Panels and Talks

All of these events are free and open to the public.

Friday, April 12

Bedtime Stories with Kim Barnes, Jim Lynch, Shann Ray, and Nance Van Winckel 

Humanities Washington's popular event "Bedtime Stories" returns for the Get Lit! Festival. The original event becomes an intimate conversation between the audience and a group of acclaimed local and regional writers. Kim Barnes, professor at the University of Idaho and author of In the Kingdom of Men, will read and answer questions with Shann Ray, author of American Masculine and professor of leadership studies at Gonzaga University. Spokane poet Nance Van Winckel will then team up with acclaimed Northwest writer and author of Truth Like the Sun, Jim Lynch. All writers will read original work inspired by the event's theme, "Red Eye." There will be a short break between author pairings. Moderated by Andrea Reid, co-director of the Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities at SCC. 

Time: 9:30 a.m.
Venue: Spokane Community College, Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities

A Poet's Eye: Making Order Out of Chaos with Gerard Beirne, Robert Wrigley, and Maya Jewell Zeller

Poetry can take a lifetime of ideas  and experiences and distill it down to a handful of beautiful lines. How do poets look at a tragic, messy world and transform it? Three poets let us in on their writing process and how they developed their unique, poetic point of view. With his rural and nature-based poetry, Robert Wrigley aims to "tell all the truth, but make it sing." Maya Jewell Zeller's first collection of poetry, Rust Fish, asks questions of the reader and brings them in to the silence that follows, inviting them to fill it. Gerard Beirne combines his background of mathematics and engineering with transcendent spirituality in Games of Chance. Moderated by Laura Read, poet and creative writing faculty at SFCC.

Time: 9:30 a.m.
Venue: Spokane Falls Community College, Building 24, Room 110

Bringing Light to the Dark Side with Jaimy Gordon, Sharma Shields, and Shawn Vestal

The key to writing fully realized and rounded characters is to give them conflicts, contradictions, and paradoxes that don't quite match up. This goes double for the bad guys. Deliciously unsavory characters are fun to write, but how do you create characters with a dark side that will relate to readers? Sharma Shields' hilarious collection, Favorite Monster, brings Cyclopes, werewolves, and serial killers right to your front door, revealing the monster in all of us. In his debut story collection, Godforsaken Idaho, Shawn Vestal tells tales of regretful men in heaven and relentless missionaries in the early days of Mormonism. Jaimy Gordon's National Book Award-winning Lord of Misrule takes place at a second rate race track where deadbeat jockeys and underahnded mod men collide for the love of money and horses. Moderated by fiction writer Laura Citino, who serves as an English instructor at EWU and assistant fiction editor for Willow Springs magazine.

Time: 9:30 a.m.
Venue: EWU, Hargreaves Hall, Reading Room (second floor)

Your Truth, My Truth, Their Truths: The Modern Memoir with Anna Vodicka and Joe Wilkins

Memoir is more popular than ever. Contemporary writers are takng risks of storytelling technique and subject matter that continue to redefine the genre. Joe Wilkins' memoir, The Mountain and the Father, is a collestion of stories about the men and boys he knew growing up in the harsh landscape of northern Montana. Anna Vodicka's essays have appeared in Brevity, Ninth Letter, The Iowa Review, and other outstanding journals, and she is currently finishing her first full-length memoir. Moderated by writer and NIC faculty member Jonathan Frey.

Time: 12:00 p.m.
Venue: North Idaho College, Molstead Library, Todd Lecture Hall 

Saturday, April 13

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Fiction comes in a variety of forms, from full-length novels the the shortest of short stories. Two novelists and one short story writer will discuss how they create characters, sustain tension, and find just the right details for their chosen form. Jim Lynch has written three Northwest-based novels, including his latest, Truth Like the Sun, which reveals the hidden story behind Seattle's famous 1962 World's Fair. Sherril Jaffe is the winner of the 2011 Spokane Prize for Short Fiction for her collection, You Are Not Alone & Other Stories. In Lonesome Animals, Bruce Holbert reinvents the western novel, blending detective-story intrigue with a powerful reexamination of heroism and how the West was really won. The discussion will be moderated by Gregory Spatz, whose newest collection of stories, Half As Happy, will be released in early April 2013.

Time: 12:00-1:30 p.m. 
Venue: The Red Lion Hotel
Room: Finch Room

Time:  12:00-1:30 p.m.
Venue: The Red Lion Hotel
Room: Corbin Room

Philosophy & Pop Culture 

Looking for ways to avoid talking about religion and politics around the dinner table? Get some new ideas for inspired conversations by joining three members of EWU's Philosophy program for insights into the deep questions of life, the universe, and everything as they are expressed in popular culture like films, television, and comic books. The panel includes Dr. Mimi Marinucci (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy; Porn: Philosophy for Everyone), Dr. Terrance MacMullan (Star Wars and History; The Ultimate Daily Show and Philopsophy), Dr. Kevin S. Decker (Terminator and Philosophy; Ender's Game and Philosophy), and Associate Professor Christopher Kirby ("Ultimate South Park and Philosophy," "Arrested Development and Philosophy").

Time:   12:00-1:30 p.m.
Venue: The Red Lion Hotel
Room: Comstock Room

New Voices in Young Adult Writing with Emily Danforth, Glenn Stout, and Michael Harmon

Young people can often be more open than adults when it comes to new experiences. Young adult fiction reflects this, giving voice to underrepresented populations and shedding new light on familiar stories. Emily M. Danforth's debut novel, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, is a tale of coming-of-age—and coming out—in rural Montana. Michael Harmon is the author of five novels for young adults, including Last Exit to Normal, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Glenn Stout is the author of the kid-friendly series Good Sports about the inspiring life stories of major league athletes who overcame significant barriers of race, ethnicity, and gender to succeed in their sport. Moderated by Darcy Bradley, Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at Eastern Washington University. 


Time: 1:45-3:00 p.m. 
 Venue: The Red Lion Hotel
Room: Corbin Room

The Poetry of Obsession with Major Jackson, Stephanie Lenox, and Maxine Scates

 We all have obsessions: songs that won't get out of out heads, words that stick with us, images we can't forget. Poetry is the perfect conduit for exploring all facets of an obsession to reveal something new and powerful about the familiar. These three poets often return to the same themes, but their poems never stagnate. Celebrated poet Major Jackson explores how music, literature, and art seduce us and capture our hearts. His latest collection, Holding Company, is a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature in Poetry. Stepanie Lenox's collection, Congress of Strange People, celebrates all manner of freaks, from human cannonballs to snake handlers. Maxine Scates uses her childhood growing up in a working class family in Los Angeles to redefine the American family in her most recent book, Undone. Moderated by poet Kate Lebo, author of A Commonplace Book of Pie.

Time: 1:45- 3 p.m.
Venue: The Red Lion Hotel
Room: Finch Room