Children's Workshop With Claire Rudolf Murphy

Claire Rudolf Murphy will be holding a children's workshop and reading for the Get Lit! Festival at Auntie's Bookstore. 

Claire Rudolf Murphy grew up with a love of books and history. As a writer she carries that enthusiasm to the books as she writes. Most of her thirteen books are about times in history that are overlooked, including her newest work, Marching With Aunt Susan, which examines the woman's movement in the late 1800's and focuses on how women were not allowed to do things, like hiking.  


The workshop is open to all kids ages 8 and up!


What: Kids Workshop and Reading with Claire Rudolf Murphy 
Where: Auntie's Bookstore (402 W. Main Ave., Spokane)
When: Saturday, April 14 2012 11:00 AM
Cost: FREE!
More Information: 
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The Get Lit! Festival Presents Susan Orlean and Steve Almond

Celebrated authors Susan Orlean and Steve Almond will share the stage on Thursday, April 12 during the Get Lit! Festival. The pair will read, discuss their work, answer questions from the audience, and sign books. Don't miss out on this headlining event!

Besides being the author of multiple books spanning a wide range of topics, Susan Orlean is also a staff writer for The New Yorker. Her book The Orchid Thief was adapted into an Oscar-Nominated movie, Adaptation. Her most recent book is called Rin Tin Tin: The Life and The Legend. In it she details the extraordinary beginnings of Rin Tin Tin and how he became not only a star but an icon. Inspired by her love of the dogs when she was younger, Orlean read hundreds of pages of archives and found dozens of photos of the dogs who have played Rin Tin Tin. The result is a book that Kirkus Reviews calls, "A terrific dog's tale that will make readers sit up and beg for more." 

Steve Almond has written on nearly every subject and isn't afraid to be controversial about it. His past books have covered Rock and Roll music, candy, and obsessions. His latest book is a short story collection, called God Bless America, about the state of America and what the people of America are looking for in the modern age. From struggling actors to war veterans, this book doesn't skip a beat digging into the heart of America.

What: Susan Orlean and Steve Almond
When: Thursday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Bing Crosby Theater
Cost: $15 (click here to purchase tickets from TicketsWest)

Lost Horse Press Reading at the MAC

Lost Horse Press, a nonprofit and independent press, will be hosting a reading during the Get Lit! Festival on Friday, April 13 at 3:00 p.m. at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.

The poets include:

Carlos Reyes is a poet and translator that lives in Portland, Oregon. He was honored with the Heinrich Boll Fellowship in 2007, which allowed him to write on Achill Island in Ireland. In 2009, he was poet-in-resident at the Lost Horse Ranger Station in Joshua Tree National Park. He recently was a writer-in-residence at the Island Institute in Sitka, Alaska. He is known for his simplistic poems that distract from the complexity of subject matter. The Book of Shadows, his latest collection, is comprised of poems that he has written over the past thirty years.

David Axelrod is a poet of five collections, one of which won the Spokane Prize and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Also, he has published a collection of cultural and environmental essays about the rural northwest. His poems and essays have appeared in New Letters, Alaska Quarterly Review, Quarterly West, Tampa Review, Willow Springs Review, The Prose Poem, among others. He is an editor for Basalt: a Journal of Fine and Literary Arts and teaches Literature and Creative Writing at Eastern Oregon University. His most recent collection is How to Apologize.

Carolyne Wright has been a poet and translator for over forty years. She has published eight books and chapbooks, including a memoir about her experience in Chile, and contributed to three anthologies. Her most recent book, A Change of Maps, was nominated for the LA Times Book Awards. She has received awards from the Poetry Society of America, Seattle Arts Commission, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Maya Jewell Zeller is an Eastern alumni. Her book of poetry Rust Fish evokes memories and bonds with the poems that readers will remember for years. Her poetry has won awards from The Florida Review and Crab Orchard Review, and appears widely. She currently lives in Spokane with her husband, daughter, and newest child on the way, while she teaches at Gonzaga University.

