2016 Get Lit! Festival: Full Schedule

1:30pm PDT

The Poem, The Novel, and the Wilderness

Literature is one way humans can attempt to make sense of our complicated relationship with nature. The theme transcends genre, allowing for in depth exploration of the way we interact with our natural world and, in turn, the way it affects us. In this panel, local authors will discuss their work and the way the wilderness is involved within it. Panelists include: Shann Ray, author of the novel American Copper; Sharma Shields, author of the novel The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac; Kris Dinnison, author of the novel You and Me and Him; Jonathan Johnson, author of the poetry collections In the Land We Imagined Ourselves and Mastodon, 80% Complete; Andrea Scarpino, author of the book-length poem What the Willow Said as it Fell; and Ellen Welcker, author of two chapbooks and the book The Botanical Garden.

Authors

Kris Dinnison

Kris Dinnison learned to read when she was five years old. She grew up reading books nobody else had read and listening to music nobody else had heard of and thinking she was weird, which she kind of was. She spent nearly two decades as a teacher and librarian working with students... Read More →

Jonathan Johnson

Jonathan Johnson’s second collection of poems, In the Land We Imagined Ourselves, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press in 2010. His first collection,Mastodon, 80% Complete, was published in 2001 by Carnegie Mellon. His poems have appeared in the Best American Poetry and... Read More →

Shann Ray

Poet and prose writer Shann Ray teaches leadership and forgiveness studies at Gonzaga. Born and raised in Montana, his powerful, graceful writing considers the nature of humanity with regard to violence and forgiveness. He holds a dual MFA in poetry and fiction from EWU, and a PhD... Read More →

Sharma Shields

Sharma Shields is the author of a short story collection, Favorite Monster, and a novel, The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac. Her writing has appearaed in Electric Lit, the New York Times, Kenyon review, Iowa REview, Fugue and elsewhere, and has garnered such awards as the Autumn House... Read More →

Ellen Welcker

Ellen Welcker has collaborated with visual artists, other writers, and as part of several multi-genre productions, including 2016's Terrain's Uncharted, a collaboration with the Spokane Symphony that reimagined the classic "Peter and the Wolf," and 2018's performance of her chapbook... Read More →

Friday April 15, 2016 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
EWU Spokane

Panel