GETTING TEENS OFF THEIR DEVICES AND ENGAGED IN REAL LIFE
By Gina Cooper, Spokane Public Library, Teen Librarian
The world is spending more time online. As adults, it can be difficult to manage screen time, but it is certainly a challenge for teens who may also be experiencing added academic and social pressures in their daily lives. With more accessible—and often free— opportunities to connect on smartphones, computers, and television, there seem to be fewer in-person activities available for teens to meet and feel safe.
At the library, we strive to provide these experiences through free regular, in-person, collaborative events for middle and high schoolers. They have access to a place where they can connect with others who share their interests and who they might not have the opportunity to meet otherwise—all in their own neighborhood.
Fun and Games
With regular Dungeons and Dragons campaigns scheduled each month, teens can step away from their screens and immerse themselves in vast, magical worlds with their friends. These introductory events are beginnerfriendly and offer a chance to build relationships, social skills, and confidence that would not be possible by exclusively playing games online. There are opportunities to play video games and engage with virtual reality, too,
but we play them together in groups! We take an onlineonly experience and provide a place where they can play with others in-person, relax, snack, visit, and return again and again.
Arts and Crafts
If gaming is not their thing, teens can get creative, express themselves, and make something new. Through the Cozy Hangout events, teens can test out different paints, paper, activities, and techniques without worrying about the cost. Participants leave these events with the ability to start a hobby that may stay with them for years to come. Discovering new interests can have high barriers. At the library, teens can try out new things without worrying about purchasing supplies or collecting all the information they need to begin.
The library offers these events in addition to many others geared toward middle and high schoolers. What all of them have in common is an emphasis on community and self-expression. In a world where we are spending less time interacting with people and community, teen services in the library offer an alternative where participants can make deeper connections and have shared experiences with their peers in a safe and welcoming place.
ENGAGE IN REAL LIFE: A SPOKANE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INITIATIVE
Spokane Public Library is proud to partner with Spokane Public Schools in their initiative to get every kid, every day, participating in real life activities.
Find free events for kids, teens, and beyond to engage in real life on our events calendar at events.spokanelibrary.org.
Teens attend Coding Club at Hillyard Library, co-located within Shaw Middle School. This makes it a perfect proximity for teens to engage in real life at Library events.
Teens learn how to reduce, reuse, recycle...and sew at Upcyle Fashion Lab.
Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month occurs annually from September 15th–October 15th, and this year’s theme, according to the National Archives, is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.” The theme and its corresponding poster are selected by the National Council of Hispanic Employment Program Managers (NCHEMP), who advocate for Hispanic participation and representation in federal government. As the NCHEMP press release states, “The theme encapsulates the spirit of innovation, resilience, and unity that define the Hispanic experience.” You can learn more about the NCHEMP on their website.
“It’s crucial,” says the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino, “to make sure that the contributions of the Latino community are showcased, and that Latinas and Latinos have a voice. According to 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, one in every four children in the United States is Hispanic/Latino. A recent study found that Latino history is largely left out in high school textbooks that are used across the United States, despite the increasing percentage of Latina and Latino students…it’s necessary for all citizens to learn more about American Latino experiences to recognize and value the many contributions Latinas and Latinos have made.”
Celebrate Hispanic/Latino Heritage by diving into this vibrant book list filled with rich stories, dynamic cultures, and voices that inspire and empower. // ¡Celebre la herencia hispana/latina sumergiéndose en esta vibrante lista de libros llena de ricas historias, culturas dinámicas y voces que inspiran y empoderan!
El Mes de la Herencia Hispana/Latina se celebra anualmente del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre y el tema de este año, según los Archivos Nacionales, es “Pioneros del cambio: dando forma al futuro juntos”. El tema y su correspondiente cartel son seleccionados por el Consejo Nacional de Gerentes de Programas de Empleo Hispanos (NCHEMP), quienes abogan por la participación y representación hispana en el gobierno federal. Como dice el comunicado de prensa de NCHEMP, “El tema resume el espíritu de innovación, resiliencia y unidad que define la experiencia hispana”. Puede obtener más información sobre el NCHEMP en su sitio web.