J.T. Ledbetter has a B.A. in English from California State University, and a M.A. and Ph.D in English from the University of Nebraska. His poetry can be found in many journals including Poetry, The New York Quarterly, Louisville Review, Atlanta Review, Tar River Poetry, among others. His newest collection of poems, Old and Lost Rivers, will be launched at the Get Lit! festival.

D.S. Butterworth, a Seattle native, currently teaches Literature and Creative Writing at Gonzaga University. Author Jess Walter noted that Butterworth's book, The Radium Watch Dial Painters is "a book of sheer power and range, poems that burn in brilliant flashes and with searing luminescence. There are great stories in here, flurries of fresh images and graceful turns of music and wit. Above all, you find Dan Butterworth’s pitch-perfect gift for language, his acrobatic intelligence, his fierce decency. I loved this book.”

Melissa Kwasny often draws her inspiration from the natural world. She has written four books of poetry, two novels, and edited an anthology of poets on the art of poetry. The Nine Senses, her latest collection, is comprised entirely of prose poems.

What: Lost Horse Press Reading

Where: Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (2316 W. First Ave., Spokane)

When: Friday, April 13 2012 3:00 PM

Cost: FREE!

More Information:

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Jason Skipper and Cristina Garcia

The 2012 Get Lit! Festival presents fiction writers Jason Skipper and Cristina Garcia, who will be reading at Riverpoint Campus Phase I building on Saturday, April 14at 11:00 a.m.

Jason Skipper has worked as a bartender, musician, and freelance journalist. All of these past experiences come into play in his debut novel Hustle. The novel features a young musician with big dreams through his adolescence, his philandering seafood selling father, and his alcoholic grandfather. The story follows them as they make a new future for themselves and try to figure out the present. It also explores what we owe each other and the sacrifices we make to feel free. Author John Dufresne recommends that you find a comfy chair before reading because once you start you won't want to stop.

Cristina Garcia has written five novels all detailing some aspect of Latin American life. She has been acclaimed for writing colorful characters in an equally colorful landscape. Her most recent novel, The Lady Matador's Hotel, uses her ability and takes place in an unspecified Central American country starring an international cast of characters, including a Cuban poet and his American wife, a Korean manufacturer, and Japanese-Mexican-American matadora. Garcia's recent young-adult novel has similar themes about how people connect and form bands. Dreams of Significant Girls follows three different girls during their summers in Switzerland and how they maintain a close friendship despite their differences.       

Poem of the Week by Elizabeth Austen

House Fire

I reach for my yellow dress. It bursts
into flame. Anything I remember
burns again. Recipes from Nana's walnut box,
father's letters, every photograph: all
the same black exhalation-
the remains of everything consumed
coat the remains of everything spared.
Memories reduced to images without
objects to anchor them hover
in the space between this morning-
when each room stood intact-
and now, a time without geography.
Nothing ties me to the past.
No family portraits, no letters
urging goodness, steadiness, obedience.
All the old imperatives
curl in the lingering heat.


Elizabeth Austen is a Seattle-based poet, performer, and teacher. As part of the 2012 Get Lit! Festival, Austen will be one of the readers at the first ever Pie & Whiskey Reading at 9:30 p.m. at the Woman's Club on Thursday, 12. She will also be participating in the panel From Vinegar Bottles to Verse: Discovering Poetry in Overlooked Objects on Friday, April 13 at 12:30 p.m. at the SFCC Spartan Theater and later that night, she will be reading and discussing her work at the Poetry Salon at the Rocket Bakery. And aspiring performance poets, don't miss out on your chance to work directly with her during her Saturday workshop Beyond the Page: Poems Aloud, Poems Alive.

"Comedy as Commentary" with Steve Almond, Jess Walter, and Sharma Shields

Shawn Vestal, a reporter for the Spokesman Review and author of Godforsaken, Idaho will be moderating the "Comedy as Commentary" panel at EWU during this year's Get Lit! Festival.

