Check out our Get Lit! Festival PSA

Keep an eye out for our sweet new 2011 Get Lit! Festival commercial on TV. You can also check it out on YouTube .

Get Lit! posters, signs, and festival guides are all over the place. Where have you seen Get Lit! Festival around town? Let us know!

Big Read interview with the Get Lit! Programs Coordinator

How is the Big Read important to our community? Whywas Tim O'Brien's book chosen? What does "thinking outside of the book box" mean? If you are interested in finding out about behind the scenes information for the 2011 Big Read, please check out The Big Read blog, for an insightful interview with Danielle Ward!

For details on all the many events that are currently going on, please visit the NEA website.

100 Years After Death, Mark Twain Publishes New Autobiography

By an act of genius, Mark Twain is still alive, 100 years after his death.

On November 15, the first of three volumes of an autobiography he dictated during the last four years of his life will be published by the University of California Press.

For six years, a team of experts at the Mark Twain Project at Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, has been laboring over 5,000 pages of manuscript, and is now ready to present the 760-page volume. Within the next five years, the second and third volumes, each about 600 pages, will be released. Although parts of the autobiography have surfaced throughout the years, more than half of the entire work is previously unpublished.

Twain requested that the book be published a century after it was written so that he could speak his mind in complete freedom, without fear of losing his reputation or offending those he wrote about. And it does provide never-before-seen insight into Twain's thoughts. In addition to including his characteristically witty tales, Twain castigates the military and makes jabs at Wall Street tycoons.

Dictating the book also helped Twain speak freely without self-censoring. Written in a haphazard, stream-of-conscious manner, Twain proudly called the autobiography "a complete and purposed jumble." He also wrote to a friend that "The form of this book is one of the most memorable literary inventions of the ages. . . . It ranks with the steam engine, the printing press & the electric telegraph. I am the only person who has ever found out the right way to build an autobiography."

The collection is strikingly relevant, both politically and stylistically. Many are now calling Mark Twain the world's first blogger, and no doubt contemporary readers and writers will connect to his honest, blow-by-blow accounts of his thoughts.

You can read more about the autobiography on The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

2011 Festival Headliners Announced!

Drum roll, please!

Eastern Washington University's Get Lit! Programs is delighted to announce the headliners for our 2011 Get Lit! Festival, each presenting a distinct perspective on our theme of "Telling the American Story."

Tim O’Brien will discuss The Things They Carried, his classic collection of stories about American soldiers in the Vietnam War. Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab’s Wife, will present feminine perspectives on the classics. Matthew Dickman will be interviews as well as read from his All American Poem, an energetic depiction of our everyday experiences with pop culture and beauty.

Get ready for nonfiction writers Maude Barlow, global activist and author of international best seller Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water; and Sam Kean, sharing his creative take on the Periodic Table in New York Times bestseller The Disappearing Spoon.

Headlining children's writers include: Louise Borden, author of a myriad of books, including a dramatic, true tale about the creators of Curious George; Suzanne Morgan Williams, author of Bull Rider and other multicultural and historic nonfiction books for children; and Michael Harmon, the unconventional author of the youth books Skate, The Last Exit to Normal, and Brutal. Our musical headliner is singer and songwriter Ani DiFranco, who will perform original songs and spoken word.

Festival passes for the headlining events go on sale Friday, November 5 via TicketsWest or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT. By purchasing a pass, you will be saving $20-$25 off individual ticket costs and service fees. Passes gain admission to see Tim O’Brien (with Brian Turner), Sam Kean, Matthew Dickman, and, on Friday, either Sena Jeter Naslund (with Nancy Rawles) or Ani DiFranco in concert. The regular festival pass is $45. The pass that includes the Ani DiFranco concert ticket is $60 (quantity limited). (Note: individual DiFranco tickets go on sale November 5 for $35.)

Students will again get in free with a current high school or college ID to the headlining events (except DiFranco). Student tickets will be available at the college bookstores or they can get one at the door as space allows.

Mark your calendar for April 13-17 and start thinking about your own American story!

