Ways to Celebrate and Support:
We want to thank our community for being so supportive to Get Lit! and to each other in these difficult times. We are seeing, even more now, how the written word can be such a powerful force in connecting us and lifting our spirits. We were so looking forward to all of the events we can planned for this year, and even though there will not be a physical festival in 2020, we wanted to introduce you to the authors and sponsors who were going to be part of Get Lit!, and provide resources that will help you to celebrate and support them — if you planned to go to the festival this year, consider spending that ticket money to help one of our authors, donating to a local venue like The Bing Crosby Theater, or showing some take-out love to our restaurant partners!
If you're interested in learning more about what we had planned for the festival, check out our schedule. Use our Festival Authors page to learn more about the authors. We have added more content to author pages including links to their work, interviews, and digital readings. You will also be able to learn how to support these authors as we all move through these unprecidented times.
Many of our 2020 authors were able to send us short readings of their work, please enjoy those on our brand new YouTube channel! And make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram (don't miss our new IGTV channel!), and Twitter for more clips and book recommendations from festival authors!
Thank you again for supporting our community—we can't wait to see you all next year!
Our Festival Community:
Our festival bookseller Auntie's Bookstore is still taking orders and delivering books right from their wholesaler. Please visit their website and order some festival titles!
The Bing Crosby Theater needs your help. Click here to make a donation. *Although the item amount is set to $1.00, you may enter any quantity. Note that no fees will be charged for your donation thanks to the generosity of TicketsWest.
A message from Avista.
Donate to Spokane Public Radio.
Check out Spark Central's online programming.
Thank you to Dry Fly Distilling, for distributing "Spokanitizer" to high-risk facilities.
Help ZOME Design in their partnership with No-Li Brewhouse and Big Table to raise funds for the hospitality industry. Buy a t-shirt here!
Learn more about our 2020 artist/designer Joey Bareither
Donate to the Spokane Hospitality Workers Emergency Relief Fund, learn more about The Spokane Food Fighters meal delivery program, donate to help provide meals first responders in our area, and and visit the websites of our numerous bar and restaurant partners to see how you can help. Many are offering discounts and free shipping: DOMA Coffee Roasting Company; River City Brewing; Feast World Kitchen; First Avenue Coffee; Volstead Act; Baby Bar; The Blind Buck; Heritage Bar and Kitchen; Brick West Brewing.
A message from our friend Adam Hegsted of The Eat Good Group. His restaurants The Wandering Table, The Gilded Unicorn, and Yard's Bruncheon have all been part of our Inspired Partnerships project since 2017.
Thank you to the following partners and sponsors who helped us create many special festival events:
The Spokane Chapter of the Japanese American Citizen's League
Spokane Falls Community College
Professional Realty Services International
Follow The Inlander's new column featuring writers in our regional community responding to the pandemic. Here are a few of our favorites so far:
Ellen Welcker, "Plague Diary"
Laura Read, "The Thing that is Floating Towards Us"
Shann Ray, "Our Lives with the Poets: How Poetry Speaks to the Pandemic"
CMarie Fuhrman, "The Language of Pandemic"
Kailee Haong, "Cohabitating During Covid-19"
Sharma Sheilds, "Cauldron of Worries: On Being an Immunocompromised Mom During a Pandemic"
Sheri Boggs, "Unfinished Business"
Kris Dinnison, "Lists"
Maya Jewell Zeller, "The Nose Museum"
Maureen Haeger, "Quarantine Dream"
More resources and ways to help:
Thank you to Spokane Arts for creating the Spokane Artists & Creatives Fund. Learn more and apply here.
Our friends at Artist Trust have also worked hard to create a relief fund for artists across our state. Learn more and apply here.
Learn how Terrain is working to help artists in our community, and find more resources for other orgs who could use our help.
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation has many resources to help booksellers during this time.
PEN America's Writers' Emergency Fund.
Many national literary organizations are offering digital content. Here are a few of our favorites:
Writing by Writers is hosting writers for Zoom readings every Monday and Thursday.
Poems to Lean On is an online space to share poems of resilience, hope, and humor, curated by Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna. Anyone can submit poems they find inspirational during this time.
The Literary Hub has created a virtual book channel. They will be sharing content like readings, Q&A's, and re-airing previous book tour conversations.