Steve Almond, author of God Bless America, Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins, and Sharma Shields, author of Favorite Monster, will be discussing how a well-timed joke can reveal more than a reader expects. Humor can illustrate a character's deepest flaw, question a society's standards, or expose a culture's most veiled conflict.

No writer should miss out on this fun and informative panel!

What: Get Lit! Festival University Panel "Comedy as Commentary"

Where: Hargreaves Hall, Reading Room @ Eastern Washington University (Cheney)

When: Friday, April 13 2012 9:30 AM

Cost: FREE!

More Information:

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Get Lit!'s Poetry Salon

The Get Lit! Festival is having an informal poetry salon, modeled after the salons of early 20th century Paris. The event will consist of a reading and discussion by six poets hosted by Eastern Washington University's Creative Writing professor Jonathan Johnson. Each of the poets will discuss their craft and their writing life.

The poets include:

Elizabeth Austen, a Seattle poet, performer, and teacher will be reading from her book Every Dress a Decision. She has produced literary programming for one of Seattle's NPR affiliates, KUOW, which introduces recordings of the Pacific Northwest literary events and interviews local and national poets.
Click here to watch Elizabeth Austen read from her book, Every Dress a Decision.

Thomas Brush is an author of three poetry collections and his work has appeared in journals such as Poetry, The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, and The North American Review. He established a literary magazine called Better Days, along with a reading series, while teaching English at Kent-Meridian High School. Brush’s forthcoming poetry collection Last Night, winner of the 2011 Blue Lynx Prize, includes poetry from the last twenty years about his childhood, his current reflections on the world, and the places he delights in and lives in.

Molly Tenenbaum has three full-length poetry collections: The Cupboard Artist (2012), Now (2007), and By a Thread (2000), as well as chapbooks Blue Willow, Old Voile, and Story, and single poems in many journals. She has held residencies at Hedgebrook and at the Helen Riaboff Whiteley Center, participated in the Jack Straw Writers’ Program, and was awarded a 2009 Washington State Artist Trust Fellowship.

Kathryn Smith is an EWU MFA alum, a copy editor for the Spokesman-Review, a master gardener in training, and a community volunteer. According to Mary Oliver, Smith tries to "keep my mind on what matters, / which is my work, / which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished."

Kathleen Flenniken was recently named the Washington State Poetry Laureate and her second collection of poetry, Plume, was selected for the Pacific Northwest Poetry Series. Her first collection of poems, Famous, winner of the 2005 Prairie Schooner Prize, was named a 2007 Notable Book of the Year by the American Library Association and a finalist for the Washington State Book Award.

Russell Thorburn enjoys having a successful career as a poet, teacher, and radio hour writer. He writes poems about “fighting against the silence” based on his personal life journey. He repeatedly includes a character named Agent X who time travels to sorrowful and gratifying moments in Thorburn’s life. Thorburn has compared Agent X to Kurt Vonnegut’s Billy Pilgrim.   

What: Poetry Salon

Where: Rocket Bakery (1325 W. First Ave., Spokane)

When: Friday, April 13 2012 9:00 PM

Cost: FREE!

More Information:

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Sarah Conover at Auntie's

Sarah Conover will be reading selections from Easy to Love But Hard to Raise at Auntie's Bookstore. The book is written by and for parents of children with special needs such as ADD, OCD and other diagnosed conditions.

Conover holds a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies from the University of Colorado, a degree in education from Gonzaga University, and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University. Also, she is the founder and editor of the This Little Light of Mine series that was published by Eastern Washington University Press.

She also participates in the Get Lit! Writers in Residence program. It's a program that was started in 2004 and has helped students gain enthusiasm for learning and writing. Writers in this program visit classrooms weekly over the course of 10-24 weeks, helping students realize their potential by teaching them to write from their own experiences and experiment with style and form. After each lesson, the writers leave the lesson plan with the teacher so the teacher will be able to use that lesson in other classrooms to widen the impact of this program.