Anthology Accepting Essays on Teaching

Are you a current or recent graduate student who has experience teaching creative writing? If so, you can submit an essay on creative writing pedagogy for possible inclusion in the anthology Dispatches from the Classroom: Graduate Student Essays on Creative Writing Pedagogy.

The editors of the anthology are looking for essays "linking the theoretical foundations of creative writing pedagogy with practical classroom application." They are interested in essays examining pedagogical practices for poetry, nonfiction and drama, but not fiction.

The editors suggest that "ideal essays will briefly discuss an aspect of creative writing instruction (including relevant pedagogical theory), but will focus mainly on how this aspect translates to classroom practice, and will include personal experience and examples."

Submission details:
Essays should follow MLA documentation format and may run from 5-15 pages, but preference will be given to shorter lengths. Supplementary materials including course documents, assignments, or class handouts are encouraged, but should not be submitted independently. Reprints are acceptable if the editors are notified. All submissions should include a cover note with an author bio and the title of the essay. Submissions must be sent to the editors by e-mail at dispatchesfromthefront@yahoo.com by November 19, 2010.

Happy writing!



*Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com.

Get published with the help of New Pages

Are you a writer looking for a place to publish your fiction and/or poetry? While Poets and Writers and Writer's Market are the two most popular options for locating literary journals and competitions, arguably the best organized and most informative website is New Pages. Hugely supportive of independent and university presses -- as well as independent book stores, record labels and alternative weeklies -- New Pages hosts a variety of free resources for writers on the hunt. Writers can narrow down their search by clicking on a variety of contest lists, either for individual stories/poems or for book-length manuscripts, and they can also peruse an inspiring list of calls for submissions -- the rare and highly desirable situation where presses are begging to receive one's work.

New Pages isn't just for writers, but also for readers in search of quirky reads that the bigger publishers may have passed on. Click on "Book Reviews" for exciting new titles being published by these intrepid smaller presses.

And don't forget to visit one of the writing groups in town, such as the Inland Northwest Writers Guild, for more advice on where and how to publish your writing. Their next meeting is at 6:30 PM on August 18th, in the auditorium of Auntie's Book Store.

Spokane Author Shann Ray Wins Prestigious Writing Award

We would like to offer congratulations to Spokane resident Shann Ray, winner of the Katharine Bakeless Nason Prize for Fiction, a prestigious award sponsored by The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference of Middlebury College. His winning manuscript, American Masculine: Montana Stories, will be published by the independent publisher, Graywolf Press, in 2011.

Shann Ray is the nom de plume of Dr. Shann Ferch, a professor currently employed by Gonzaga University, where he teaches classes on leadership and forgiveness. His short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals such as Northwest Review, StoryQuarterly, McSweeney's and The South Dakota Review. He also is an award-winning poet, a Fulbright scholar, a former collegiate basketball player and a father of three daughters.

Get Lit! Programs recently contacted Shann Ray over email in regards to this blog posting. He generously and eloquently offered the following quote when asked about Spokane and the Northwests' influence on his poetry and prose:

"Spokane's lit scene is the place where I was given the gift of seeing the world with new eyes. The great psychiatrist, and holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl once said: 'what is to give light must endure burning.' Frankl also said the most true expression of our humanity is to give ourselves in the ultimate unselfish act of loving another human being. I agree. Here in Spokane, I feel such gratitude for the deep investment other literary artists have made in me. Poet Jonathan Johnson completely transformed my vision of life with others, beauty, and the crucible involved in prose that is both elegant and filled with torque. Poet Chris Howell's Light's Ladder shattered me, and then made me whole. Jess Walter's discernment regarding plot and the undercurrents that move society, and especially his kindness, have been invaluable. Sherman Alexie's poetry collection, The Summer of Black Widows, his collection of stories, War Dances, and his vitality and generosity as a person have helped keep my hope alive as a writer.

"The Northwest, a span of wildness and fire I think of as running from Washington to British Columbia and from Alberta to my home state of Montana is another form of crucible. Spending time with my dad in the high country, and letting the landscape absorb me has given me an abiding respect for the ravishing mystery that is the created world.

