After one year on hiatus (2020), and another taking place virtually (2021), Eastern Washington University's regional literary festival is finally back in original form.
The 24th annual Get Lit! Festival returns April 21-24, for a four-day run offering in-person events, plus a handful of online programs.
Writers, readers, students and others in the community can look forward to writing workshops, readings, panels, a book fair, even watching a live Dungeons & Dragons session play out on stage.
"We're excited to be back in person," says Get Lit! Director Kate Peterson. "Just the breadth of events is really big — there's stuff for everybody, really, even people who maybe aren't going to recognize some of the guest names, but they'll recognize the local writers' names.
"We also have a couple of events this year that we think are going to reach new audiences, like those gaming events," she continues. "We try each year to have events that cover genres outside of fiction, poetry and nonfiction."
GET THE SCOOP ON GET LIT!
TICKETS: Access to all Montvale Event Center events on Saturday and Sunday is offered via a $15 weekend pass. Some guest workshops and special events are separately ticketed, and range from $25-$35 each, although many Get Lit! events are free.
FULL SCHEDULE: getlitfestival.org
Venues hosting Get Lit! include Spokane Public Library's new creative center in the East Central neighborhood, The Hive, plus the Catalyst Building, where EWU's Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts program and Get Lit! are now based. Spokane Falls Community College, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, Bing Crosby Theater and Montvale Event Center also host, with the Montvale serving as Get Lit!'s central site on Saturday and Sunday. Access to all events held there is granted via a $15 weekend pass.
The South Perry indie bookstore Wishing Tree Books also hosts a few special activities, and the Inspired Partnerships craft drink series at select local restaurants and bars is returning. For that, local bartenders craft beverages inspired by some of this year's featured writers. (Sadly, the popular Pie & Whiskey event isn't on the 2022 schedule, but could return.)
With a packed schedule at these venues, plus a few online presentations on Get Lit!'s YouTube channel, it may be challenging for even the most seasoned literary event-goer to fit all they'd like to see, hear and do. With that in mind, we asked Peterson for recommendations catering to various interests, and crafted some sample schedules:
FOR POETRY PENNERS
AN EVENING OF QUEER POETRY WITH CHEN CHEN, TOBIAS WRAY, RAJIV MOHABIRFri, April 22 at 7 pm, Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, $20
This trio of acclaimed, award-winning poets read from their collections and talk about the state of queer poetry, and how their unique perspectives contribute and fit into the poetry genre. Peterson says this is a can't-miss highlight of 2022.
POETRY SALON
Sat, April 23 from 1-2 pm, Montvale Event Center, $15 (weekend pass)
Poets converge for this lively discussion on the power of poetry and its place in the world. Audiences can hear from Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest, as well as Get Lit! 2022 guest Chen Chen, joined by Taneum Bambrick, Wryly T. McCutchen and Spokane's own Nance Van Winckel.
FOR RAVENOUS READERS
AN EVENING WITH BRANDON HOBSON & LESLEY NNEKA ARIMAH
Sat, April 23 at 7 pm, Bing Crosby Theater, $24
The two fiction authors read from their work and engage in a discussion moderated by Spokane writer Alexis M. Smith. Hobson's award-winning novels, The Removed and Where the Dead Sit Talking, explore ancestral trauma, familial loss and grief. Arimah's debut short-story collection What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, an examination of Nigerian women's unique experiences and grief, has landed several prestigious awards, including Arimah's spot on the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" list.
A CHILDREN'S BOOK READING BY LAUREN HARRIS
Sun, April 24 from 1:30-2 pm, Wishing Tree Books, free
Spokane-based children's writer Lauren R. Harris reads to an audience of all ages from her books The Plum Neighbor and A Place for Harvest: The Story of Kenny Higashi, both based on true stories about Japanese-Americans' lives after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She'll also give a talk to parents and educators on why it's important to share difficult stories and history with children.
FOR GAMERS & FILM LOVERS
YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS: WRITING FOR FILM AND TELEVISION
Thu, April 21 from 5-6 pm, The Hive, free
Guests and locals who work in the television, film and theater industries come together to explore what a career writing for the stage and screen is really like. Panelists include Ken Kwapis (The Office, He's Just Not That Into You); Karl Schaefer (Z-Nation), Eric Horsted (Futurama, The Simpsons, Black-ish), Spokane-based filmmaker Rebecca Cook, Indigenous writer and director Misty Shipman, and L.A.-based Latina playwright Delondra Mesa.
GET CRIT! DUNGEONS & DRAGONS LIVE
Sun, April 24 from 10 am-1 pm, Montvale Event Center, $15 (weekend pass)
Role-playing games are, without question, story-driven, even largely improvisational games like Dungeons & Dragons, the focus of this new Get Lit! event. Professional Dungeon Master "Beth The Bard" leads a live play session with guests from across the Northwest and beyond. The game setting is a magical academy called Strixhaven (based on a recent Magic: The Gathering set), where students hone their skills in various arcane arts.
FOR CASUAL SOCIALIZING
GET LIT! BOOK FAIR
Sat, April 23 and Sun, April 24 from 9 am-4 pm, Montvale Event Center, $15 (weekend pass)
Shop from local booksellers, small press publishers, literary journals, nonprofits and more. Auntie's Bookstore has tables stocked with titles from this year's featured authors and guests. DOMA Coffee is also offering free coffee, and the Scoop is selling ice cream on Sunday. Both days, the nonprofit Feast World Kitchen is selling a limited number of lunches, which attendees are encouraged to preorder online at getlitfestival.org to ensure availability.
CONVERSATIONS OVER COFFEE
Sat, April 23 and Sun, April 24 from 9:30-10:30 am, Montvale Event Center, $15 (weekend pass)
This catch-all, drop-in style event offers something for everyone. Attendees are asked to bring their questions to help guide conversations with like-minded creative and creatively curious folk about anything literature related, whether they're readers, writers, poets or any combination thereof. (There's also a free, virtual version of this event via Zoom on Thursday, April 21 from 9-10:30 am.)
FOR LOCAL LIT LOVERS
MANY ROADS TO PUBLICATION
Thu, April 12 from 3:30-4:30 pm, The Hive, free
This panel discussion features four writers who share their unique journeys to becoming published authors along both traditional and nontraditional paths. Spokane author Sharma Shields is one of them, along with self-published memoir author Karen Vielle and Spokane Print & Publishing owner-member Dorian Karahalios.
EVERGREEN ANTHOLOGY READING
Sat, April 23 from 4-5 pm, Montvale Event Center, $15 (weekend pass)
Published by local indie press Scablands Books, Evergreen: Grim Tales & Verses From the Gloomy Northwest is a hefty collection featuring the dark and despairing musings of more than 50 writers from across the Pacific Northwest. Anthology contributors Beth Piatote, Taneum Bambrick, Inga Laurent, Emma Noyes and Margot Kahn present at this reading held in Ella's Theater.
POETRY, PROSE & PINTS
Sun, April 24 from 3:30-4:30 pm, Montvale Event Center, $15 (weekend pass)
Ice cream provided the spark of creativity for this final festival event, which features local writers reading original works inspired by flavors of The Scoop's ice cream. Their writing was collected into the second anthology of Get Lit!'s "Tiny Book" series, printed by Spokane Print & Publishing Center and available for purchase at the event, along with the ice cream that inspired its contents. ♦
