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Spokane, Wash. - Attention all writers! Eastern Washington University's Get Lit! Programs is encouraging the writers in our community to tell your American story at our 13th annual festival. On April 16, choose between six morning workshops and six afternoon workshops. (There are even two workshops specifically for youth and teens.)

Writers of all levels are encouraged to sign up to work with published authors and writing professionals on various forms of creative writing. Many workshops include writing exercises, while others will give you tools and suggestions to try at home. There is truly something for everyone this year:

• Poems as Portraits with Lowell Jaeger
• Edit Like a Pro with Henry Covey and Gretchen Stelter
• The Zine Scene with Julia Lipscomb
• Developing Your Blogging Style with Molly Johnson, PhD, and Dan Webster
• Mining Family History for Stories with Julie Otsuka (fiction)
• The Second Draft of History with Jack Hamann (journalism)
• Conflict: The Key to Drama with Nancy Rawles (playwriting and fiction)
• Sneaking Past the Dragons with Ruth McLaughlin (memoir)
• Writing Off the Page with Nance Van Winckel (poetry/art)

Also available for professional development credits:

Nitro Nonfiction: How to Write and Teach Dynamic Nonfiction with Kelly Milner Halls and Claire Rudolf Murphy

Putting Pen to Paper with Barbara Crumb and Beverley Wolff

Igniting the Inner Reader with April Niemela

In order to insure you have the best experience, Get Lit! Programs limits the participants to 25 per workshop. On-site registration is available at the Riverpoint Campus, Phase One Building, on April 16, but pre-registration is suggested.

To pre-register through the Corbin Arts Center, got to www.spokaneparks.org, then click "register for classes" and select the "activities" tab to find the Get Lit! workshops or call 509.625.6200. Workshops are $30 each, or $20 for students with a current ID. Youth workshops are free.

Get Lit! Programs is also collaborating with several local organizations on writing contests. Along with publication, winners will read their work during this year's festival, April 13-17.

• First, to help commemorate Earth Day 2011, Down to Earth NW is inviting writers and thinkers to put pencils to paper and share what Earth Day means to them in today's world. This contest is open to any genre as long as it is in by the March 31 deadline.
• KSPS is asking fourth, fifth and sixth-grade students to send in an essay, article, story or poem about their favorite American hero. 
• And The Pacific Northwest Inlander is hosting its third annual 101-Word Fiction Contest. Readers are invited to share micro-masterpieces of narrative, voice and character. The deadline is March 3 at 3 p.m. Eight finalists will be selected to compete at the 101-Word Fiction Showdown with their best shorts on "Telling the American Story."

Join us at Auntie's Bookstore on April 17, from 3:30-5 p.m. to cheer on these short-short writers. Visit www.ewu.edu/getlit for complete rules and information on all of these contests.

This year's festival will again feature more than 50 events including: author presentations and readings, writing workshops, panel discussions, poetry slams and writing contests. Most events are free and open to the public. However, tickets are required for the headlining events. Tickets and festival passes are available through TicketsWest at www.ticketswest.com, 1.800.325.SEAT, or at one of the seven outlets around town. Each ticket is just $15 for the general public, discounted $5 for military and free for students with a current high school or college ID. Student tickets will be available at college bookstores March 28 through April 8 or at the door as space allows.

More information about the festival is being updated daily on the Get Lit! Programs website at www.ewu.edu/getlit. For media inquiries call Danielle Ward in the Get Lit! Programs office at 509.359.6977. Authors are available for interviews.