"Awe, violence, loneliness, emptiness, forgiveness, intimacy, fullness and grace are aspects of our relationship to landscape that help form the interior of my poems and stories and the people who inhabit them. Both landscape and people leave me with a breathtaking sense of the many subtle and enduring ways perfect love casts out fear."

For more about Shann Ray and his writing, visit his website

Page Ahead: View From the Judge's Table by Guest Blogger Cecelia Goodnow

Get Lit! Programs is once again working with Page Ahead Children's Literacy Program at our annual festival. This year we are hosting a book drive to gather new books for children up to age 12. You can drop off books at any Numerica Credit Union branch, at the INB Performing Arts Center, or any festival event during the month of April.

Get Lit! was also asked to participate in judging for the first Page Ahead Book Award. The categories were picture books in nonfiction, read-aloud, and multicultural. I learned about snowflakes and the boy who actually invented television and discovered many great titles to add to my collection. Each one had something to offer, so it was hard to choose the winners. Below is an insider's look at our book discussion by guest blogger Cecilia Goodnow.

"Does anyone have any thoughts about the next category?"

Susan Waller, development coordinator for the Page Ahead, scanned the faces of the judges ranged around the conference table high above downtown Seattle. We were there to select the winners of Page Ahead's Best Books for Kids, the literacy group's inaugural children's book contest.

I bit. With the confidence of conviction, I pulled my favorite multicultural book from the stack of nominees and argued its merits.

"Clearly," I concluded, "this is the standout title in the category."

A head nodded, and I prepared to take a victory lap. But then another judge spoke up:

"I hated that book."

"I did, too," said another.

Huh?

It was a graphic demonstration of what we all know in the abstract -- that reading tastes are highly personal and individualistic. They also can be quite passionate, as we learned from fellow judge Cecilia McGowen, head children's librarian of the King County Library System. McGowen, who has served on other awards committees, said tears and angry words can spill out in the heat of rhetorical battle. She even heard of one disagreement that was punctuated by a slap.

Fortunately, we were a congenial and collegial group, and we had a lot of fun this afternoon discussing the pros and cons of the titles under consideration. It went kind of like this:

Judge A: "I'm sorry none of your favorites was chosen. I don't want you to feel your opinion isn't being heard."

Judge B: (chuckling) "That's okay. It's not about me."

In addition to McGowen and yours truly, the "deciders" included Rene Kirkpatrick, former buyer at All for Kids and now a buyer at Third Place Books; Stephanie Dunnewind, who reviews kids' books for The Seattle Times, and (via speakerphone from Spokane) Dani Ringwald of Get Lit! Programs, which sponsors an annual literary festival. Waller and Jacki Crowther, Page Ahead's book program manager, rounded out the selection committee.

The scene was a 48th-floor conference room inside the Washington Mutual Tower, in the sprawling offices of Perkins Coie, the Northwest's oldest and largest law firm. We had a great view of the misty city and kept ourselves stoked with a tempting array of snacks from Trader Joe's, so it was well nigh impossible to be cranky about anything. And it was all for a good cause.

Page Ahead launched the contest, which is planned as an annual event, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its literacy outreach. Since 1990 the organization has donated some 2 million new books to more than 600,000 low-income and at-risk children. Through its Family Involvement Program, it works to encourage parents to read aloud to their children. In fact, Read-Aloud was one of the categories in this year's contest, along with Nonfiction and Multicultural titles.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in late April, so I can't divulge the outcome of our vote, but I can share the list of nominees. Feel free to jump in with your opinions, pro or con, on the titles we considered.

