Get Lit! Festival 2025

This is a private invite-only gathering for our authors to mix and mingle and enjoy light refreshments. We want to thank Gander & Ryegrass for hosting us and encourage you to check them out another day. You can also consider them for your own private event needs as detailed below!

If you're looking to celebrate a special occasion with family and friends, throw a gala, or host an unforgettable event, Gander and Ryegrass can accommodate! Whether you want to reserve their private dining room in the historic Liberty Building, (home of Auntie's Bookstore!) or prefer they come to you with their mobile catering kitchen, Gander and Ryegrass offers a number of event options to meet your needs. Their menu offerings, while based in Italian cuisine and technique, are also flexible; if you have a vision for hosting your own event, please don't hesitate to inquire!

*Festival authors please note that we are unable to accommodate plus ones for this reception.

Memory as Material with Maggie Smith

In this generative nonfiction class, we’ll work on creating art from life, using our memories as material. How do we get to the heart of a lived experience on the page? How can we feel comfortable and confident sharing our personal lives with a public audience? What craft elements can we lean on? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, this workshop is for you. We’ll discuss short pieces of creative nonfiction, and we’ll use those models as inspiration as we begin our own pieces. Don't miss this amazing chance to hone your craft with Maggie Smith! Purchase Maggie's books via Auntie's Bookstore!

*This event is ticketed ($35+fees). Tickets are on sale via this link! Please note that the link will take you to our Humanitix event page where you can select this specific event along with any other ticketed events you would like to attend. This system allows you to check out once for multiple tickets, and does not require registration.

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

Join us in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for a conversation with poet Li-Young Lee around the themes of faith and spirituality in his work, moderated by Dr. Erin Davis, Professor of English at North Idaho College, and Jennifer Passaro, Poet Laureate of Coeur d’Alene. Purchase Li-Young's books via Auntie's Bookstore!

This event is free and open to the public. We would like to thank North Idaho College's English Department for their partnership!

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

Have you ever dreamed of being on the radio? Do you crave an audience for your poetry, or do you have a favorite poem that you wish the whole world had read? Look no further, because we are thrilled to announce our partnership with Spokane Public Radio’s Poetry Moment! You may have heard SPR’s Poetry Moment on KPBX, which airs every weekday at 9am and provides an outlet for the creatives of Spokane, and a daily dose of poetry for all listeners. We’re offering all festivalgoers a chance to record their own Poetry Moment in the Central Library’s podcasting studio! Poetry Moment readers will be welcome to share a poem by their favorite poet, or read their own work. Readers will be chosen on a first-come-first-served basis, so we encourage you to show up early to form a line. Please make sure to read the guidelines here before you arrive. Don’t miss the chance to share a Poetry Moment on the airwaves!

For an example, please check out EWU alum Heather Paul-Tillery reading a poem by EWU alum Sarah Kersey.

This event is free and first come, first served. Thank you to Spokane Public Radio and the Spokane Public Library for their partnership!

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

Are you a mystery author? Do you have questions about how to write compelling crime fiction? Do detective stories keep you turning pages long after dark? After romance, mystery/crime is the second most popular genre in the book industry. Local authors Elena Hartwell Taylor and Chris Bieker are here to discuss the art and craft of writing mysteries, sustaining a series, and helping you write your best book! Having attended conferences and festivals around the US, including ThrillerFest, Bouchercon, PNWA, and the Decatur Book Festival, these authors are excited to share their knowledge with Spokane readers and writers of crime fiction. Purchase the author's books via Auntie's Bookstore!

This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, please arrive early to secure your spot! We would like to thank the Spokane Public Library for their partnership.

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

For the second year in a row, we are thrilled to partner with Saranac Art Projects, Spokane’s contemporary artist collective and gallery, to present a special exhibition of visual art created by Spokane artists, inspired by our festival authors. A group of Saranac's artists were given a list of all of our 2025 festival authors and they each chose a writer who inspired them to create a visual art piece. The artists worked throughout the winter on the pieces that will be presented at this exhibition. The gallery is open 12-8 and we encourage attendees to drop by anytime! Special thanks to SAP for collaborating with us on this project!