“Es crucial”, dice el Museo Nacional del Latino Estadounidense del Smithsonian, “asegurarse de que se muestren las contribuciones de la comunidad latina y que las latinas y los latinos tengan una voz. Según datos de 2020 de la Oficina del Censo de EE. UU., uno de cada cuatro niños en los Estados Unidos es hispano/ latino. Un estudio reciente encontró que la historia latina se omite en gran medida en los libros de texto de las escuelas secundarias que se utilizan en todo Estados Unidos, a pesar del creciente porcentaje de estudiantes latinas y latinos...es necesario que todos los ciudadanos aprendan más sobre las experiencias de los latinos estadounidenses para reconocer y valorar las muchas contribuciones que han hecho las latinas y los latinos”.
So, you’ve got your art degree, now what?
For many art majors, that’s a big question and the immediate time post-graduation is awash with emotions and a lot of question marks. Art ends up getting set aside as the demands of the “real world” come at you fast and furious. In 2023, seeing an opportunity to engage more youth and student artists, Spokane Public Library created a partnership with Eastern Washington University (EWU) to pair recent arts graduates with residencies at The Hive.
The EWU Emerging Artists program awards a residency at The Hive to two graduates for six months starting in September following their graduation. The artists have monthly meetings with a faculty mentor, 24/7 access to an art studio, and the built-in art community that happens naturally at The Hive. Spokane Public Library’s Arts Education Specialist works closely with these artists to help them stay on track and develop programs they can offer to the public as part of their residency requirements.
Open Studio @ The Hive Wednesdays, 4–7 PM
Stop by to check out the Artist-In-Residence studios, tour The Hive, and see the artists at work.
The EWU Emerging Artists program builds upon Spokane Public Library’s innovative Artist-InResidence program that has hosted more than 50 artists at The Hive—a unique facility that combines free public meeting space, artist studios, and Spokane Public Schools facilities—since it’s creation in 2021.
“ This residency has given me the space and time to expand myself as an emerging artist but also to fearlessly think, explore, and do.
The program welcomed its first recent graduate participants in September 2023 with Noelle Bowden and Luu Melon. Both artists work with words and stories but in very different ways. Melon is working on a long form graphic novel; images would fill in when words weren’t present. Bowden is a poet whose large, gestural paintings are mirrors to her poems but written in the language of pigment. “This residency has given me the space and time to expand myself as an emerging artist but also to fearlessly think, explore, and do,” said Bowden. “The environment, other artists, and the community at The
Hive create a wonderful learning and creative atmosphere.”
Both Bowden and Melon put in a lot of time in the studio. The residency program culminated with an art show at Central Library in September following the completion of their residency at The Hive.
The Hive recently welcomed the second cohort of EWU Emerging Artists in September 2024. Lily Henderson and Carly Ellis have now taken over Studio B at The Hive and are diving into their projects. Ellis’s 3D work involves weaving within her paintings to create various textures while Henderson creates dioramas that are like scenes from a story. We can’t wait to see more of their work and where it takes them.
"Almost Under" by Carly Ellis. Photo Weaving.
Nicole Bowden in her studio.
Coloring is Not Just for Kids!
Kelley Hudson, upcoming Artist-In-Residence at The Hive starting January 2025, illustrated this coloring sheet. Hudson is the creator of The Spokane Coloring Book featuring 30 scenes from Spokane. Coloring is known to relax your brain, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve motor skills. Want more art in your life? Visit events.spokanelibrary.org for upcoming coloring, watercolor, doodle programs, and more.
BY CHEF ALICE KOH
As a Malaysian-born citizen brought up with the wisdom of generations of women who were skilled in cooking (especially my mother), I enjoyed an upbringing of food influenced by the fusion of cultures that make up one of the most peaceful and multicultural regions in the world. The types of food available in Malaysia reflect the diverse traditions of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Nyonya, Thai, Indonesian, and many other ethnic groups with hints of European influences.