Nonfiction

Butterflies and Moths, by Nic Bishop

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, by Brian Floca

The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth, by Kathleen Krull

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder, by Mark Cassino

Boy, Were We Wrong About the Solar System! by Kathleen V. Kudlinski

Read Aloud

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Maybe a Bear Ate It! by Robie Harris

Thunder-Boomer! by Shutta Crum

A Book, by Mordicai Gerstein

The Three Little Tamales, by Eric A. Kimmel

Multicultural

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, by Katie Smith Milway

14 Cows for America, by Carmen Agra Deedy

The Beckoning Cat, by Koko Nishizuka

Our Children Can Soar, by Michelle Cook

Book Fiesta! by Pat Mora

Cecelia Goodnow has been writing about children's books for two decades, initially as a reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Her newspaper career has led her to many topics, including education, politics, lifestyle trends, health and pop culture, but some of her most rewarding stories have been about the world of children's books, whose talented creators too often go unsung. Read more about news, reviews, and dialog about books for children and teens from the Cover to Cover blog here.

Author News!

Local author Sherman Alexie was recently nominated for the PEN/Faulkner award for his story collection, War Dances. Tuesday, the announcement came...Alexie it is! Among other, he joins company with Philip Roth, John Updike and E.L. Doctorow.

Alexie, who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and currently lives in Seattle, has previously won a National Book award for Young People's Literature and a Pushcart Prize, among countless other awards and fellowships. He has also been selected for the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award.

For the PEN/Faulkner selection process, the judges considered close to 350 novels and short story collections by American authors published in the US during the 2009 calendar year. The submissions came from over 90 publishing houses, including small and academic presses.

The PEN/Faulkner is the largest peer-juried prize for fiction in the US. Alexie's fellow nominees include Barbara Kingsolver for The Lacuna, Lorraine M. López for Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories, Lorrie Moore for A Gate at the Stairs and Colson Whitehead for Sag Harbor. The winner will receive $15,000 while the other nominees will receive $5,000 apiece.

War Dances is a collection of short stories and poems. "That book was the one we all liked immediately," said Kyoko Mori, one of the three judges. "There was something special about the range of characters. It was like watching a dance. I liked how some of the characters were unlikable but compelling."

Get Lit! would like to congratulate this beloved author.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Festival author, Victor Lodato, received the 2009 Barnes and Noble Discover Award for Fiction with his debut novel Mathilda Savitch. Pick it up early and then join the facebookclub with Michael Bowen at "Inlander Book Club."

Watch for a feature by festival author, Sallie Tisdale, coming out in the April issue of Harper's. It is about raising an child with special needs. Watch for it on the racks!

FREE DOWNLOAD! Author Renee Riva just gave us a heads up that her novel, Saving Sailor, will be offered as a free download on Kindle through the end of March! Saving Sailor is the first in a trilogy, with the other two books being Taking Tuscany and Heading Home (April 1). The trilogy follows a family of seven in the 1960's, and Saving Sailor focuses on the relationship between a ten-year-old girl named A.J. and her dog Sailor.

Spokane's Big Read

Have you read To Kill A Mockingbird yet? If so, when is the last time you have read it? Either way we invite you to participate in this year's Big Read, featuring To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Big Read is a month long celebration hosted by the Spokane Public Library, which encourages people across the city to read, discuss, and attend various events centered around a single book.

This year, The Big Read highlights Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the story of lawyer Atticus Finch defending a black man accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama. The book is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of all time and has long been required reading in many classrooms.

There will be a variety of events taking place during this year's Big Read, including book discussions, film screenings, civil rights discussions, and even a mock trial. To see all of the events that are taking place throughout the month, please visit the Get Lit! Literary Calendar.

We encourage you to visit our message board to discuss To Kill a Mockingbird, and the many ethical and societal issues that it brings up.

Get Lit! Programs has applied for the Big Read grant for March/April 2011 focusing on Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried.

The Things They Carried is a collection of related stories by Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. The stories center around the tangible and intangible things that each soldier carries with them throughout the war, and the hardships they endured.

We hope to engage the military community, veterans, college/high school students, as well as the community at large. We'll keep you posted!