Sarah Conover is also a Get Lit! Festival author! She will be holding another reading at Auntie's on Saturday, April 14 at 10:00 AM. Don't miss out on either event!

What: Sarah Conover reading of Easy to Love But Hard to Raise

Where: Auntie's Bookstore (402 W. Main Ave., Spokane)

When: Thursday, March 22 2012 7:00 PM

Cost: FREE!

More Information:

Email lois@auntiesbooks.com

Visit Auntie's Bookstore

Call (509) 838-0206

Rick Bass and Stellarondo Performance

Stellarondo will be performing while Rick Bass reads some of his work during the Get Lit! Festival at the Masonic Temple.

Rick Bass is a well known author of twenty one books of both fiction and nonfiction. His books include Where The Sea Used To Be, Winter: Notes on Montana, In The Loyal Mountains, and The Book of Yaak. Bass has lived in the Yaak Valley for over twenty years, serving both on the Yaak Valley Forest Council and the Round River Conservation Studies. 

Bass won the 1995 James Jones Literary Society First Novel Fellowship for his novel in progress, Where the Sea Used to Be. He was a finalist for the Story Prize in 2006 for his short story collection The Lives of Rocks. He was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award (autobiography) for Why I Came West (2009). He was also awarded the General Electric Younger Writers Award, a PEN/Nelson Algren Award Special Citation for fiction, and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. His latest novel, Nashville Chrome, is the fictional story of a family of country singers.  

Stellarondo is a folk/indie rock band from Missolua, Montana. Their name is taken from Eudora Welty's story "Why I Live at the P.O." After Rick Bass first encountered the band, he felt he had found a rejuvenating oasis and never wanted to leave. After a couple months of Bass sitting in on rehearsals, a collaboration was born.

Brian Schott, the founding editor of the Whitefish Review noted that, "Rick Bass and Stellarondo mesmerized the audience from the first note to the last vibrations of the weeping saw. Start with the haunting voice and lyrics of Caroline Keys, throw in an astonishingly versatile and talented band, and then mix that up with the poetic story-telling of Rick Bass, and I can confidently say that I've never tasted such a beautiful ensemble of art. It's a magic recipe."

 

What: Rick Bass reading and Stellarondo concert

Where: Masonic Temple, Blue Room (1108 W. Riverside Ave., Spokane)

When: Saturday, April 14 2012 7:00 PM

Cost:

Adults - $15

Students and Kids - FREE!

Visit Get Lit! Box Office

More Information:

Visit Get Lit!

Poem of the Week by Kathleen Flenniken

The Physiology of Joy

In the bleakest centers of the body, researchers
have discovered tiny pockets of joy,
like the undersized bubbles that cling
to the corners of parched mouths.

We're trying to understand, the spokesman said.
He was string into the camera. They might be
an immune system response to pain
or evidence that joy
in order to be released
must coalesce to a critical mass.
The he leaned into our living room
to confide

that in his college anatomy class,
sometimes the bodies would sigh
at the end of a long dissection,
an unaccountable flutter under his hands.
Once he was last one out
of that blue gymnasium of a laboratory.
I don't know if it's proof, he said,

but when I switched off the lights
the transom windows glowed.

Kathleen Flenniken is the current Washington State Poet Laureate. As part of the 2012 Get Lit! Festival, she will be visiting a local elementary school to share her passion for poetry. She will also be reading her work as part of the Poetry Salon on Friday, April 14 at 9:00 p.m. at the Rocket Bakery.

Gunther Schuller at Auntie's

Gunther Schuller will be talking about his memoir, Gunther Schuller: A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty at Auntie's Bookstore today!

