforests. This event celebrates the Cascadia Field Guide, an anthology of art, poetry and stories that root readers in this vast ecoregion. Cascadia spans 2,500 miles of the Pacific coast from southeast Alaska to Northern California, encompassing all of Washington and bleeding into western Montana. At this session, anthology editors and contributors read from their musings on Cascadia's primitive beauty. A second event on Sunday, April 23, at 4 pm (free) heads outside for a guided walk from High Bridge Park to some of the places that inspired these writers.
LILAC CITY POETS
Sat, April 22 at 1:30 pm, $20 (included with event pass), Montvale Event Center
Spokane's poetry scene is flourishing. Look around, and the evidence is everywhere: Oodles of open mic and community readings happen on the regular, and poets from the area are frequently publishing new collections and winning serious accolades for them. Two poets who've helped nurture this thriving poetry community in the past decade are Mark Anderson, former Spokane poet laureate (2017-19), and Connie Wasem Scott, a writing instructor at Spokane Falls Community College. Poets of all levels (anyone can write poetry) can learn more about the craft, like where to find inspiration and how to get involved in the local poetry scene. Get Lit!'s Poetry Salon directly follows this session, too.
FINDING THE FACTS: A READING & CONVERSATION ON FREELANCE JOURNALISM
Sat, April 22 at 4 pm, $20 (included with event pass), Montvale Event Center
Being a journalist is not for the faint of heart, especially in a time when public trust in the media is shaky at best, and the distinctions between truth, opinion and objectivity keep getting blurrier. But being a journalist can also be really rewarding, and it's this that motivates freelance journalists Leah Sottile (author of When the Moon Turns to Blood and former Inlander staffer), Sindya Bhanoo and Vanessa A. Bee. All three women will be in conversation with Spokesman-Review reporter Emma Epperly, talking about the obstacles they face — as women, as journalists, as freelancers — and how they tackle difficult stories.
GET CRIT! DUNGEONS & DRAGONS LIVE
Sun, April 23 at 10 am, $20 (included with event pass), Montvale Event Center
Last year, to much success, Get Lit! showcased the crucial element of creative storytelling in role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons (which is still experiencing a huge resurgence) with a live, on-stage gaming session. It's back this year, featuring a group of players from the creative sphere who all share a love of gaming. (Two of them, in fact, happen to work for the Seattle-area company, Wizards of the Coast, that produces D&D.) The rest of the party is made up of actors, educators and writers who'll team up for a train heist scenario from Wizards' Keys to the Golden Vault campaign. If you love D&D, also don't miss Saturday's event, Dragon Talk: A Conversation on D&D, at 10:30 am.
SPOKANE STORIES
Sun, April 23 at 7 pm, free, Central Library's nxyxyetk Hall
Capping off another year of Get Lit! is an evening with local authors Jess Walter and Leyna Krow, whose two recent novels — The Cold Millions and Fire Season, respectively — are each set in the rowdy, early days of Spokane's urban founding. Each novel boasts equally raucous characters navigating historical moments of great uncertainty. Walter's tale is set during violent clashes over free speech and labor rights in the early 1990s, and Krow's in the aftermath of the Great Spokane Fire of 1889. On stage, the two chat with fellow author Sharma Shields, who also has an affinity for centering her own novels in places and eras of Inland Northwest history. ♦
