Major Get Lit! events begin Friday with poetry slams

Here’s a rundown of the major events of Get Lit! 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, admission is free. For tickets to paid events, call TicketsWest (325-SEAT or 800-325-SEAT) or go online at www.ticketswest.com. For further information about the entire range of Get Lit! events, call 623-4262 or see www.ewu.edu/getlit.

Friday: Two youth poetry slams will be held at West Valley High School, 8301 E. Buckeye Ave. The first, for ages 11 and younger, will run from 4 to 6 p.m. The second, for ages 12 to 19, will be from 7 to 9 p.m.

Dennis Held, Georgia Tiffany and John Whalen will do a benefit poetry reading for EWU’s literary journal, Willow Springs, at 9 p.m. at O’Doherty’s Irish Grille, 525 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.

Saturday: EWU creative writing students and graduates will read from their works at 7 p.m at the Masonic Temple, 1108 W. Riverside Ave.

Sunday: Children’s author Robert Munsch, accompanied by Steve Schennum, will perform at the KPBX Kids’ Concert at 1 p.m. at the Masonic Temple.

Poets Rita Dove and Robert Bly, along with Madeline DeFrees and Bill Tremblay, will appear at 7 p.m. at The Met, 901 W. Sprague Ave. (tickets: $27).

Monday: Peabody, Polk and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Laurie Garrett will speak at 2 p.m. at the PUB on the EWU campus in Cheney.

EWU creative writing faculty members Christopher Howell, Nance Van Winckel, Jonathan Johnson, Sam Ligon and Greg Spatz will read at 7 p.m. at the Masonic Temple.

Tuesday: A panel of regional writers, including Terry Bain, Chris Crutcher and Jerry Sittser, will discuss their work at 7:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave.

Wednesday: Regional writers Claire Davis, Laurie Lamon, Tod Marshall, Robert Michael Pyle and Jess Walter will read at 7 p.m. at the Lorinda Knight Gallery, 523 W. Sprague Ave.

Thursday: David Sedaris, Chris Crutcher and Michael Heffernan will appear at 7 p.m. at The Met (tickets: $42).

April 22: EWU alumni reading, 2 p.m., Kafka Coffee, 410 2nd St., Cheney.

Bob Edwards, along with Kathleen Dean Moore and John Keeble, will appear at 7 p.m. at Showalter Hall Auditorium on the EWU campus in Cheney (tickets: $20).

April 23: Writing workshops, literary panels, EWU Downtown Center, Ridpath Hotel, 515 W. Sprague Ave. (panel discussions are free; preregistration required for workshops, which cost $50/$45 for adults, $25/$22.50 for students).

Salman Rushdie, along with Debra Magpie Earling and Carlos Reyes, will appear at 7 p.m. at The Met (tickets: $42).