Spokane is a railroad town, a river town, a college basketball town, and a town of transcendently good ginger-molasses cookies. But it’s also a literary oasis.
The Spokanites I talked to more or less all tell the same story: The literary scene in Spokane is blooming. There’s lots of new energy here (thanks, low cost of living!), people are using that energy to write books and participate in performance poetry events, and everyone supports everyone else’s projects. The writing program at Eastern Washington University helps, as well as writers who blow up but stay put.
If/when you ever visit, check out these historical and contemporary landmarks that have nourished and continue to nourish those endeavors. Like the town itself, the stories behind these places are wilder than you might imagine.