I am a Straits-Born Chinese, also known as Peranakan (local-born). I was born in the historical state of Malacca but was raised and educated in the suburb of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The Peranakan men are called Baba and the women, Nyonya. The Peranakans are the descendants of early 15th-century Chinese migrants who settled in Phuket, Penang, Malacca, Singapore, and Indonesia. The Chinese traders married the local women and adapted to their local cultures. These intermarriages have produced one of the iconic cuisines in Malaysia and Singapore, popularly known as the Nyonya food.
Let me give you a bit of historical background on influences that give Malaysian Nyonya food the flavors it embodies today.
“
I grew up learning how to start a fire from my dad using sun-dried coconut shells to grill chicken satay.
Nyonya cooking blends Chinese ingredients with local and Indian spices and cooking techniques of the Malay and Indonesian communities. The Nyonya food is an interpretation of Malay/Indonesian food influenced by Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Eurasian. Most Nyonya food is spicy, tangy, aromatic and uses a lot of fresh, local herbs. The Nyonyas are also known for our colorful and decadent desserts. Presentation is key; each morsel of food must be a feast for the eyes first, paying attention to details and blending flavors.
I love cooking Nyonya food and incorporating inspiration from my mom and past generations into every dish. My parents loved hosting lunches most Sundays with relatives. I grew up learning how to start a fire from my dad using sun-dried coconut shells to grill chicken satay (skewers). The smoky flavor of the meat was exquisite! There are so many dishes I enjoy cooking but Nyonya Pineapple Shrimp Curry is very special to me because it was often cooked by my mom. She was able to prepare this dish with me even as she struggled with the ending stages of Alzheimer's. My cooking today is a tribute to her.
Malay Street Food Vendor.
Learn to cook Malaysian dishes or incorporate Malaysian twists into your own cooking in this three-part series with Chef Alice Koh. Visit events.spokanelibrary.org to learn more.
October 13 at 2:30pm | Nasi Lemak
Shadle Park Library
This versatile Malaysian dish is served with plain spicy chili gravy (sambal), cucumbers, roasted peanuts, a hardboiled egg, and crispy anchovies. Makes a great breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
October 20 at 2:30pm | Three Curries
Shadle Park Library
Learn how to make three different types of curry, each influenced by a different region. Chicken Curry (with Indian Influence), Pineapple Shrimp Curry (Straits Born Chinese style), and Eggplants in Tamarind Gravy (Assam Pedas, with Indonesian influence).
October 27 at 2:30pm | Bihun Siam
Shadle Park Library
I’ll show you how to make this beloved Peranakan (Nyonya) or Malay dish of stir-fried rice vermicelli noodles combining delicious sweet and sour and umami flavors!
ABOUT CHEF ALICE KOH
Chef Alice Koh was born in Malaysia and raised in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur. She started working as a chef in Phuket, Thailand and where she owned her own fine dining restaurant. She now shares the joy of Malaysian food and culture with the Spokane community as a chef-partner at Feast World Kitchen and through her catering business, SeraiMas. Learn more at seraimas.com or follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/SeraiMas.
CREDIT: Alice Koh.
Racial Restrictive Covenants on Our Homes in Eastern Washington: Does Your Home Have a Clause Restricting
All “Non-Caucasians” From Living in It?
By Tara Kelly, PhD Racial Covenants Research Project Eastern Washington University
The Eastern Washington University (EWU) Racial Covenants Project is a groundbreaking research initiative that emerged from a need to address historical racial injustices embedded in property records. The project formally began in late 2021/early 2022, following the passage of Washington State's SHB 1335. This important piece of legislation assigned EWU and the University of Washington (UW) the task of locating and informing homeowners of racially restrictive property covenants recorded in property documents.
Historically, racially restrictive covenants were legal agreements written into property deeds and plat maps, prohibiting people of certain racial and ethnic backgrounds from owning or occupying properties. This practice was part of a broader system of racial segregation that persisted throughout the early and mid-20th century in the United States. Although these covenants were declared unenforceable by the Supreme Court in 1948 and were rendered illegal by the Fair Housing Act of 1968, their remnants persist in property records today. This persistence underscores a troubling legacy of exclusion and discrimination that the Racial Covenants Project seeks to uncover.