Schuller is a very well known conductor, composer, writer, and Artistic Director of the NW Bach Festival in Spokane. He grew up with a father that played for the New York Philharmonic. He studied at Saint Thomas Choir School and the Manhattan School of Music becoming an accomplished horn and flute player. At a yong age he played professionally with the American Ballet Theatre, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. 

His book is the first of a two volume autobiography of his life's achievements.

A review from the Wall Street Journal stated,  "If you'd done a quarter of what Gunther Schuller has done in his lifetime, I'd want to read your memoirs, too. . . . He is the only musician in the world who can claim to have played with Maria Callas, Miles Davis, Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra, Igor Stravinsky and Arturo Toscanini. . . . I couldn't put it down, and I can't wait until he finishes the second volume. . . . Compulsively readable. . . . a cultural history of America in the 1940s and '50s, viewed through the prism of his personal experience."

What: Gunther Schuller discussion and signing of Gunther Schuller: A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty

Where: Auntie's Bookstore (402 W. Main Ave., Spokane)

When: Saturday, March 17th 2012 2:30 PM

Cost: FREE!

More Information:

Email lois@auntiesbooks.com

Visit Auntie's Bookstore

Call (509) 838-0206

Keith Boykin at SCC for Get Lit!

Keith Boykin will be at Spokane Community College for two days during the Get Lit! Festival for a reading and a discussion followed by a Q&A session.

Boykin is a well known editor of The Daily Voice online news site, a CNBC contributor, a BET TV host, and a New York Times best-selling author of three books, One More River to Cross, Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black America, and Respecting the Soul. His his fourth book For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Still Not Enough, a collection of stories published by authors, public figures, and anyone else who has faced adversity, will be released March 13th 2012.

The reading and discussion should be very inspirational! Don't miss out!

What: Keith Boykin reading, discussion and Q&A

Where:

Reading - Lair Auditorium @ Spokane Community College (1810 N. Greene St., Spokane)

Discussion and Q&A - Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities @ Spokane Community College (1810 N. Greene St., Spokane)

When:

Reading - Wednesday, April 11 2012 7:00 PM

Discussion and Q&A - Thursday, April 12 2012 9:30 AM

Cost: FREE!

More Information:

Visit Get Lit!

Sherry Jones will kick off the 2012 Get Lit! Festival

Sherry Jones will be one of the first authors to kick off this year's EWU Get Lit! Festival! She will be be spending the day with Saint George's High School students followed by an evening event including a reading and book signing.

Jones knew from a young age that she wanted to write. One of her teachers in school advised her, "If you ever write a book, keep your real name so I'll know it's you." Best known for her controversial debut novels, The Jewel of Medina and The Sword of Medina, international best sellers about the life of A'isha bint Abi Bakr, who married the Muslim prophet Muhammad at age 9 – one of his twelve wives and concubines - and went on to become the most famous and influential woman in Islam. Her new book, Four Sisters, All Queens, a tale of four sisters in 13th century Provence who became queens of France, England, Germany and Italy, arrives in bookstores May 2012. She is also publishing a novella, White Heart, about the famous French "White Queen" Blanche of Castille, as an e-book in April.

Jones says that "I'm an impassioned believer in the power of the written word. I hope to use this power, as the old saying goes, for good and not evil."

What a great way to start out the festival! Don't miss out!

You can watch Sherry Jones discuss her book The Jewel of Medina here or here.

What: Sherry Jones Reading

Where: Saint George's High School Founders Theater (2929 W. Waikiki Rd., Spokane)

When: Tuesday, April 10 2012 7:00 PM

Cost: FREE!

More Information:

Visit Get Lit! 

Spokane Student Wins Washington State Poetry Out Loud Competition

Everyone on the Get Lit! Programs staff would like to congratulate Mead High School junior Langston Ward on winning the Washington State Poetry Out Loud championship. 

For winning the state competition, Ward received $200 in scholarships, a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books for his school, and an all expenses-paid trip to represent Washington State in the National Finals, May 13-15, in Washington, DC.  

