Kate Peterson earned her MFA from Eastern Washington University in Spokane, where she now works as Director of Get Lit! Programs. Her poetry and prose has been published in many literary magazines including Crab Creek Review, Rattle, Sugar House Review, Hawai’i Pacific Review, Packingtown Review, and elsewhere. Her chapbook Grist won the Floating Bridge Chapbook Prize and was published in 2016. Contact Kate via kpeterson4@ewu.edu or 509-828-1435.
Mackenzie Draper is an agender writer from the Pacific Northwest. They fell in love with reading as a young child, and, ever since learning what an editor does, has always dreamed of making that their career. Mackenzie got their AA at SFCC and their BA at Gonzaga University. They live with their fiancee and two cats in Spokane and attend Eastern Washington University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program as a first year fiction student. Mackenzie can be reached at getlit@ewu.edu.
Ava Kerst graduated from Whitworth University with a degree in Elementary Education before pursuing Eastern’s MFA program. She is a first-year fiction student who combines her love for writing and young people by writing about young people. When she isn’t conjuring up story ideas, she’s probably playing her cello, winning at board games, or snuggling with her eternally tiny cat, Casper.
After a very short career as a pro beach volleyball player and a long career in private equity, a stunning fall from grace forced Bruce Asper to leave that life behind and start over clean. Always an observer and reader, he endeavored to become a writer. He called upon his decades observing the cast of characters in his hometown of Newport Beach and the people he met on his journey of recovery to write Local Summer, his first manuscript. During Covid, he ran beach camps and worked as a Sober Companion so he could write daily. He applied to MFA programs, eventually landing at Eastern Washington. Bruce resides in Spokane, where he can be found observing Lilac City on his vintage Schwinn while listening to profane hip hop.
Emily Ladd is a long-time Spokanite and a first-year fiction student in EWU’s MFA program. When they aren’t writing or reading, Emily can be found organizing local writing meet ups, moonlighting as a dog trainer, and exploring different ways to cook potatoes.
Sarah Rooney is a poet who created “Speakeasy” a spoken word open mic that started in March of 2022 at Bijou South. They co-organize Foray for The Arts with Greg Bem. Foray is an organization that puts on free multiple disciplinary events at different locally owned businesses featuring local performers. They are pursuing their MFA in Creative Writing at EWU with the hope to refine their craft while putting together their next collection. Their first chapbook, Mother Media was published in October of 2023 by Grey Dog Press. They’ve been featured at local events like Emerge and Terrain. They love being part of an active, creative community that inspires people to collaborate, communicate, and grow.
Get Lit! Programs employs one full-time staff member, and one graduate student assistant from The MFA at EWU. The program relies heavily on student interns and volunteers from The MFA at EWU as well as other local colleges and universities. Get Lit! strives to create an interactive learning environment that connects students with members of the community. Special thanks to all of our interns! If you are interested in becoming a Get Lit! intern or in volunteering for the festival, please contact us: getlit@ewu.edu.