Here are this year's participating artists and the festival authors they were inspired by:
Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton: Li-Young Lee
Roger Ralston: Tara Campbell
Tobe Harvey: Subhaga Crystal Bacon
Josh Hobson: Juan Carlos Reyes
Mariah Boyle: TBD
Lenora Lopez Schindler: TBD

Note that we have extended a special optional invitation to our festival authors to join us at the gallery from 5:30-7pm as an extension of the private Author's Reception so that authors can continue to gather in community, and attendees can have a chance to meet their favorite authors! Note that refreshments will not be served at the gallery, but it's steps away from both Saranac Public House and Saranac Commons. We encourage our attendees to use this time to gather in solidarity with other artists and community members.

*This event is free and open to the public. Thank you to Saranac Art Projects for your partnership!

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

Personal Machines: Invented Form with Danez Smith

Poets often reach towards specific forms in order to propel or control a poem, they also might be reaching for a bit of challenge or exploration, but what if we go beyond sonnets or sestinas and instead choose an experiment of our own design? For myself, while I have found that while free verse poetry has always been a succulent wilderness to venture into in search of a poem, the constraints and encouragements of form – particularly those of my own design – have allowed for reverberations between myself and the work that would not have been found unless constructed the limits of invented form. In this workshop, we will explore wonders found in recently invented forms like the bop, the burning haibun, and the Molotov sonnet before turning our attention to forms we will pattern ourselves. This workshop is for those looking to push the limits on their work as well as those looking to take the brakes off completely. In times of great violence and hope, can we break from the received forms of the times and become fugitives into new shapes and possibilities? In this workshop, we will trouble those answers together. Don't miss this amazing chance to study the craft of poetry with Danez Smith! Purchase Danez's books via Auntie's Bookstore. 

*This event is ticketed ($35+fees). Tickets are on sale via this link! Please note that the link  will take you to our Humanitix event page where you can select this specific event along with any other ticketed events you would like to attend. This system allows you to check out once for multiple tickets, and does not require registration. 

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

Young Adult fiction is a relatively new genre but in the past two decades has exploded in popularity. Whether fantasy, sci-fi, or contemporary, the genre is ripe for reflection for adolescent readers as they explore their identities in the context of contemporary issues like authenticity, privilege, and intersectionality. Join YA authors Rie Lee and Jennifer Yu in a conversation about writing themes of identity in books intended for teen readers. Rie Lee’s recent debut, Vessel, is a dystopian novel centered around a girl wrestling with her forbidden sexuality as the poster child for her religious cult, and Jennifer Yu’s latest novel Grief in the Fourth Dimension explores how identity, family, and community affect the ways our lives (and deaths) are remembered. The authors will discuss how speculative worlds can be used to balance accessibility, storytelling, and realistic characterization while exploring ever-shifting and nuanced senses of identity. This conversation will be moderated by festival intern and EWU MFA fiction candidate Emily Ladd. Purchase the author's books via Auntie's Bookstore!

This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, please arrive early to secure a spot! Thank you to the Spokane Public Library for their partnership! 

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

Join us for an intimate reading and conversation held in the Central Library’s Inland Northwest Special Collections Room featuring two writers whose work is rooted in the history and landscape of the West. CMarie Fuhrman and Betsy Gaines Quammen will both read their work and engage in conversation with Sharma Shields and festival attendees about how research and history have impacted their writing over many books and projects spanning both poetry and prose. Library staff will help pull special artifacts like photographs, maps, and other materials that scrutinize and complicate our region and may connect directly to CMarie and Betsy’s work. Hear about the fascinating process of incorporating research into your creative work and learn how the library can help! Purchase the author's books via Auntie's Bookstore!

