EWU’s Visiting Writers series begins Feb. 6 with poets William Wright and Andrea Scarpino. The series will feature eight authors who are set to visit on different dates until May 25. Students can expect a reading, possible workshop and Q&A.

The authors are also willing to speak to any students after each event. The events are free and will be held at Auntie’s Bookstore in downtown Spokane.

The Visiting Writers Series has happened annually since the late 90s, but this is the first year Get Lit! is serving as a co-host of the series with EWU’s MFA program in creative writing.

According to its website, EWU’s Get Lit! programs engage members of the Inland Northwest community in a celebration of the written word by encouraging discussion, at all age levels, of literature in its many forms.

“We’re very excited to be co-hosting the series, as our mission centers on celebrating reading, writing and storytelling,” said Melissa Huggins, director of Get Lit! programs.

According to Huggins, the readings are not just for creative writing or English majors. She recounts a time when EWU creative writing professor Jonathan Johnson participated at a Visiting Writer’s event at another university. He talked about his memoir, which chronicled a time when he and his wife built their own log cabin in the woods of Idaho and struggled with a personal loss. During the Q&A session, a student asked about the logistics of building a log cabin.

“It was the perfect example of how books can bring together students with wide-ranging interests,” said Huggins.

One of the visiting authors for this series, Elizabeth Graver, said the collaborative energy of gathering in a group can be helpful to a writer’s somewhat solitary journey.

“Every writer is different, but I’m someone for whom a community of rigorous and supportive readers has always been key, a way to sound out how a piece of writing is operating while it’s still malleable,” said Graver. “I also find the buzz of a lot of different creative minds inspiring.”

For Graver, writing is a potent mix of discipline and play. The Visiting Writers series at EWU explores that mix with the extended opportunities it offers to students.

According to Gregory Spatz, Ph.D., program director for Creative Writing at EWU, students may have the opportunity to socialize with the author in a less formal setting such as over dinner or at a post-reading reception held in the author’s honor.

Also, students from EWU’s in-house, nationally-acclaimed literary journal, Willow Springs, will do author-interviews with visiting writers for a publication in the journal. This allows students to garner more extensive information about the author’s work and grants them a more intimate look into their lives.

“All of this provides unique opportunities for inspiration, networking and instruction for our graduate and undergraduate majors,” said Spatz.