Professionals will offer writing workshop
You can always learn something from a professional. That’s why anyone who wants to learn about writing might find it worthwhile to attend the one-day Spokane River Writers Workshop, a joint Gonzaga University-Whitworth College event that will be held Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at GU’s Bozarth Retreat Center, 12415 N. Fairwood Drive. Faculty members from both schools, all of whom boast professional writing credentials, will make up the workshop staff. From GU that includes Dan Butterworth, Beth Cooley and Tod Marshall and from Whitworth, Nadine Chapman, Laurie Lamon and Vic Bobb.
Sessions will be held in topic areas such as building character, creating and developing story ideas, and spiritual exploration.
Workshop fees, which include lunch and beverages, are $25 for students, $50 for GU and Whitworth alumni, $75 for the general public.
To inquire further, or to register online, go to www.whitworth.edu/writingworkshop. Or call 777-3253.
Participants may register at the door, space permitting.
Endowed in English
In advance of the Spokane River Writers Workshop, Indonesian-born poet Li-Young Lee, author of the memoir “The Winged Seed: A Remembrance,” will read from his works at 8 p.m. Friday at Whitworth College as the school’s 2005 Endowed English Reader.
Lee’s most recent book of poetry is 2001’s “Book of My Nights: Poetry.” His appearance is free and open to the public (777-3253).
Three for the money
It’s not that uncommon to see Inland Northwest visual artists scoring state-level grants or fellowships, even given the greater population on the other side of the mountains.
It’s less common, though, to see that money going to area writers.
But three Spokane-area college professors are among the 21 artists to be awarded 2005 Artist Trust/Washington State Art Commission Fellowships, each of which is worth $6,000.
They are Whitworth College’s Laurie Lamon (“The Fork Without Hunger: Poems”), Eastern Washington University’s Samuel Ligon (“Safe in Heaven Dead: A Novel”) and Gonzaga University’s Tod Marshall (“Dare Say: Poems”).
Some 315 hopefuls applied for the fellowships. Recipients were chosen, according to a press release, for their “creative excellence and accomplishment, professional achievement and continuing dedication to their artistic discipline.”
Into the light
Tom Davis, author of the poetry collection “The Little Spokane,” will lead a writing workshop that begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday and runs for two hours on four consecutive Mondays. The workshop, at the Empyrean Coffee Shop, 154 S. Madison St., is titled “The Breath, the Vowel, the Word: Bringing the Spirit Into the Light.”
The class, which will be limited to 12 participants, costs $150. For further information, call Davis at 624-1281 or send him e-mail at tomidavis@hotmail.com.
Fine first lines
The ways that novels begin are often what decide whether we’ll proceed past the first page, much less to the very end. And first lines are key.
Here’s the first line of “Catherine Wheels,” the debut novel by Whitefish, Mont.-based author and Whitworth graduate Leif Peterson: “In Spokane, we built our own field of dreams.”
The trade paperback was released this month by Random House (336 pages, $13.99).
Selling well
Best-seller lists are just one way to measure the quality of a book. If nothing else, it’s one of the easiest.
Former Spokesman-Review reporter Jim Lynch is seeing his first novel, “The Highest Tide,” listed among works by such established writers as E.L. Doctorow, Zadie Smith, Salman Rushdie and even Dan Brown.
“The Highest Tide” ranked seventh on the hardcover fiction list compiled by the Pacific Northwest Independent Best-seller List for the week that ended Oct. 23.
The PNBA’s best-seller lists come out weekly.
For more information, go to www.pnba.org.
Book talk
• Poetry Reading Group (747-3454), 3 p.m. today, Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington (838-0206).
• Lesbian & Gay Book Group (“A Seahorse Year,” by Stacey D’Erasmo), 7 p.m. Wednesday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
The reader board
• Dennis Held (“Betting on the Night”), reading, 7:30 tonight, Peaceful Valley Community Center, 214 N. Cedar St. (624-8634).
• Jack Nisbet (“Mapmaker’s Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
• Heather Scharfeddin (“Blackbelly: A Novel”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
• Li-Young Lee (“The Winged Seed: A Remembrance”), reading, 8 p.m. Friday, Whitworth College (777-3253).