End 2009 with the 100 Best Last Lines in Literature

The American Book Review specializes in reviews of frequently neglected published works of fiction, poetry, and literary and cultural criticism from small, regional, university, ethnic, avant-garde, and women's presses. ABR is a literary journal that aims to project the sense of engagement that writers themselves feel about what is being published. It is edited and produced by writers for writers and the general public.
While the last line on this sign brings up all sorts of potential storylines, we recently ran across the ABR's collection of the best last lines in literature. Some may bring back memories and others my entice you to read a book you've been meaning to get to. Here are some of their selections:

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

"This is the difference between this and that." - Gertrude Stein, A Novel of Thank You

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

"They hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary way." - John Milton, Paradise Lost

"So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see." –Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

"Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?" - Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

“There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air.” –Kate Chopin, The Awakening

“Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?” –Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

Let's end 2009 with a good line. Read the complete list of 100 here or let us your favorite last line from literature! Or hey...if you are feeling creative, tell us the story behind the above sign.

Selected Shorts Writing Contest

NPR's Selected Shorts, a celebration of the short story, is coming to Spokane for the Get Lit! Festival on Friday, April 16 at 7pm at the Bing Crosby Theater. Selected Shorts features actors reading short stories, giving the narratives a thrilling new life.

Selected Shorts just announced the 2010 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize with guest judge Nathan Englander.

The winning submission will be read as part of the Selected Shorts performance at Symphony Space on April 7, 2010, just one short week before the Get Lit! Festival. The story will be recorded for possible later broadcast as part of the public radio series. The winner will receive $1000.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to make a strong showing for the Inland Northwest through this national contest? The winner is announced in April...just in time for the winner to be a part of the Get Lit! Festival!

Here are the story requirements:
Submit a single short story that addresses the theme, Apartments and Neighbors.
Your story must have a title.
Make sure your name and contact information appear on the first page of your story. If you are submitting online, this information needs to appear on the first page of the attached Word document. Include page numbers.
Your story must be no more than 2 double-spaced typed pages in length (Times New Roman, 12 pt font) and no more than 750 words.

Find more information here and happy writing!

Will Write for Suite

Would you write a poem for a suite at the Davenport? Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931), an American poet who combined poetry with performing arts, called the Spokane's Davenport Hotel home for five years between 1924 and 1929. While living in room 1129, Lindsey held court in the Davenport lobby, reciting his poetry and mingling with the Spokane elite. Now, his stay is commemorated on a plaque in the hotel's lobby.

Influenced greatly by jazz, Lindsay's poems focused primarily on the sound and performance possible within a poem. His most famous work "The Congo" uses jazz rhythms and onomatopoeia to create, rather than describe, the sounds of indigenous drums and dancing.

Lindsay began his career traveling the country giving performances of his poetry in exchange for food and lodging. As his fame grew, he was invited to more prestigious readings, including a performance for President Woodrow Wilson.

To celebrate this poet, the Davenport Hotel will hold its second annual celebration of Lindsay in the Marie Antoinette Ballroom on Sunday, November 8 at 7pm. “Vachel Lindsay: The Davenport Hotel’s Jazz-Age Mystic” will include performances of Lindsay’s poetry as well as local poets reading their own work. The event is free and open to the public. Learn more about this and other local literary events at Get Lit!'s Literary Event Calendar.

Write "The Great Frantic Novel" this November!

Have you ever wanted to write a novel but can never build up the nerve? Have you ever wanted to write anything but can’t get past the thought of spending months rewriting and editing?

If you’ve had these thoughts, then the NaNoWriMo is for you! NaNoWriMo is a code for National Novel Writing Month, where people from around the world come together (via the web) and write. And write. And write. The goal is have a full 175 page (or approximately 50,000 words) novel by the end of November 30^th. The catch: you can’t start until November 1^st. So you better sign up now before everyone else gets ahead of you.

Here how it works: First, you sign up. Then you start writing. Write until your fingers can’t type anymore. When you start to feel completely overwhelmed or just plain tired, chat with people on the NaNoWriMo website to get your spirits back up (also update your word count status while you’re there). Then write some more. As their website says, “it’s about quantity not quality.” Don’t be afraid of your imagination. Let it run wild. And don't dwell on the fact that what you might be writing is complete hogwash, because in reality, everyone else probably feels the same way. And if you somehow miraculously finish…no, WHEN you finish, you get not only a cool printable certificate to hang on your wall, but the knowledge that you just pumped out 50,000 words in 30 days! How cool is that?