The EWU Racial Covenants Project’s initial phase involved a meticulous review of historical property records across 20 counties in Eastern Washington. Researchers employed a combination of modern technology and traditional archival methods. Optical character recognition (OCR) technology played a crucial role in scanning digitized files to identify
key terms related to racial restrictions, such as “white” and “Caucasian.”
However, much of the work also required painstaking manual examination of bound deed books and plat maps.
Since 2022, the project had achieved significant milestones. Researchers uncovered thousands of restrictive covenants across several counties, including notable findings in Spokane, Benton, and Grant counties. These findings highlighted the pervasive nature of racial discrimination in housing practices historically.
EWU Racial Covenants Project Workshop
Presented in partnership with the Spokane County Auditor’s Office, these workshops will inform interested homeowners and home buyers how to navigate the map and how to file a Racial Covenant Amendment form on their working documents with their county Auditor’s office. Come be a part of addressing the lingering effects of racial segregation.
October 26, 10:00 AM
South Hill Library
November 9, 3:00 PM
Shadle Park Library
The project's findings were used to inform and enact new legislation, culminating in the enactment of the Covenants Home Ownership Account Act in May 2024. This new law established a special program to assist first-time home buyers and their descendants who were historically excluded by racial covenants. The program offers financial aid to cover down payments and closing costs,
aiming to provide a tangible remedy for the discriminatory effects of these covenants. This legislative response represents a significant step toward addressing the systemic impacts of racial exclusion in housing.
In addition to its legislative impact, the project has fostered a deeper understanding of the historical context of racial covenants. EWU's research team has been instrumental in uncovering and documenting these historical injustices. Their work has included analyzing the language and implications of the discovered covenants and presenting their findings at various conferences.
Currently, the project is making a significant technological leap with its comprehensive mapping of racial covenants. Slated for launch in the coming weeks, an interactive and searchable map of Spokane County will provide a detailed visualization of the locations of identified racially restrictive covenants. The map, the first of our counties to be released— with others slated to follow in coming months, will be an essential tool for both researchers and the public. This mapping effort aims to enhance transparency, facilitate public engagement, and support ongoing efforts to rectify the legacy of racial exclusion in property records.
The EWU Racial Covenants Project Research, Mapping and Website Teams include: Dr. Larry Cebula, Dr. Tara Kelly, Logan Camporeale, Dr. Stacy Warren, Dr. Josue Estrada, Colin Manikoth, Rachael Low, Monique Baxter, Andres Galvez-Preciado, Sean Riley, Ulysis Cruz-Antonio, Elias Gonzalez and Alex Cordon.
Frankenstein:
Penetrating the Secrets of Nature
A traveling exhibition on display at Central Library October 7 – November 16
Visit Central Library to view this fascinating traveling exhibition produced by the National Library of Medicine that explores the power of the novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus to expose hidden fears of science and technology as human efforts to penetrate the secrets of nature continue. In 1816, Mary Shelley conceived a story about a scientist who creates a creature that can think and feel, but is monstrous to the eye. Spurned by all, the embittered creature turns into a savage killer. Shelley’s story served as a metaphor for apprehensions about scientific advancement that continue to resonate today.
Mary Shelley was only 18 years old when she began writing Frankenstein, inspired by a “waking dream” in which she envisioned “the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life.”
Portrait of Mary Shelley, ca. 1851-1893 Courtesy The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
In a film version of Frankenstein, Boris Karloff portrayed the monster. His makeup showed the creature with a surgically altered skull, scars, and bolts protruding from his neck, which deeply affected audiences. Boris Karloff as the Monster in Frankenstein, 1931 Courtesy Universal Studios Licensing LLC
Spine-tingling
Stories & Eerie
Events at Spokane Public Library
What's Under the Driveway?
