Fairy tale nuptials: ‘Lilac City Fairy Tales’ hits the Bing

For all the Prince Charmings and happy endings in fairy tales, there’s the dark stuff lurking underneath. Big bad wolves. Gingerbread houses of doom. Nasty, controlling stepmothers.

That’s the vibe that Spokane novelist Sharma Sheilds has tapped into with “Lilac City Fairy Tales,” an evening of original poetry, pose and music. The first event, held in September 2014, invited the region’s writers to create fairy tales. This weekend, the event’s second edition, “Marry a Monster,” draws its inspiration from A.E. Stallings’ poem “Fairy-Tale Logic”:

You have to fight magic with magic. You have to believe

That you have something impossible up your sleeve,

The language of snakes, perhaps, an invisible cloak,

An army of ants at your beck, or a lethal joke,

The will to do whatever must be done:

Marry a monster. Hand over your firstborn son.

There was something about “Marry a monster” that appealed to Shields, whose debut novel featured a sasquatch as serial monogamist. (Well, mostly monogamist.) That the event was set for Valentine’s Day made the theme perfect, she said.

So, what is it?

“Lilac City Fairy Tales” on Sunday will bring women authors to the stage of the Bing Crosby Theater, where they will read short works of no more than 1,000 words. “It’s a literary event on steroids,” Shields said.

“There will be so much good work, and it’s going to be cranking out,” said co-organizer Ellen Welcker said. “It’s going to be really packed and really fun.”

With such short works, it will give the audience a taste of each author’s work and how she reads, Shields said. “It’s like a literary variety show.”

There will be music, too, from Liz Rognes and Windoe, the indie-folk project from Karli Ingersol.

What’s different this time?

The authors featured on stage are all new to the event.

Other changes? Last year’s panel discussion on women in the arts won’t be repeated.

“The panel was really inspiring and informative for people last year, but it did slow down the pace a little bit, so we’re going to focus on the authors and the music this year,” Shields said.

Also new? After doing it on her own last year, Shields is getting help from her friend Welcker, a poet who read during last year’s event.

“She’s still doing 95 percent of the work,” Welcker said. “I just cheerlead.”

So just how popular is it?

“I didn’t mean to end up with 11 authors,” Shields said with a laugh. “It was sort of an accident.” An accident? Well, she sent out a bunch of invitations expecting at least some of the writers to say no. Not all that many did.

“But I’m glad. It’s going to be loaded,” she said.

Those who said yes are among some of the most accomplished poets and prose writers in the region: Debra Magpie Earling, Kim Barnes, Polly Buckingham, Rachel Toor, Zan Agzigian, Kate Lebo, Stephanie Oakes, Erin Pringle-Toungate, Katrina Roberts, Kisha Lewellyn Schlegel, and Beth Cooley. They’ve won Guggenheim Fellowships, the Delacourt Prize, PEN USA Awards. They come from Missoula and Walla Walla, Moscow and Spokane.

There’s a book, too

As in 2014, “Lilac City Fairy Tales” is giving birth to an anthology. Once again, it includes more works than are featured in the event at the Bing, and works by men. It’s much bigger than last year’s collection, with pieces from 60 writers.

The anthology is being published by Scablands Books, a nonprofit press started by Shields and Welcker. It’s part of Scablands Lit, which aims to create literary programming for the community under the auspices of Ink Artspace.

The book, which will be available to buy on Sunday, features poetry by Welcker, Chris Cook, Laura Read, Maya Jewell Zeller, Dennis Held, Tim Greenup, Shann Ray and others. Prose comes from authors such as J. Robert Lennon, Leyna Krow, Toor, Buckingham, Oakes, and Kris Dinnison. Simeon Mills submitted a short graphic story.

The lone piece of nonfiction is “The Veil” by Lewellyn Schlegel. It tells the true story of Julia Pastrana, who was born in 1834 with a genetic condition called hypertrichosis, which caused her body to be covered with dark hair. She was exhibited around the world as the “Bear Woman.”

There will be a book release event at 6 p.m. on Feb. 20 at the Spark Center in Kendall Yards.

Some of the authors who are are reading Sunday have their works in the anthology. Others do not, meaning Sunday’s event will be the best chance to hears these pieces.

So, what’s the point?

The project raises money for Ink Artspace, which offers arts education and programs at little or no cost.

“We just want to raise a ton of money for Ink,” Welcker said.