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!

Get your Get Lit! Tickets

Every year, we work hard to make festival events more affordable and accessible to our community. This year we are proud to announce lower ticket prices, a hugely discounted Festival Pass, FREE tickets for students with ID, and FREE admission for the whole family to all youth events and many other festival activities. Students can pick up free tickets with their ID by visiting the bookstore at their college in April or come to the ticket counter at the event.

The Festival Pass offers admission to all headlining events listed below at a discount of over 60%. Passes or individual tickets to the following events are now available for purchase through TicketsWest.

*How to Win a Cosmic War with Dr. Reza Aslan

*PRI’s Selected Shorts: Year of the Father
*An Evening with Richard Russo and Jess Walter
*Insight with Author Sallie Tisdale
*In Conversation with Janet Fitch

*Jazz Poetry Performance with Patricia Smith

Registration for workshops will be available through Spokane Parks & Recreation’s Spring Activities Guide ($30 general/$20 students, plus some workshops are free).

Get Lit! Flicks tickets will be available at the Magic Lantern Theatre (25 W. Main) for a cost of $7 for a single showing or $10 for a double feature.

Getting Ready for Janet Wong at Get Lit!

Janet Wong loves interacting with her young audience and she provides many opportunities to do just that.

First, she has an excellent blog, where she interacts directly with students. Janet will post one of her poems and invites students from kindergartens to 8th grade to comment and ask questions. Then comes the exciting part: Janet responds! She gives great insight into her writing style, culture, and writing process. Teachers whose students have participated on the blog report that their students discovered a purpose for their writing through their interactions with the poet who responded to their comments, became engaged in the revising and editing process through sharing their poetry and comments, increased their enthusiasm for writing, and engaged in dialogs with students in other schools by posting their writing and discussing each others’ work.

The other way you can prepare for Janet Wong's appearance at the Get Lit! Festival is by downloading a free advanced copy of her book Me and Rolly Maloo by going to the Charlesbridge website and using the username: Charlesbridge, password: ARC. Here you can download not only the book, but discussion and activity guides, as well as enter to win a free classroom visit with Janet Wong via Skype.

If you know any kids who love writing, get them excited about Janet Wong coming to the Get Lit! Festival through her blog and her latest book. These two activities will get them prepared for the Kids Poetry Workshop with Janet on Saturday, April 17 at 9:30am, and Janet Wong's Essence of Childhood reading at 10:45am, both at the Kress Gallery during the Get Lit! Festival. Janet will also be teaching a free workshop for educators about incorporating social-responsibility into reading and writing lesson plans (Friday, April 16 at 4:30pm, EWU Riverpoint Campus). Advanced hardcopies of Me and Rolly Maloo will be available for purchase at the Festival as well.

Get Loud with Poetry Out Loud

“Poetry Out Loud has helped me write with voice and expression, especially in the poetry that I have written.”

Get Lit! Programs is once again proud to be hosting the regional 2010 Poetry Out Loud competition at the Early Bird Room of the Davenport Hotel. On February 5^th at 6:30 pm, high school students will compete in this national recitation contest by performing both classical and contemporary poetry. Poetry Out Loud celebrates the oral history of poetry while giving high school students valuable experience in public speaking.

Much like the national spelling bee, Poetry Out Loud starts in area high schools throughout the country. In the Spokane area, high schools entering the competition this year include: Central Valley High School, CBE Alternative Programs, Deer Park High School, East Valley High School, Havermale High School, Mead High School, Phoenix Alternative High School, and Okanogan High School. At the regional competition, two students will be selected to go on to the state finals, held on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at South Puget Sound Community College campus. Organizers hope students from the regional competition will make it past the state competition and make it all the way to the national finals.

Last year, Kevin Ma, a sophomore from Mead High School, won $100 and a $200 stipend for his school by placing as a runner-up at the state competition. Many of the students commented on their newfound appreciation for poetry, and encouraged others to get involved. “I would definitely recommend Poetry Out Loud,” said Kevin. “I think it provides students the opportunity to experience poetry as a whole and provides the flexibility for every student to find poems that they personally enjoy.” Kevin performed Shirley Geok-Lin Lim's "Learning to Love American" and "In the Desert" by Stephen Crane.

Check out this video, created by students, reflecting on Poetry Out Loud. We'll see you February 5th at the Davenport at 6pm!