Get Lit! Festival 2026

Please join us at Emerge CDA, an arts nonprofit in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, for a reading and conversation with novelist and songwriter, Willy Vlautin. Willy will be in conversation with faculty member Jonathan Frey from North Idaho College. Willy Vlautin's bestselling novel, The Horse, explores regret, addiction, and loneliness through the lens of a grizzled, aging musician. It won the Joyce Carol Oates prize and is regarded as one of his most personal works to date. His new novel The Left and the Lucky examines how circumstances shape our lives, and how unexpected friendship can save lives. Thank you to EWU MFA Alum, Jonathan Frey, for putting this event together. This event is free and open to the public.

Thank you to North Idaho College for their partnership!

Purchase Willy Vlautin's books via our official festival bookseller Auntie's Bookstore!

Survey feedback is crucial to our program in many ways, including helping us obtain critical grant funding. Please take a few minutes to complete our official festival survey after you've attended any of our events! Feel free to also leave us feedback here on Sched on individual events, but it really helps us immensely when people fill out our official survey!

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 continue our partnership with Spokane Public Radio’s Poetry Moment! You may have heard SPR’s Poetry Moment on SPR Classical (KSFC 91.9), 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! 

To check out an example, here are five poems read for the Poetry Moment by festival author Laura Read, including one of her own.

This event is free and open to the public, no tickets are required, but participation is first-come-first-served. Folks will sign up with a volunteer outside the studio to record. 

Thank you to Spokane Public Radio and the Spokane Public Library for their partnership!

Survey feedback is crucial to our program in many ways, including helping us obtain critical grant funding. Please take a few minutes to complete our official festival survey after you've attended any of our events! Feel free to also leave us feedback here on Sched on individual events, but it really helps us immensely when people fill out our official survey!

Have you always wanted to participate in an open mic but maybe you’ve been intimidated by reading in front of a large crowd? Maybe microphones send shivers down your spine? We have created the perfect opportunity to build your confidence and let you test the public reading waters in a safe and supportive space. Readers will be seated around a table, and you’ll have the opportunity to read 1-5 minutes of your own work, standing up or sitting down—it’s up to you! This event is perfect for first-time readers, but all are welcome. With festival author Ren Cedar Fuller as the host, this event will be welcoming to authors looking for an encouraging and intimate setting to share their original poetry or prose. Capacity will be low, so make sure to arrive early to take advantage of this unique low-stakes open mic!

This event is free and open to the public, but capacity is limited (20) and attendees should arrive early to guarantee a seat.  

Thank you to the Spokane Public Library for their partnership on this event!

Purchase Ren Cedar Fuller's books via our official festival bookseller Auntie's Bookstore!

Survey feedback is crucial to our program in many ways, including helping us obtain critical grant funding. Please take a few minutes to complete our official festival survey after you've attended any of our events! Feel free to also leave us feedback here on Sched on individual events, but it really helps us immensely when people fill out our official survey!

Celebrating the publication of a first book is an exciting milestone in an author’s life, but it’s not always clear how that process happens. Join us for an intimate discussion around a conference table about the ins and outs of publishing your debut! Writers Lauren Westerfield and Ally Ang will lead a casual conversation, telling the story of how their first works came to be and answering any questions you might have about this process. Lauren Westerfield’s first book, Depth Control, a collection of genre-bending essays, was published in 2025 by Unsolicited Press, and Lauren’s debut memoir Woman House was just published this spring. Ally Ang’s Let the Moon Wobble, an honor book for the 2026 Stonewall Book Award, was published by Alice James Books in 2025. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the path to publishing in both poetry and prose! 

Note that this event is free and open to the public, but capacity is limited (20) and attendees should arrive early to guarantee a seat. 

Thank you to the Spokane Public Library for their partnership on this event!

Purchase the authors' books via our official festival bookseller Auntie's Bookstore!

Survey feedback is crucial to our program in many ways, including helping us obtain critical grant funding. Please take a few minutes to complete our official festival survey after you've attended any of our events! Feel free to also leave us feedback here on Sched on individual events, but it really helps us immensely when people fill out our official survey!

For the third 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 2026 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. We are inviting festival authors and community members to gather together at the Saranac Art Gallery for a gallery show and author’s reception. This is a chance for festival authors and attendees to mix, mingle and enjoy some light refreshments, courtesy of Get Lit! and Saranac Art Projects. Authors can continue to connect and attendees can have a chance to meet the faces of this year’s festival! We encourage our attendees to use this time to gather in solidarity and enjoy inspired visual art with other creative community members!

Here are this year's participating artists and the festival authors they were inspired by:
Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton–Lindsey Drager
Hannah Koeske-Rollins–Laura Read
Lena Lopez Schindler–Maya Jewel Zeller & Mita Mahato
Tobe Harvey–Joe Wilkins
Mariah Boyle–Jess Walter
Olivia Evans–Margaret Albaugh

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

Survey feedback is crucial to our program in many ways, including helping us obtain critical grant funding. Please take a few minutes to complete our official festival survey after you've attended any of our events! Feel free to also leave us feedback here on Sched on individual events, but it really helps us immensely when people fill out our official survey!