Welcome Literary Librarians!

Get Lit! is super excited to be partnering with WLA to bring Jane Smiley to our 2009 festival. We can't wait to meet meet the WLAers at Jane's reading on Thursday, April 16th. But why spend only one evening with us? Library professionals are some of our favorite people and we'd love to get to know you better.

If you are one of the WLA conference attendees in April, why not extend your stay through the weekend? We have a fantastic line-up of author readings, workshops, and community panels for you to enjoy.

On Saturday April 18, if you are interested in writing, you can participate in our workshops ($25 each) on playwriting, screenwriting, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or editing. Or you can check out our FREE community panels on topics such as: battling censorship, writing for children, online storytelling, the art of graphic novels, and Jane Austen. We also invite you to enjoy our KPBX Kids Concert "Songs and Stories from Around the World" with storyteller Margaret Lippert and the Spokane Area Children's Chorus at the Bing Theater. Or visit a local library to listen to other festival authors reading around town: Sherry Jones and Glenda Burgess at the South Hill Library, Samuel Green and Oliver de la Paz at the Downtown Library, or Kathryn Trueblood and Martha Silano at the North Spokane Library.

After enjoying dinner in one of Spokane's many great restaurants, why not spend the evening listening to environmental writer and activist David Suzuki ($20) speak and read from his book The Big Picture along with Pulitzer-prize winning author William Dietrich?

On Sunday April 19, join us for coffee, tea, and poetry with leading British poet, Simon Armitage ($10). He's short listed to be the new UK Poet Laureate! At 1pm. the Young Adult author Ellen Wittlinger will read from her latest, Love and Lies and talk about the award-winning Hard Love.

For more information visit our new festival website, or contact Dani Ringwald at 509 368-6590.

We look forward to seeing you in April! The conference planners have been working hard, so I know you're in for a treat.

Get Lit! At First Night

In the past, we've had readings at First Night, but this year we are focusing on the younger set. Get Lit! will present a literary event for the family from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at Auntie’s Bookstore on Wednesday, December 31.

Admission is free for children 10 and under. Otherwise, a First Night button is required for admittance. Buttons cost $12 in advance or $15 day of and can be purchased at Aunties Bookstore, City Perk, STA Plaza, Mountain West Bank in Spokane Valley, River Park Square Concierge Desk, Tomlinson Real Estate Offices, and Zip Trip Food Stores. For more information on First Night events go to: http://www.firstnightspokane.org/.

Local children’s author, Kelly Milner Halls, will kick-off the evening at 7:00 pm with a her “Wonders of the Weird” artifacts that help bring her nonfiction books—Dinosaur Mummies, Tales of the Cryptids, and Mysteries of the Kid Mummies—come to life. Kelly has a thing for science and geography, particularly the off-beat and loves to share her sense of wonder with kids. For more information visit: http://www.kellymilnerhalls.com/

The evening’s line-up will also showcase readings from our local elementary and middle school students who participated in the Get Lit!’s Writers-in-Residence Program. Over 25 students from District 81, West Valley, and Central Valley School District (Franklin Elementary, Ness Elementary, and Summit School) will present their poems and other writings. Our young writers have been writing, rewriting, and practicing their presentation for this special event.

At 8:30 pm, Patrick Carman, a children’s and young adult author from Walla Walla, will close the program with a reading from some of his bestselling series such as: The Land of Elyon, Atherton and Elliot's Park. Patrick is the award-winning author of many books for young adults and children and has new books in these series scheduled for release throughout 2009, as well as a new book, Skeleton Creek, which is part book/part online adventure. Check his website at www.enterskeletoncreek.com for more details.

Hopefully we'll see you there! If you are interested in volunteering with us at Auntie's from 6:30 to 9:30, you'll get a free button to go and play the rest of the night and all of First Day. If you are interested, call Dani at 368-6590.

Timothy Egan, Joe the Plumber, and Barbara Bush's Dog

Why do we love literary festivals?

According to Wikipedia--the font of all knowledge--the primary objectives of a literary festival are "promoting the authors' books and fostering a love of literature and writing."

At Get Lit!, we're all about fostering that love. We look forward to spending part of our April talking about, hearing about, and dreaming about great literature. For those precious 11 days, Spokane goes book crazy. Books pop up in conversations at work, school, the gym, the PTA, etc. People we've known for ages suddenly reveal new sides of themselves with talk of favorite books and latest reads.

And sure, the authors come to promote their books, but they wouldn't write those books in the first place if they weren't literature lovers. Or would they?

Timothy Egan, Pulitzer prize recipient, bestselling author, columnist, former Spokane resident, and--most noteably--the 2007 Get Lit! author, recently revealed a darker side of why people write books in his New York Times op-ed, "Typing Without a Clue." Egan writes about authors that are just in it for the cash (wait...there's cash in writing?) and what's more, they aren't even the good writers! Joe the Plumber is his prime example. Egan argues that publishing companies that push books for cash hurt people who know how to create great literature

"Most of the writers I know work every day, in obscurity and close to poverty, trying to say one thing well and true. Day in, day out, they labor to find their voice, to learn their trade, to understand nuance and pace. And then, facing a sea of rejections, they hear about something like Barbara Bush’s dog is getting a book deal."

In the column, Egan acknowledges that some people who are not defined primarily as writers, President Elect Obama for example, are actually good wordsmiths, but then adds:

"For the others — you friends of celebrities penning cookbooks, you train wrecks just out of rehab, you politicians with an agent but no talent — stop soaking up precious advance money. I know: publishers say they print garbage so that real literature, which seldom makes any money, can find its way into print. True, to a point. But some of them print garbage so they can buy more garbage."

Get Lit! promises to never, ever, ever present garbage at our festival. Remember, we're all about fostering the love of literature—-great literature—-through fantastic author events and outreach programs. Make sure you join our 2009 love fest on April 10-19 and support all of our authors, the ones who work in "obscurity and close to poverty" and the ones who are a little more well known.

Check out Jess Walters and Timothy Egan interviewing each other at the 2007 Get Lit!:

Part I
Part II

Curiousity May Kill Cats...But Never Readers

If you are looking for the most up to date information on the 2009 Get Lit! Festival, look no further! We are currently hammering and nailing away on our website renovation. I anticipate it will be up and running starting the first of the year. But for those of you who are wanting to get a jump on the festival in order to plan for your bookgroup, read up on the authors who will be in attendance, or just start the Get Lit! gossip going, we update this blog each week with useful information for readers and writers and festival fans.

Over on the side you'll see a basic outline of the festival schedule as it stands now, plus a listing of authors who will be attending the festival. Watch that one grow from three to twenty over the next few months!

And if you are interested in joining our e-newsletter list, we are sending out monthly updates about the festival. Just go to: http://www.ewu.edu/getlit/mailings.htm