Staff

 Melissa Huggins is the Get Lit! Programs Coordinator. She holds an MFA in Fiction from Eastern Washington University and a BA in English from Pacific Lutheran University. Her professional experience includes journalism, marketing, event planning, volunteer coordination, fundraising, and freelance writing. Her favorite Get Lit! Festival moment thus far was in 2004, when Kurt Vonnegut Jr. told the audience before dancing his way offstage: "No matter how bad things get, the music will still be wonderful." 

The Get Lit! Programs office relies on a range of student talent. Student assistants from various majors work through year-long internships. Their dedication is crucial to the success of Get Lit! Programs. Several classes also participate in preparations for the festival. For example, the poster design is selected from a Visual Communication and Design class contest and the festival surveys are created and analyzed by a marketing class. Get Lit! strives to create an interactive learning environment that connects all members of the community. Special thanks to all of our interns and Get Lit! participants. 

Kristina McDonald is the Get Lit! Programs Assistant Coordinator. She received her BA in English from Rice University and is currently an MFA student at Eastern Washington University and the Poetry Editor of Willow Springs. While in Texas, she worked with several educational outreach organizations for youth, including Writers in the Schools, The School Literacy and Culture Project, and Rice's Summer School for Grades 8-12. This is her second year with Get Lit! Programs, and she is excited about sharing her passion for creative writing and education with the Spokane community. Kristina is an avid reader, knitter, bowler, teacher, and poet. 

Laurie Bowman is the Get Lit! Web Editor. She is currently a senior majoring in Technical Communication at Eastern Washington University and also works part-time at the Associated Press. When not working or in class, Laurie loves to read, drink over-priced coffee, and play with her kids. She is excited to be a part of the Get Lit! team and looks forward to building her skills over the coming year.

Brittney Andrade is a Get Lit! Festival Assistant. She is an English/Creative Writing major who is especially interested in nonfiction. She is from Port Orchard, Washington and she likes to read/collect books and spend time at hockey games and drag races. This is her first year with Get Lit!.

Laura Citino is the Get Lit! KPBX Liaison. She is a first year fiction student in the MFA program at Eastern Washington University, as well as an English instructor for the composition department. She is from Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she previously worked as a Montessori school instructor, camp counselor, and assistant director of a writing center. Besides the obvious love of reading and writing, she also enjoys photography, sustainable living/being a hippy, cooking, community building, local music and radio, and bringing these passions together in cool collaborative ways.

Casey Fowler is the Get Lit! Grant Writing Assistant. Her love of languages has led her to study literature written in English, Spanish, Hebrew, and ancient Greek. She holds a BA in English Writing and is a first year poet in Eastern Washington University’s Creative Writing MFA program.

Michael Goldkamp is a Get Lit! Graphics Assistant. He is currently studying Visual Communication Design at Eastern Washington University. Originally from Kirkland, Washington, Michael loves to hike, rock climb, and slackline. This is his first year with Get Lit! Programs and he looks forward to applying his design skills for the organization.

Jillary Gordon is the Get Lit! Poetry Out Loud Coordinator. She is a first year poetry student in the MFA program at Eastern Washington University. Before coming to EWU, Jillary was a high school Spanish teacher in Southern California. She has dreamed of being a writer since she was eight years old. This year she quit her job, moved to Washington, and is living her dream. Jillary enjoys reading, writing, acting, and playing soccer.

Karen Maner is a Get Lit! Staff Writer. She is studying creative non-fiction in the MFA program at Eastern Washington University. She graduated from Wright State University with degrees in English and French and spent the last year teaching at an elementary school in South Korea. Working with children reminded her of her own early forays into writing: a mystery series involving pterosaurs (among other things), three volumes of Star Wars fanfiction, and an unfinished fantasy novel titled The Phoenix Spreads Its Wings. Reflecting upon these projects has reassured her that switching to non-fiction was a wise decision. She is looking forward to helping Get Lit! bring inspired writing and quality education to the community.

Nathan Morales is a Get Lit! Festival Assistant. A transfer student from Washington State University, Nathan is currently studying Technical Communication at Eastern Washington University. He is from Fontana, California and enjoys basketball, baseball, golf, and boating with his family. This is his first year with Get Lit! and he looks forward to contributing to the organization and gaining valuable experience helping to coordinate the festival.

Erin Ormsby is a Get Lit! Staff Writer. She is currently an undergraduate student in Creative Writing and Psychology at Eastern Washington University. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Eastern's undergraduate literary journal, Northwest Boulevard. This is her first year with Get Lit! and she is looking forward to a year full of literary greatness. She likes listening to musicals, reading all night, and watching cheesy movies.

Timothy Riggs is a Get Lit! Graphics Assistant. Despite his passions for cycling, hiking, and design, his proudest achievement is reading the seven Harry Potter books in under seven days without giving up sleep or eating. His favorite coffee drink is a double shot of straight espresso. Tim came to Get Lit! to chew bubblegum and do great design, and he's all out of bubblegum.

Mary Stravinski is a Get Lit! Grant Writing Assistant and a first year fiction student in the MFA program at Eastern Washington University. She recieved her BA in English from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where she was also on the swim team all four years. Since then she has traded in her cap and goggles for books and writing.

Annie Szotkowski is the Get Lit! Assistant Editor. Juggling undergraduate studies in Public Relations, English, and Jazz Performance at Gonzaga University has introduced Annie to a vast vocabulary that never fails to broaden her horizons. When not jammin' on the sax or looking for comma splices, Annie pedals around Spokane, takes pictures of autumn leaves, or hops into a yoga studio to practice sun salutations. She looks forward to an exciting and rewarding year with Get Lit!.

Maranda Tubbs is a Get Lit! Festival Assistant. She is an English major, with a focus in Creative Writing and a minor in Journalism. She hails from Wenatchee, the apple capital of the world. A huge sports fan, her true passion and the key to her heart is basketball. She has been playing since she was seven and she's been coaching 7th grade girls basketball in the Spokane Valley for about two years now. She's excited to be involved with the festival and hopes to be an asset to the Get Lit! team!