Jennifer Egan Reading

The Gonzaga University Writing Series presents award-winning writer Jennifer Egan. She is the author of The Invisible Circus, a novel which became a feature film staring Cameron Diaz in 2001, Look at Me, a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction. Her short stories have been published in magazines including The New Yorker, Harpers, Granta, and McSweeney’s, and her nonfiction articles appear frequently in the New York Times Magazine.

Egan will be reading from her national bestseller A Visit from the Goon Squad, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, and the LA Times Book Prize.

What:
Jennifer Egan reading of A Visit from the Goon Squad
Where:
Cataldo Hall Globe Room @ Gonzaga University (502 E. Boone Ave., Spokane)
When:
Tuesday, January 31st 2012
7:30 p.m.
Cost:
FREE
More Information:
Gonzaga University Visiting Writers Series
(509) 313 - 6681
Jennifer Egan

Poem of the Week by Jane Hirshfield

Many-Roofed Building in Moonlight

I found myself
suddenly voluminous,
three-dimensioned,
a many-roofed building in moonlight.

Thought traversed
me as simply as moths might.
Feelings traversed me as fish.

I heard myself thinking,
It isn't the piano, it isn't the ears.

Then heard, too soon, the ordinary furnace,
the usual footsteps above me.

Washed my face again with hot water,
as I did when I was a child.

Jane Hirshfield's books of poetry include Come, Thief (Alfred A. Knopf, 2011), After (HarperCollins, 2006), and Given Sugar, Given Salt (2001), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2004, Hirshfield was awarded the 70th Academy Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement by The Academy of American Poets. She was elected Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2012.

To read more work by Jane, visit poets.org

Kelly Milner Halls reading

Do you have a child that has a crazy imagination?
Would they love to hear about aliens and UFOs?

If your answer is yes, then you and your child should attend Kelly Milner Halls' reading and book signing at Tinman Too to promote her new book, Alien Investigation: Searching for Truth about UFOs and Aliens. Halls explores sightings, landings, hoaxes, and witness accounts of UFOs within her book. Allow your child (and maybe yourself) to be immersed in the world of UFOs and aliens.

Halls is one of Get Lit!'s Authors Tour authors, which means if you like what you hear, parents and educators, you can bring her into the classroom to work with your students.

What:
Kelly Milner Halls' reading and book signing of Alien Investigation: Searching for Truth about UFOs and Aliens
Where:
Tinman Too (809 W. Garland Ave., Spokane)
When:
Saturday, January 28th 2012
1:00 PM
Cost:
FREE
More Information:
Liz Bishop
(509) 325-3001
Kelly Milner Halls

14th Annual Spokane International Film Festival (SpIFF)

Do you like to see movies before they hit the box office? Wish you could make your own judgments about movies before the major critics praise or bash them? How about being able to meet and ask questions to the filmmaker and performers?

The 14th annual Spokane International Film Festival, also known as SpIFF, is the place for you. At four separate venues, for eleven days, there will be multiple features, documentaries, and shorts from around the world shown. The filmmakers and performers will be in attendance for Q&A and to tell their stories about the making of their films.


What: 14th annual Spokane International Film Festival (SpIFF)
Where:
Magic Lantern Theater (25 W. Main Ave., Spokane)
Garland Theater (924 W. Garland Ave., Spokane)
AMC River Park Square (808 W. Main Ave., Spokane)
Bing Crosby Theater (901 W. Sprague Ave., Spokane)
When: Thursday, January 26th 2012 - Sunday, February 5th 2012
Cost:
Festival Passes - $250
10-Movie Passes - $90
Individual Films - $10
Matinees - $8
Schedule: Visit SpIFF for dates
More Information:
Email - info@spokanefilmfestival.org
(509) 720 - 7743

Beacon Hill Reading

The Beacon Hill Reading Series presents an evening of poetry and prose with Megan Cuilla, Simeon Mills, and Nance Van Winckel on Wednesday, January 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities in the Spokane Community College library. The reading is free and open to all to attend.

MEGAN CUILLA received her MFA from Eastern Washington University in 2009. She is a part-time poet and full-time cat wrangler whose hobbies include baking cookies and eating them. She has excellent oral hygiene and dreams of one day becoming an astronaut. Her work is published or forthcoming in Rock and Sling and Knockout.

SIMEON MILLS has published short fiction in The Hawaii Review and StringTown, and on monkeybicycle.com. His graphic work has been featured on Top Shelf 2.0. He received an MFA in fiction from the University of Montana. He lives in Spokane, Washington with his wife and son.

NANCE VAN WINCKEL has published three books of short stories and five poetry collections, the most recent of which is No Starling (2007, University of Washington Press). Nance has received various awards for her work, including two National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowships, a Pushcart Prize, Poetry Magazine’s Friends of Literature Award, two Washington State Artist Trust Awards, The Midland Authors Award, and awards from the Poetry Society of America. She teaches in the Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives in Spokane.