The National Finals will award a total of $50,000 in scholarships, school stipends, with a $20,000 college scholarship for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion.

We all wish him luck and congratulate him on his state title!

Poetry Out Loud is a competition that encourages high school students to learn the complexity and beauty of poetry through memorization and public recitation. Get Lit! Programs serves as the coordinator for the region of Eastern Washington.

To watch a video of Langston Ward reciting "I am the Mob, the People" by Carl Sandburg at last year's state competition, visit the Washington State Art Commission's website here.

Willow Springs Annual Fiction Contest!

Willow Springs is having their annual fiction contest!

The winner will receive $2,000 and publication within the magazine. All entrants will receive a one year subscription to the magazine.

Willow Springs publishes the finest in contemporary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as interviews with some of the most notable authors in contemporary literature, including Marilynne Robinson, Stuart Dybek, Aimee Bender, and Robert Bly.

What: Willow Springs Fiction Contest

Where:

Submit online here

Mail @ 

The Willow Springs Fiction Prize

Willow Springs

501 N Riverpoint Blvd, Ste 425

Spokane, WA 99202 

When: Postmarked by March 15, 2012

Cost: $15 ($20 for International Submissions)

More Information:

Visit Willow Springs

Poem of the Week by Russell Thorburn

Standing in Bernie's Driveway with
the Garage Door Open

The night teaches us to be children,
to laugh at the slap-happy way
we smack the back of our necks
for biting mosquitoes.

When the bat almost kisses my cheek,
we have already located Europa.
We shuffle through the stars by eye,
then my turn at the telescope,

I see fireflies above the tree line,
dizzy from the earth, as they imitate
multiple moons. Maybe we ghost up
from a speaker in the garage,

what we love or hear can never be
that close, even when the lens
is fixed, twisted to hold a round surface
billions of miles away.

Russell Thorburn is one of the poets participating in the 2012 Get Lit! Festival. He will be part of the Poetry Salon on Friday, April 13 and will be opening for Ted Kooser at the Lincoln Center at 11:30 a.m on Sunday, April 15. Click here for more information about Russell.

Eva Gayle Six's Reading at Auntie's

A local Washington author, Eva Gayle Six, stumbled upon a memoir by Jennie Wooding and she couldn't help but transform it into the historical novel Jennie’s Tiger: A Woman's Pioneering Stand in an Untamed Corner of Washington State.

Eva Gayle Six currently lives near the Pend Oreille River on land that was once homesteaded by her ancestors, Jennie and Wes Wooding. She taught high school for 25 years before spending 10 years converting a local abandoned school into an art center. She has had articles published in Nostalgia Magazine and in Columbia, the publication of the Washington State Historical Society.

One reviewer stated that, "For those having lived in the northern portion of Pend Oreille County, this novel covers most of the old timers of those days and will answer many questions about places named after people or about elders we have wondered about. It also describes the terrible forest fires that raged through the area, the scars of which are still visible. For other readers who truly want a first hand account of pioneer life in those days, this story will certainly draw you personally in so that you live it with Jennie and her family. There were times I could scarcely read for the tears that filled my eyes and other times I laughed out loud at some of the shenanigans of these characters. I truly recommend this book to all readers."

What: Eva Gayle Six’s reading of Jennie’s Tiger: A Woman's Pioneering Stand in an Untamed Corner of Washington State 

Where: Auntie's Bookstore (402 W. Main Ave., Spokane)

When: Sunday, March 11 2012 1:00 PM

Cost: FREE!

More Information:

Email lois@auntiesbooks.com

Visit Auntie's Bookstore

Call (509) 838-0206

Young Author Elisa Brinton Signing at Hastings

Elisa Brinton, a new young author who is currently residing in the Inland Northwest, will be doing a signing of her book Courage to Stand: Stories of Young Strength and Triumph in Adversity.

