Noted poet Olds will read at GU events
A big name in poetry – Sharon Olds – arrives here on Tuesday as part of the Gonzaga University Visiting Writers Series.
Olds has published eight volumes of poetry and is a professor of creative writing at New York University. She has won numerous awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Tod Marshall, a GU poetry professor and the head of the Visiting Writers Series, calls her “simply, one of the most important American poets of the last 30 years.”
The main event will be a reading at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Globe Room of Cataldo Hall on the GU campus.
Olds will also conduct a question-answer session earlier Tuesday, 1:15 p.m., in Gonzaga’s Foley Teleconference Room.
Then she’ll do a poetry reading with commentary (no questions) on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at Spokane Falls Community College, Building 5, Spartan Theater.
All events are free and open to the public.
Rybicki’s poetry
Another nationally known poet, John Rybicki, will be doing a reading at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave., on Friday at 7 p.m.
His most recent collection, “We Bed Down into Water,” was published in 2008 by Northwestern University Press.
Rybicki is visiting as part of the Visiting Writers Series of the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University.
Pastor and novelist?
Chewelah has a prolific, best-selling novelist in its midst – and she’s a pastor at the Chewelah United Church of Christ.
Her name is Lynne Hinton, and you might recognize her name from her popular Hope Springs series of novels, including “Friendship Cake,” “Hope Springs,” “Christmas Cake” and “Forever Friends.”
The series is about a group of women friends in Hinton’s native North Carolina. Each book includes several recipes.
Hinton also writes a mystery series, under the name Jackie Lynn. She moved to this region in October.
Her latest book, “Wedding Cake” (Avon, Trade Paperback Original, $13.99), will be out in May.
‘Poetry Out Loud’
Get Lit! is hosting this year’s “Poetry Out Loud” regional competition for high school students, Friday, 6 p.m. at the Davenport Hotel’s Early Bird Room, 10 S. Post St.
Think of it as a public speaking contest – but with some of the world’s greatest poetry. Students from around the region will recite classic and contemporary poetry and be judged on their articulation, dramatization and presence.
Students from at least eight area high schools will be competing. Two winners will be selected to go on to the state competition in March.
The event is free and open to the public. It’s part of the downtown First Friday arts celebration.