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today!

October Newsletter

Online Literary Events Calendar!
Ever heard about a local reading a day too late? Did you miss out on David Sedaris at Auntie’s or Robert Hass at Gonzaga? Want to find something educational and FUN to take the kids to? Get Lit! Programs is here to help. In addition to information about our own events and programs, the Get Lit! website features the literary events calendar with events and programs in our region. We post book signing, poetry slams, lectures, story times, and more. Most of it is FREE. So go ahead and bookmark our calendar. We update it all the time! And if you organize events in the area and would like us to include them, email information to us at getlit@ewu.edu.

Poetry Out Loud!
Get Lit! Programs is the regional coordinator of Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation contest for high school students. Students memorize and perform classic and contemporary poems, bringing the written word to life. After classroom and school competitions, contestants can move on to the regional, state, and national competitions. With cash prizes and book stipends for schools, Poetry Out Loud is an exciting way to introduce students to poetry. Schools can register for free online until November 18th. If you have any questions, email Daniel Harrington at poetryoutloud509@gmail.com.

Calling All Book Clubs!
The 2010 Get Lit! Festival will be coming around before we know it (April 14th-21st) and we want to give book clubbers an inside peak at our author lineup. Remember, Auntie’s Bookstore will give your club a 15% discount if your club is registered with them. So send us an email at getlit@ewu.edu telling us who you are and what your focus is and we’ll let you know what authors you can expect to see in April so you can read ahead.


Watch for 2010 updates on our website: www.ewu.edu/getlit


Sneak Peak for Next Month:
• Bring Authors Tour to Your School!
• Some of the 2010 Get Lit! Festival Authors Announced!
• Are you a Lit! Lover?

Coffee Splash, Poems Crash, Prose and Music Catch on Fire

The Inland Northwest can and should be proud of its writers. Whether homegrown or imported, we have a community of writers rich with experience and energy. All the time, new zines show up on the shelves at Auntie’s, a new local writer comes out with a startling novel, a teenager discovers a voice through slam poetry. And we can be thankful that in our Internet age, this community can grow virtually, we can connect across long distances, time zones, and languages. Sometimes, however, we’ve got to show up. Sometimes we need to be present for words to blast off the page and into our ears to startle our consciousness, to remind us that literature is alive and breathing, that we are the breath. And if we’re going to show up, we need a place to do it.

One of Spokane’s most beloved venues for music, visual art, and literature is in danger. The Empyrean, 154 S. Madison, may close down before the end of the year because of a new fire code requiring sprinklers that the café can’t afford to install. This wouldn’t just be a blow to one more Spokane business in hard economic times, this would be a blow to the growth of the arts in Spokane.

Get Lit! uses The Empyrean for many events during our annual festival, but during the rest of the year, the late-night coffee spot also hosts Spokane Poetry Slam, Broken Mic Night, Voice Over, and other readings. These events showcase new and established writers alike, strengthening our community and bringing the written word to life.

Tomorrow, October 22 at 7pm, local writers are coming together to support the Empyrean and put their art on the line for our community. The show is $5, and all proceeds will go directly to the sprinkler fund. Come hear some astonishing work, drink a coffee or beer, and throw some extra bucks in the firefighter boot. Support the arts by supporting those who support the arts.

Sometimes we’ve got to show up.

Learn more about the sprinkler issue from this Inlander article.

National Book Awards Nominees Announced

The National Book Awards announced the nominees for the 2009 awards this past week and the talent displayed is excellent and vast. The awards are staying true to their mission of putting both established and emerging authors in the spotlight, while creating more awareness of the literary world, just as GetLit! is doing.

The four categories (fiction, non fiction, poetry and youth literature) each have five nominees touching on a different aspects of the world through their writing. The fiction category includes stories ranging from a man alone in the Siberian desert to a collection of short stories about growing up in rural Michigan. The nonfiction topics range from evolution to a guy who really didn’t like the Romans. The poetry category shows off an excellent array of well spoken poets. And the youth literature category places stories and events in a light that captures the minds of young people. You can find more information about the different nominees at the National Book Awards website, or check out the listing below.

