The Financial Lives of Poetry Readings
Get Lit! made Spokane a “literary capital.” Next year, the festival runs into its biggest funding challenge.
Read About:
Jess Walter & Richard Russo, Reza Aslan, Janet Fitch, Anne Lappe, Victor Lodato, Kevin Sampsell, Patricia Smith, Sallie Tisdale, Janet Wong
Selected Shorts
Three actors, three short stories about Father's Day.
Peripheral Events
Get Lit offers more than 50 events. Here's the best of the rest.
Format: Three actors reading three short stories on the theme of fatherhood; recorded live and scheduled for broadcast on public radio in June
Why June? Because Father’s Day was first celebrated a century ago, right here in Spokane, in June 1910
Voices: Isaiah Sheffer, James Naughton, Susanna Thompson
Authors: Roald Dahl, John Updike, Maxine Swann
Short story titles: Not yet revealed, but that won’t keep us from speculating
Isaiah Sheffer: director and host of Selected Shorts for nearly 20 years.
What Sheffer will probably read: a story by Roald Dahl (best known for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) — perhaps “The Champion of the World” (1959), in which Danny and his father scheme to ruin a mean old man’s pheasant-hunting party.
James Naughton: Two-time Tony Award winner for Best Actor in a Musical. Longtime friend of Paul Newman. Has appeared in TV commercials for Nexium, the purple pill for acid reflux.
What Naughton will probably read: a story by John Updike, whose posthumous collection is entitled My Father’s Tears and Other Stories. The title story (2006), concerns emotional repression passed from father to son: “It is easy to love people in memory; the hard trick is to love them when they are there, in front of you.”
Susanna Thompson: Best known as the Borg Queen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and as Mark Harmon’s (fictional) girlfriend on NCIS.
What Thompson will probably read: a story by Maxine Swann, possibly “Flower Children” (1997), about four children of hippie parents; in a case of TMI ‘70s-style, their father tells them all about his exploits with free love. The story’s narrated in the “third-person plural” by all four kids.
A word to our listeners: You may have to sit through some retakes.
Selected Shorts is broadcast on Sundays (from 4-5 pm on KPBX 91.1 FM and from 9-10 pm on KSFC 91.9 FM). Visit symphonyspace.org/shorts. Listen to Selected Shorts’ live recording of three stories about fatherhood on Friday, April 16, from 7-8:30 pm at the Bing. Tickets: $25; free, students.