This event is free and open to the public. Please note that capacity is limited, and attendees are encouraged to arrive early to secure a seat. Also, no food or drink is allowed in the Special Collections Room for the purpose of preserving artifacts. We would like to thank Spokane Public Library for their partnership! 

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better! 

We are so sorry to announce that Debra is no longer able to make it to the festival! This event is cancelled. Ticket holders can issue themselves a full refund via the Humanitix app; if you have trouble we will help you after the festival! You're also welcome to show up to attend Li-Young Lee's poetry class instead, which will be at the same time, in the same place. We're so sorry to miss Debra this year. Thank you for understanding!


When I am Stuck: A Fiction Class

When I am wrestling with a story that has nagged me for years, or a new story that seems dull or lifeless and needs a boost, I begin a list of things, curious things I know or have read about, and without fail I spark a lively narrative. In this class we will share a list of topics that will invigorate your writing. Come prepared to write, to dream, to read aloud, and to find new pathways to enliven your stories. Come prepared to have fun! - Debra Magpie Earling

"How infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way . . . so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever. All sorrows can be borne if you can put them into a story.” Isak Dinesen

Purchase Debra's books via Auntie's Bookstore! 

*This event is ticketed ($35+fees). Tickets are on sale via this link! Please note that the link  will take you to our Humanitix event page where you can select this specific event along with any other ticketed events you would like to attend. This system allows you to check out once for multiple tickets, and does not require registration. 

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

Join renowned poet Li-Young Lee for an intimate conversation on craft. Please come with questions about his work, your own work, and the questions we all face about how and why we write — and read — poetry today. This will be less formal than a traditional craft class, and there will be time for freewriting on different prompts as topics come up in the conversation. Don't miss this unique opportunity to talk with and write with the legendary poet Li-Young Lee! Purchase Li-Young's books via Auntie's Bookstore.

*This event is ticketed ($35+fees). Tickets are on sale via this link! Please note that the link  will take you to our Humanitix event page where you can select this specific event along with any other ticketed events you would like to attend. This system allows you to check out once for multiple tickets, and does not require registration. 

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!

We are extending a special optional invitation to festival authors and community members to gather together at the Saranac Art Gallery from 5:30-7pm for a Creatives Social.

This serves as an informal extension of the private Author's Reception so that authors can continue to connect and attendees can have a chance to meet their favorite authors! Note that refreshments will not be served at the gallery, but it's steps away from both Saranac Public House and Saranac Commons. We encourage our attendees to use this time to gather in solidarity with other creative community members!

*This event is free and open to the public. Thank you to Saranac Art Projects for your partnership!

We are pleased to present an evening of poetry and conversation between poets Jonathan Johnson and Li-Young Lee. This event is a thrilling pairing for our community as it puts beloved Inland Northwest poet and professor Jonathan Johnson on stage with Li-Young Lee, a prominent contributor to the contemporary canon and poetry legend! Jonathan and Li-Young’s work share many similar concerns and themes including fatherhood, family heritage, and overcoming the adversities of grief. Jonathan Johnson is the author of seven books, two of which—Pine, a collection of poetry, and The Little Lights of Town, a short-story collection—are forthcoming in 2025. Li-Young Lee is the author of six critically acclaimed books of poetry, most recently The Invention of the Darling. Both poets will read from their collections and will engage in a conversation moderated by Jonathan Frey who is an EWU MFA alum and professor of English at North Idaho College. Don’t miss what we are sure will be an incredible evening celebrating the power of poetry! Purchase the author's books via Auntie's Bookstore!

Thank you to the Spokane Public Library!

*This event is ticketed ($25+fees). Tickets are on sale via this link! Please note that the link will take you to our Humanitix event page where you can select this specific event along with any other ticketed events you would like to attend. This system allows you to check out once for multiple tickets, and does not require registration. 

Please fill out our festival survey after you have attended this event. The information you provide will help us obtain critical grant funding and will help make next year’s festival even better!