As a young girl of only 14, she may have found her career barely out of Junior High. Her own website states, "I first developed an interest in writing when I was in elementary school (in the 2nd grade!). [...] I took a real interest in the Civil War era as I studied it for an independent project and class presentation I was doing in our school’s G/T program when I was in the 5th grade. I found that as I became further involved in this project, the Civil War became very real to me." 

Reviewers have been raving about her book, stating that, "As historical fiction, Courage to Stand is a compelling and well written series of stories. The many plots and themes will inspire reflection regarding current conflicts taking place around the world. It is a well researched book that will be enjoyed by readers who appreciate historical fiction rooted in young heroines confronting and overcoming enormous adversity."

Stopping by the signing and meeting Elisa might give other young writers a boost of confidence!

What: Elisa Brinton signing of Courage to Stand: Stories of Young Strength and Triumph in Adversity 

Where: Hastings (15312 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley) 

When: Saturday, March 10 2012 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM 

Cost: FREE! 

More Information: 

(509) 924-0667

Patricia Nikolina Clark reading at Tinman Too

Patricia Nikolina Clark, a local children's book author, will be having a reading from her newest book, Fisherman's Daughter.

Her book follows the life of an eleven year old girl, Katia, throughout the struggles her family encounters. She tries to cope with her mother's death, turning to school and her hope to become a teacher. Her world is turned upside down when she has to leave school to take care of her family. Will she give up her dream? Or fight to save it?

You should stop by the reading to find out what happens!

What: Patricia Nikolina Clark reading of Fisherman's Daughter
Where: Tinman Too (809 W. Garland Ave., Spokane)
When: Saturday, March 10 2012 1:00 PM
Cost: FREE!
More Information: 
Visit Tinman Too
Call (509) 325-3001
Email tinmanartworks@gmail.com

"Superheroes Declassified" Presentation at SCC

Spokane Community College's Theatre and Film Instructor, Adam Sharp, will be holding an interactive session to discuss the meaning of a superhero in the early years of comics to the present.

According to SCC's Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities website, "The idea of what a superhero is has changed throughout the twentieth century and as we make our way through the twenty-first century. A superhero, just like heroes of all cultures, is the envelopment of all that the society sees as honorable with important values and virtues for every citizen to aspire to become. But, in our modern society, the idea of a superhero has changed. From an honorable and brave person who holds idealistic ideas to a person who has superhuman abilities dealing with the struggles of everyday life and the pains of reality."

The presentation will be something that any comic or superhero buff will be sad to miss! 

What: Adam Sharp's discussion "Superheroes Declassified"

Where: Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities, Learning Resources Center, Building 16, 2nd Floor @ Spokane Community College (1810 N Greene St., Spokane)

When: Wednesday, March 7 2012 9:30 AM

Cost: FREE!

More Information: 

Brenda Martinson (509) 533-7045 or BMartinson@scc.spokane.edu 

The NIWP 2012 Spring Conference

The Northwest Inland Writing Project is kicking off their Spring Conference today and will feature keynote speaker Jeff Anderson, author of 10 Things Every Writer Should Know.

According to the NIWP website, "The last time Jeff Anderson came to Spokane, our brains surged with fresh lesson ideas to enliven writing through increased grammatical awareness. In our classrooms, the g-word became a call to creativity. Our students took word journeys that had them showing off their latest typed creations. This Write Guy has the right ties between language usage and writing spelled out with directness and simplicity. He zooms in on what students need most. [...] His uncommon insights will help us surge toward the Common Core State Standards."

What: "Catching the Common Core" NIWP 2012 Spring Conference Workshop
Where: Spokane Conference Centre (334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., Spokane)
When: Tuesday, March 6th 2012 and Wednesday, March 7th 2012
Cost:
Full 2 Day $80
Tuesday Only $60
Wednesday Only $60
Preservice Tuesday Only $30
Preservice Wednesday Only $30
More Information:
Email Emily emily@niwp.org
Visit NIWP

Poem of the Week by Molly Tenenbaum

For practice, let something stay broken,

the faucet's drip keep you waking.