Fiction: Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage; Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin; Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders; Jayne Anne Phillips, Lark and Termite; Marcel Theroux, Far North

Nonfiction: David M. Carroll, Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook; Sean B. Carroll, Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species; Greg Grandin, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City; Adrienne Mayor, The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy; T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

Poetry: Rae Armantrout, Versed; Ann Lauterbach, Or to Begin Again; Carl Phillips, Speak Low; Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Open Interval; Keith Waldrop, Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy

Youth Lit: Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith; Phillip Hoose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice; David Small, Stitches; Laini Taylor, Lips Touch: Three Times; Rita Williams-Garcia, Jumped

The winners of the National Book Awards will be announced at the 60th National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony on Wednesday, November 18. It's like the Oscars...for books!

Take this opportunity to tell us who you think the winners should be in each category. Let the games begin!

"My inner life is writing. That I can hold on to."

On Thursday, Herta Mueller, novelist, poet, and essayist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Romania in 1953 and emigrating to Germany in 1987, Ms Mueller’s experiences of persecution and censorship in her native country fuel her work with stories of dictatorship and brutality. In the Swedish Academy’s announcement of her award, they described her as a writer “who, with the concentration of poetry and frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.”

Get Lit! Programs believes in literature and writing as a vehicle of freedom for all. The more we read, listen, and create works of art, the more our hearts and minds are transformed. I recall hearing a story that the wife of Russian poet, Osip Mandelstam, would memorize his poetry because there were times he was not permitted a pen. The idea of an "inner life" that Mueller speaks of is an idea I think many writers can identify with. Creativity and imagination can never be taken from us, and writing, teaching, creating, and reading are how we share this inner life with the rest of the world.

To celebrate with Herta Mueller, let’s call upon ourselves and others to create, honor, and remember the value of literature in our world, our community, and ourselves. You can even check out Get Lit!’s Literary Events Calendar to find ways to get started.

Excerpt from The Land of Green Plum by Herta Mueller, translated by Michael Hoffman,
Northwestern University Press (1998):

When we don’t speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.
We had been sitting and staring at the pictures on the floor for too long. My legs had fallen asleep from sitting.
The words in our mouths do as much damage as our feet on the grass. But so do our silences.
Edgar was silent.
To this day, I can’t really picture a grave. Only a belt, a window, a nut, and a rope. To me, each death is like a sack.
Anyone who hears that, said Edgar, is bound to think you’ve lost your mind.
And I then I have the feeling that whenever someone dies he leaves behind a sack of words. And barbers, and nail-clippers—I always think of them, too, since the dead no longer need them. And they don’t ever lose buttons either.

Calling All High School Teachers...

Poetry Out Loud is having a Professional Development Workshop for High School Teachers on the 9th of October. This nation-wide program encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance, and now they're offering a chance to learn how to introduce Poetry Out Loud to students. Learn more about Poetry Out Loud, how to run the program in your school, and how to help students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

Who should attend?
High School teachers of English, Language Arts, Drama, or related classes
Teachers new to Poetry Out Loud
Teachers who have participated in prior years – come and share your expertise and learn what’s new this year

What will the workshop cover?
What is Poetry Out Loud?
How do you run a successful classroom and school-wide program?
What does good poetry recitation look like?
What are strategies for teaching memorization and recitation?

Workshop Schedule
Friday, October 9th
9AM - NOON
Riverpoint Campus Student Activity Center 205 (building where the library is)

Note: persons requesting disability accommodations call Dani at: 509-368-6590

Parking info:
The south campus yellow lot now has a multi-spaced pay station (“pay and display”). Rates will match the meters. The advantage over a meter is that you can purchase parking with coin, bills, and debit/credit cards. The machine prints out a ticket that you stick to the inside of your window. There are also meters in the parking lot closest to the SAC. Meters and street parking are patrolled regularly during the week and on weekends.

