Words

Words of all types: writing, spoken word, storytelling and more! All genres welcome. Seek out a book club or writing group, mark your calendar for visiting authors, or find ways to tell your story live onstage. If you are specifically interested in poetry, check out our Poet Laureate page, too! 

Words
Event: October 1
Book Release: Unexpected Weather Events by Erin Pringle

Join the celebration of the official release of Erin Pringle’s newest book, Unexpected Weather Events, a collection of of strange, sad, and beautiful stories.

Erin will read from the book, followed by a book-signing. Books will be available for purchase. Expect music, joy, and perhaps light refreshment.

About her: Erin is also the author of the novel Hezada! I Miss You (AWST 2020) and two story collections, The Whole World at Once (WVU/Vandalia Press 2017) and The Floating Order (Two Ravens Press 2009). Her work has been a finalist in the CLMP Firecracker Award, selected for performance in L.A.’s New Short Fiction Series, and earned an Artist Trust Fellowship. She grew up in the rural Midwest, has her MFA from Texas State University, and called Spokane home for over a decade. She lives with her son Henry, partner Heather, and a reckless menagerie of pets.
Words
Artist
Cecily Van Cleave

I write literary historical fiction, mostly set during the nineteenth century. My work explores how women might have experienced family, identity, displacement, love, and ambition. My novel Yewspring was independently published in 2023, and my writing has been published in the journal Persuasions, The Copperfield Review and online. I hold a M.A. in English Literature from Mercy College, where my culminating thesis on George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell was chosen as the program’s Thesis of the Year. I live in rural northeast Washington with my family.
Stage
Artist
Pam Kingsley

I am an actress, director and playwright. My current passion is writing for the Theatre and my plays have been produced in London UK and around the U.S., including in Boston, Cleveland, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Louisville, New Haven, NYC, the State University of New York, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and Spokane. My play MOTHER’S DAY was a 2019 finalist for the James Stevenson Prize for Short Comedic Plays and won the “Audience Choice Award” at the 31st Playwrights’ Forum Festival. I had three new works selected for Stage Left Theater’s “Masterpiece Monologues” series and was then commissioned to write and perform a solo piece, SLEEPWALKING, which was featured in Stage Left’s “Empower Festival” and streamed online. SLEEPWALKING was also selected for Irondale Ensemble’s 2022 ON WOMEN Festival’s (NYC) – New Media Library. The play was streamed online and received an “Audience Choice” award. Pam’s plays FINDING MOTHER COURAGE and BOXES were selected for the 32nd Playwrights’ Forum Festival. BOXES won the “Audience Choice Award.” Recently, both THE SITTING and BOXES were produced as part of TheatreWorks Humanity Festival in greater Louisville. MINISTER OF SORROW has been selected as one of three plays featured during the Appalachian Playwriting Festival, Ashville, NC in September 2023. MINISTER OF SORROW will be part of Stage Left Theater’s 2024 Season. Pam holds a BFA in Theatre Performance and MA in Theatre Education. She has taught acting and playwriting throughout the PNW.
Visual
Artist
Luu Melon

Luu Melon is a Mexican comic artist/writer based in the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised in the Southside of Milwaukee, WI, Melon has been influenced by the urban landscape of their city and its diverse populations. Now as a Washington resident Luu aims to capture many more interesting perspectives in their work. Through an inclination of observation as a way to engage with others, Luu strives to create comics that are rooted in empathy and self-reflection. Major themes in their current work includes issues of identity, class, trauma, and childhood. Luu is currently working on their first graphic novel project, Gray Area, an explorative character study that explores themes of generational abuse and childhood trauma, and how these things can essentially flaw your own sense of self.
Music
Event: April 30
Poetry to Music: Poems in Sound

You are invited to the fifth Poetry to Music event sponsored by the Cantable chapter of the Spokane Symphony Associates. You will enjoy new music as well as light refreshments in an interesting and historic venue. Our guest artist will be music students from Eastern Washington university. This year’s composition students who study with Dr. Jonathan Middleton have written art songs and choral works for this Poetry to Music event, Poems in Sound. They will be joined by other musicians to perform these new pieces for you. We believe you will be inspired by their creativity and the stories behind their compositions.
Words
Event: Opens April 20
Get Lit! Festival 2023

Join us in celebrating 25 years of the Get Lit! Festival with four full days of readings, writing workshops, craft classes, open mics, panel discussions, literary happy hours, and more— offered for free or at low-cost. Each year brings a diverse lineup of highly sought-after authors to our region, while also highlighting our local literary talent. This year, current U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón will be one of our headlining authors.