Jess Walter Week to honor best-selling novelist, EWU alumnus

Eastern Washington University’s College of Arts, Humanities & Social Services (CAHSS) will host Jess Walter Week next week, with a series of events to spotlight the works and achievements of the best-selling novelist, Spokane native and EWU alumnus.

Walter ’87 has written 11 books—including New York Times bestseller Beautiful Ruins and his highly acclaimed most recent release, So Far Gone. He was a finalist for the National Book Award for The Zero and took home the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Citizen Vince.

CAHSS Dean Michelle DenBeste says EWU is proud to honor Walter and is appreciative of his willingness to share his success.

“Jess Walter Week allows us to come together as an academic community around a shared love of writing and creativity to honor one of our own graduates while working to inspire future writers,” DenBeste says.

The festivities will kick off with An Evening With Jess Walter, planned for 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the Catalyst Building, at 601 E. Riverside, in Spokane’s University District. Walter will discuss his career as an author, with a Q&A section.

The following day, Thursday, Feb. 12, EWU will host Eagles Engage The Work of Jess Walter: A Mini-Symposium from 2-3:30 p.m. at the Powers Reading Room in Hargreaves Hall. Professors Kevin Decker and Julia Smith will moderate a discussion through which students and others can learn about Walter’s writing and storytelling process.

On the evening of Feb. 12, Walter, a longtime EWU basketball fan, will be honored with an in-game ceremony when the EWU men’s basketball team takes on Idaho State University at 6 p.m. at Reese Court.

Two month-long initiatives will complement Jess Walter Week.

EWU history professor Larry Cebula and a group of students have developed an exhibit titled The Cold Millions: Historical Fact and Fiction and the Spokane Free Speech Fight. The exhibit, which is on display at the Spokane Public Library’s Central branch, interprets the history behind Walter’s novel, The Cold Millions, a fictional recount of Spokane’s free speech fight of 1909.

CAHSS is establishing another exhibit in the EWU JFK Memorial Library. The display will highlight Walter’s career and his connection to the university, as well as fiction and nonfiction works by Walter and other EWU authors. The display also will include a handful of items related to the labor activism described in The Cold Millions.

Also, CAHSS is promoting Eastern Reads, a monthlong event through which the college is encouraging a variety of groups to consider reading The Cold Millions during February in a “big read-style event” meant to encourage discussion and community.

The series of events comes a few months after the establishment of the Jess Walter Scholarship and Writers Fund, created with a generous donation from longtime EWU supporter Bill Youngs. The fund will support EWU students in the English and the Master of Fine Arts programs for years to come.

Walter recently was featured in a cover story for Eastern Magazine. To read more about his career and his start at EWU, go here.