Registration:

This workshop is free and 3 clock hours will be given. Show up and please bring a friend or colleague. You can email Daniel to let him know how many will be attending... to arrange snack quantities. Yes, that’s right, there will be some goodies and the 2009 Poetry Out Loud teachers kits to ensure that this year will be a success. The free kits include Teachers resource guide, 2 poetry books, Audio Cds, and a DVD of best P.O.L. performances from previous years.

We look forward to seeing you, and please let others know about this opportunity so we can make Poetry Out Loud in the East side of Washington the best it can be!!

For more information and registration contact: Daniel Harrington at poetryoutloud509@gmail.com or 509-218-8426

Are you ready for Get Lit! 2010?

Have you picked up the latest Annual Manual from The Inlander? It is full of reminders about what makes Spokane an interesting place. Pick one up from the typical Inlander stands all over town to find out about food, shopping secrets, weekend ideas, and ARTS, ARTS, ARTS. Here are two articles on Get Lit! (pg 148 and 196) that I wanted to share with you:

Begotten by Lit

by Michael Bowen

"Spokane's literary festival got started in 1998 with a marathon, day-long reading that was attended by about three people huddling in the rain.

Get Lit! has expanded since then - so much so that we've all gotten a little spoiled. In the peak years of 2004-5, a long line of literary big dogs - Garrison Keillor, Kurt Vonnegut, Sarah Vowell, Dave Barry, Lynda Barry, Rita Dove, David Sedaris, Robert Bly, Salmon Rushdie - delivered readings here. It seemed that we'd be able to attract the big names for quite some time.

Yet while budgets have slenderized in recent years, Get Lit! forges on with new ideas. In 2009, for example, EWU creative writing professor Sam Ligon gave novelist Charles Baxter the full James Lipton/Actors Studio treatment, complete with note cards; there was a lively discussion at Auntie's Bookstore about the role in a digital environment of newspapers and other media; and wonder of wonders, a late-night crowd jam-packed a side room at Europa to hear ... five poets reading and discussion their poetry.

And people say nobody cares about reading anymore. Especially poetry.

On the contrary, there's a hunger for it.

For April 2010, for example, another one of those household names (like one of those big names from five years ago) seems likely to make an appearance. But whoever's here, Get Lit! will still present multiple opportunities to see the woman behind the poem, the man behind the novel: the literary word, humanized. Writing and reading, such solitary exercises, feel even more energized than almost any other art form by the presence, voice, mannerisms, quirks of the author, seen in person.

Cities that care about books don't simply have bookstores. They encourage - and attend - literary events. So let the Lit Get you: It's one week out of the year when reading isn't solitary but social."

Get Lit! Reaches out to Kids

by Michael Bowen

Get Lit! doesn't just run for a week. It runs all year long.

You've heard about the big name authors dropping in for readings during April, sure. But Get Lit! also organizes educational outreach projects for students (K-12) throughout the year. Since 2004, in fact, Get Lit! has reached more than 25,000 students in our area.

And how does it "reach" them? Through author tours, for one thing.

Imagine being a fifth-grader on the rez or a middle-schooler at a remote rural school. Your teacher's making you read some dumb book by some guy who's probably ... and then the guy himself actually shows up at your school. You get to hear the author read his words in his own voice. He discusses his writing habits, how he works, how he got his book published. He helps you create your own stories.

When students get a chance to meet a published author, books come alive and imagination blooms.

Another way that Get Lit! reaches out to students is the Writers-in-Residence program. A professional writer with a master's degree commits to a particular school for a semester or even an entire school year. Working with three classrooms, she leads literary discussions and writing workshops. The kids get to write their own poems, stories, essays, and songs - and even go on creative-writing field trips. Then, at the end of the residency, the students hold a community reading and collect their work in an anthology for all to see.

Get Lit! also hosts the regional competition for Poetry Out Loud, the national recitation contest - supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation - which encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization and performance.

And that's one of several ways that Get Lit! helps make writing come alive for young authors - not just in April, but all year long."

**Save these dates for the 2010 festival: April 14-21