Keep on paying insurance though the car won't go,
don't fix it,
dead on the street, gray and flaking.

Let it keep, unmended, something small-
the cat's arthritic knee-
she's getting used to it after all.

The bird bath frost cracked left blue shards in the garden-
Well, they were pretty, weren't they?
Cutting in summer
fingers at work in the larkspur.

Even the path
to Piper's Creek, all fall a shower of gold,
and in the old orchard, the copper-brown, penny-sized pears.

Today, an orange barrier-strip, and the sign says
Path Closed, the storm, a raw sewage flow.

Let them never clear it. Let last week's
have been the last walk there, back on that day

so windy, so bright-edged
and beam-struck, it was impossible
to sit down or stop or look up.

Molly Tenenbaum is one of the poets participating in the 2012 Get Lit! Festival. The above poem comes from her recently released collection, The Cupboard Artist. She will be part of the Friday morning panel "From Vinegar Bottles to Verse: Discovering Poetry in Overlooked Objects" at SFCC and will be reading her work at the Poetry Salon later that night. Click here for more information about Molly.

W. Jason Miller discussion at Auntie's

W. Jason Miller, a North Carolina State University English professor, will be at Auntie's Bookstore to discuss his book, Langston Hughes and American Lynching Culture. He examines the 36 poems Hughes wrote on the subject of lynching and its effects on survivors and accomplices.

A. Yemisi Jimoh from the University of Massachusetts stated that Miller's book, "Provides the sort of historically and culturally informed critical discussion and close readings which African American literature still sorely needs."

Anne Rice from CUNY - Lehman College explained that the book was, "A comprehensive study of the centrality of lynching to Hughes's artistic development, aesthetics, and activism. Scholars and general readers alike will find it a fascinating and indispensable addition to their understanding of the work of this brilliant poet."

What: W. Jason Miller's discussion of Langston Hughes and American Lynching Culture
Where: Auntie's Bookstore (402 W. Main Ave., Spokane)
When: Saturday, March 3rd 2012 2:00 PM
Cost: FREE!
More Information:
Email lois@auntiesbooks.com
Visit Auntie's Bookstore
Call (509) 838-0206

EMERGE 7Women, 7Stools Performance at The Fox

EMERGE 7Women, 7 Stools is a theatrical event that has everyone talking.

It follows seven very different women through their personal struggles: A Housewife, Grandmother, College Student, Abused Woman, Hustler, Cancer Survivor, and Mistress all onto one stage.

It will cause people to laugh, cry, and never forget.

The former U.S. Senator Avel Gordly stated it was "...brilliantly written, replaces darkness with the light of hope."

No one should pass it up!

What: EMERGE 7Women, 7Stools
Where: Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox (1001 W. Sprague Ave., Spokane)
When: Saturday, March 3rd 2012 7:30 PM
Cost: $32 or $37
More Information:
Visit Martin Woldson Theater
Call (509) 624-1200

Spokane Public Library Storytime Volunteers Needed

Do you love spending time with kids? Do you have some extra time available? Do you think children should be introduced to books as early as possible?

The Spokane Public Library is in need of Storytime volunteers and you should apply. The Storytime program has been going on in many different branches since 2007 and they hope to continue it even longer.

The Storytime volunteers present different stories to children, from toddlers to pre schoolers. The joy in seeing the children at such a young age find a love for reading is the best reward. The volunteers are asked to commit to one year of service and volunteer at least once a month. Each volunteer must pass a Washington State Patrol background check. They will be given training and assistance to make Storytime go as smoothly as possible. Storytime is from 10:00 am to 10:30 am, Tuesdays through Fridays.

What: Spokane Public Library Storytime Volunteers
Where: Spokane Public Library (most branches)
When: Tuesdays through Fridays 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Cost: FREE!
More Information:
Contact Sally Chilson at schilson@spokanelibrary.org
Call - (509) 444-5331