Festival Wrap-Up

What a fantastic lineup we had for the festival this year! Thank you to all of our authors, organizers, volunteers, supporters and attendees.

Just a few thoughts on the slew of amazing events this intern was able to attend:

Selected Shorts: Hearing Isaiah Sheffer in person was incredible. James Noughton and Susanna Thompson, both accomplished performers, were the other readers and the audience was entirely enamored with all of them. The stories, revolving around the theme of "Fatherhood" included selections by John Updike, Roald Dahl and Maxine Swann.

Richard Russo/Jess Walter: If you didn't make it to this event, you've probably already been told, but you missed out. Big time. Russo and Walter, longtime friends, had a packed house at the Bing Crosby Theater rolling in the aisles. Walter read a hilarious short story, as yet unpublished, which he explained came out of a writing exercise between he and Sherman Alexie, while Russo read from his latest novel, That Old Cape Magic. The two bantered back and forth, discussed screenwriting as well as novel writing and answered extensive questions from the audience. When the evening finally ended, everyone exiting the building was still smiling and laughing.

In Conversation with Janet Fitch: This headlining event at the Bing Crosby Theater was also a tremendous success. Fitch read from Paint it Black and then settled into an onstage question & answer period with a moderator. The setup seemed perfect for Fitch, whose conversational style drew the audience in and made the event feel very intimate. Her honest opinions and self-deprecating humor made for an engaging event, and she also took various questions from the audience after the onstage Q&A. There was quite the line for book signings afterward, that's for sure. You can check out her blog here.

Those are just some initial thoughts on the fantastic events attended by this intern! Keep checking back for more information on next year's equally amazing lineup!

Check out what authors Janet Fitch, Ana Maria Spagna and Susan Rich thought by visiting their blogs!

Idaho Poetry Prize 2010

Heads up on an upcoming contest deadline, poets!

Lost Horse Press is accepting submissions for The Idaho Prize for Poetry 2010, a national competition offering $1,000 plus publication by Lost Horse Press for a book-length poetry manuscript. They specify that there is no restriction on content, style or subject, they're just looking for the best overall work.

This will be the seventh annual poetry book contest sponsored by Lost Horse Press, and the final judge is Thomas Lux. Make sure to include with your submission the $25 reading fee and SASE for the notification of winners. Postmark deadline for the contest is May 15, 2010, and the winner will be announced August 15, 2010.

Reasons we love Lost Horse Press: they specify in the contest guidelines that you shouldn't try to impress them by using expensive paper, because "quality paper won't impress readers the way a quality manuscript will."

Also, aside from being a successful, independent and local (Sandpoint, ID) press, The Lost Horse New Poets, Short Books Series, edited by Marvin Bell, is dedicated to "works often ignored by conglomerate publishers which are so much in danger of vanishing into obscurity in what has become the age of chain stores and mass appeal food, movies, art and books."

Word.

Check out the rest of the submission guidelines here . After all, you do want your submission to get read, right? Triple check the guidelines or email http://losthorsepress@mindspring.com with questions.

Jazzin' it up

It's not every day that Spokane, WA sees celebrities like this. Pushcart Prize winner, National Book Award nominee, performer at Carnegie Hall, four-time national Poetry Slam champion; featured in the HBO series "Def Poetry Jam;" documented performing her poetry in a short film; instructor in poetry, performance and creative writing; inductee into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African descent. That's right, it's just one person with a boatload of accolades. Oh, and did we mention she's performed alongside Adrienne Rich, Sharon Olds, Rita Dove, Joyce Carol Oates, Allen Ginsberg, Walter Mosley, Gwendolyn Brooks, Billy Collins and Galway Kinnell? And even Viggo Mortensen, of Lord of the Rings fame?

Of course, it could be none other than world-renowned performance poet Patricia Smith, who will perform her poems alongside top local jazz musicians, melding music and poetry into one exciting evening, Wednesday, April 21, 7 p.m. at The Fox Theater.

Smith often explores the relationships between music and poetry, having worked with blues bands and improvisation jazz groups. She says of the experience, “Here's how it's worked with bands I've performed with before. I very seldom know for sure what I'm going to read until I'm in the venue. Instead, I share the tone of the poem—what it's about, how long it is, and if there are any special moments I should signal—once I begin, the musicians catch the rhythm and mood of what I'm doing. They inspire me and, hopefully, I inspire them. That's how the best performances are created.”

Local jazz musicians (and EWU professors) Todd DelGiudice, Don Goodwin and Rob Tapper will be joined by other locals to perform with Smith, drawing on their various experiences with the Spokane Symphony and Spokane Jazz Orchestra. Opening the evening will be the next generation of poetry performers, including the 2010 Regional Poetry Out Loud winner as well as the first place Get Lit! Youth, Teen and College Slam winners. The event is free for students with ID and $20 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketswest.

Smith has received stellar reviews around the world for how compelling and energetic her performances are. One critic, Victor Infante, raved, “Smith epitomizes what a performance poet should be: supremely confident, radiating with presence, drilling each word for precise effect, no nuance or inflection too small for consideration.”

Smith is currently at work on the verse memoir Shoulda Been Jimmie Savannah and the young adult novel The Journey of Willie J.. Her fifth book of poetry, Blood Dazzler, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Insight with Sallie Tisdale

"Insight with Sallie Tisdale" will be at 11:30 a.m. in the Marie Antoinette Ballroom of the Davenport Hotel. You can also join her for the Davenport's Sunday Brunch at 10 a.m., just mention Get Lit! when you make your reservations with the hotel.

Sallie Tisdale says that her perfect day would include sunshine, a good book, being outdoors, and perhaps a good baseball game on the radio. Now that doesn't sound striking or controversial, right?

Tisdale is known best for being provocative, examining various issues around sex, gender, medicine and morality. She was a registered nurse and has written about her experiences working in various clinical settings. Despite the tense issues she often explores, she can engage almost any ready through her head-on approach to each topic. She knows better than to proselytize; instead, she demonstrates the complexity of each chosen topic and approaches it directly, without apology.

Her most recent book examines the female teachers of Buddhism she'd never heard about in her 25 years of practicing. Once she realized most of the Buddhist literature she was reading was by men and about men, she decided to explore how women have contributed to the Buddhist life, and the result was her seventh book, Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Wisdom.

Tisdale has taught at Reed College, Northwestern University, and New York University. One of the writing tips she shares with students is:

"Ignore the rules. Forget what they taught you in the writing program. Ignore the bestseller lists and whatever seems to be in fashion right now. Read the writers you admire, but not very much. Don't imitate; but if you're really stuck, open a book of poetry and pick a line at random, and do a free write from it. Then throw it away. Keep piles of notes, lines and titles, and anecdotes. You will find a place for a few of them someday. Accept a few hard truths: There is 95-percent chaff for the few kernels of wheat. Revision is continual. Most good writers don't get published very easily. Most bestsellers suck. It's not a meritocracy. Write for the sake of the words. Keep your day job."

Her books include The Sorcerer's Apprentice: Tales of the Modern Hospital (1986), Harvest Moon: Portrait of a Nursing Home (1987), Talk Dirty to Me: An Intimate History of Sex (1994), and The Best Thing I Ever Tasted: The Secret of Food (2000). Her work also frequently appears in such periodicals as Conde Nast Traveler, the New York Times Magazine, and The Antioch Review.