What: Beacon Hill Reading featuring Megan Cuilla, Simeon Mills, and Nance Van Winckel
Where: SCC Hagan Foundation Center
When: January 26, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Histories of the FBI

Does the history of the FBI intrigue you?
What do you believe really happens behind closed doors?
Would you love to find out?

If so, you should attend the lecture of John F. Fox, Jr. held by Gonzaga University. Fox is an FBI historian, co-author of The FBI: A Centennial History, and his articles have appeared in the Journal of Government Information, Studies in Intelligence, the Law Enforcement Executive Forum, and the Journal of Cold War Studies.

What: William L. Davis, S.J. Lecture Series of Gonzaga University Presents: John F. Fox, Jr., FBI Historian, "Histories of the FBI: The Roles of Popular, Public, & Academic History in Understanding the Bureau"
Where: Cataldo Hall Globe Room @ Gonzaga University (502 E. Boone Ave., Spokane)
When: Tuesday, January 24th 2012 7:00 PM
Cost: FREE
More Information:
Gonzaga Univerity Presents: John F. Fox. Jr.

Naked Lunch Break Open Mic

Naked Lunch Break is a new literary open mic event sponsored by Eastern Washington University and the Riverpoint Campus Libraries. Every Thursday from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., poetry, stand-up comedy, stand-up tragedy, fiction, nonfiction, and other such assemblages of words let loose into the air with the aid of a microphone at the rate of three minutes per reader. All are welcome to join in.

Naked Lunch Break will occasionally include a featured reader, and this week's special guest is 2012 Get Lit! Festival headliner Jess Walter, award-winning fiction writer, journalist, and author of six novels including The Financial Lives of the Poets and The Zero. Visit our website to read more about Jess.

What: Naked Lunch Break Open Mic
Where: Riverpoint Campus, Phase I auditorium (SCLS 122)
When: January 19, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Why: A chance to hear a new story by Jess Walter, or if you're a creative and brave writer yourself, a chance to read alongside him
Cost: Free (and there might even be free pizza as well)

"Rent" is due in North Idaho

Get Lit! is proud to support the Coeur d'Alene Lake City Playhouse's production of "Rent." Performances run January 13 to January 29.

"Rent," the seventh longest running Broadway show in history according to The New York Times, is a play applauded for its artistic representation of intimate human struggles. The protagonists, a group of artists living in New York City's East Village in the early 90s, struggle with addiction, poverty and AIDS, but the play gives equal weight to their struggle to maintain friendships, find love and create art. The play tackles complex issues but keeps the focus on the characters themselves, and the upbeat pop-rock songs with clever lyrics have proven to be a hit with audiences.

Shawn Vestal's recent article in The Spokesman-Review pointed out that the play is generating controversy in Coeur D'Alene, despite its long-running success and the pile of awards it has earned, including many Tony awards and even a Pulitzer Prize. The play was originally released in 1996 to immediate acclaim, and has since been performed across the world in over twenty languages. However, it seems that some citizens are objecting to the subject matter of the play, which includes references to sex and features gay characters struggling with AIDS.

But the show must go on. On behalf of artists everywhere, we're glad it will.

A benefit performance of "Rent" will be staged by the Lake City Playhouse on Jan. 12 to support INBA Outreach scholarships and the North Idaho Aids coalition. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased at http://www.inbaoutreach.org/rent.

What: "Rent"

Where: Lake City Playhouse 1320 E. Garden in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

When: January 13-January 29

Cost: $19

More information at http://www.lakecityplayhouse.org

To read Shawn Vestal's article in the Spokesman, click here.

Are You Writing a Novel?

If you have a completed draft of your novel, we've got just the workshop for you. Cheryl Klein, the executive director of Arthur Levine Books/Scholastic, will be presenting a master class on plot in Spokane on March 3, 2012. The workshop is presented by the Inland Northwest chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, but the workshop's focus on plot and pacing will apply to all novel writers, not just those geared toward the YA/middle-grade market.

Here's the official description: "In this INTENSIVE master class, we will examine the care and feeding of a plot, including a number of techniques authors employ to control pacing, tension, character development and reader reaction. We'll look at the DNA of action and emotional development in a novel, and the uses of subplots. You'll learn methods for analyzing your own plot to identify its strengths and weaknesses, and tips for completing a thoughtful and effective revision."

Mari Hunt, member of the local SCBWI chapter, says that Cheryl Klein "is a gifted editor and phenomenal teacher...we're fortunate to have the opportunity to bring her to our area."

Registration for the class is open now, but the registration deadline of January 31 is already approaching.

More details can be found on the SCBWI Facebook page.