19th Century South Hill Cemeteries
October 2, 5:30 PM
South Hill Library
Illuminations: Witches Highlights from the Archives and Special Collections
October 3, 11 AM
Inland Northwest Special Collections, Central Library
UFO Northwest: How Washington State Spawned the Men in Black presented with Humanities Washington October 11, 3:30 PM
South Hill Library
What's in a Name? Mary, Shelley, and Monsters – A Presentation by EWU Professor Chris Valeo
October 16, 6:00 PM
nxʷyxʷyetkʷ Hall, Central Library
Lilac City Live Halloween Edition
October 17, 8:00 PM
nxʷyxʷyetkʷ Hall, Central Library
Ghost Stories: A Writing Workshop with Debra Magpie Earling October 25, 10:30 AM
Central Library
Registration required at go.spokanelibrary.org/DMEWritersWorkshop
Who is Haunting your House?
Spokane House History Resources
October 30, 5:30 PM
South Hill Library
By Juan Juan Moses, Spokane Public Library, Community Educator
Picture a garden where fresh produce and new ideas grow side by side—welcome to the Discovery Garden at Shadle Park Library. The Discovery Garden is a living classroom, a sanctuary where food grows for our patrons and local wildlife alike. It's a place where everyone can marvel at the wonders of the natural world, savor the sweetness of a ripe strawberry, or enjoy the tang of a sun-ripened tomato.
In addition to cultivating beauty and abundance in the Discovery Garden, I have used it as a cornerstone for my health and horticulture classes. Throughout the seasons, we’ve hosted countless classes covering everything from installing drip systems and amending soil to planting tomatoes, cooking with fresh produce, and even exploring edible weeds.
One of the most exciting aspects of the garden is how it helps shape our fall events. Last winter, I imagined a program where people could learn to grow and blend their own herbal teas. With the garden ready, I teamed up with Rachel Clark, a certified herbalist from Five Elements Herbals in Spokane to create an Herbal Wellness Series.
Throughout the season, I personally grew and dried the herbs for these classes, which sparked many conversations and highlighted the Discovery Garden’s role as a living classroom. Each year, our garden showcases our dedication to farm-to-table education. The herbal tea series not only wraps up a successful growing season but also sets the stage for future learning. I’m excited to see what next year’s theme will bring and continue this journey of growth with our community.
HERBAL WELLNESS SERIES: FROM GARDEN TO CUP
Fire Cider for Immune Support
Sunday, October 13 at 1 PM
Shadle Park Library
Herbal Tea for Sleep and Stress Support
Sunday, October 20 at 1 PM
Shadle Park Library
Herbal Tea for Gastrointestinal Support
Sunday, October 27 at 1 PM
Shadle Park Library
Riding the bus isn’t just a free ride—it’s a step toward independence.
As kids and teens get older, building independence is crucial. Public transit helps them learn to navigate the city on their own, giving them confidence and freedom while ensuring they can get to where they need to be safely and reliably.
All kids and teens 18 and under can ride for free on any STA route. This is a great opportunity for them to explore Spokane, get to school, meet up with friends, and experience the freedom of public transit—all without needing to pay.
We’ve heard from kids and teens that they love the independence that riding the bus gives them, whether it’s getting to school, a part-time job, or just hanging out with friends. Parents have also shared how they appreciate this growing autonomy while knowing that their child’s location can be tracked with a registered Connect card!
Using a Rider’s License Connect card also offers other benefits. Youth can link their Connect card with STA’s Connect app on a smartphone, allowing them to check their ride history online.
By Carly Cortright STA Chief Communications and Customer Service Officer
This experience not only teaches them about fare validation but also prepares them to use public transit systems around the world.
There are even more benefits to riding the bus. It helps reduce congestion and carbon emissions, and kids and teens can relax instead of worrying about traffic or parking. They can chat with friends, watch videos, or listen to music (with headphones, of course!).
For more information on how to ride, plan a trip, and bus rules, visit spokanetransit.com/youth
There are 3 ways for youth to access free bus fare:
1 Get a Rider’s License Connect Card
Kids and teens can apply for a free Rider’s License Connect card at any library location (Spokane Public Library, Liberty Lake, or SCLD), through spokanetransit.com/youth, or by visiting Customer Service at STA Plaza.
2 Use Your Student ID
If your teen is a Spokane Public Schools (SPS) high school student, they can use their SPS student ID, which doubles as a Connect card, to board the bus. Other students can simply show their school ID to the driver.
3 Simply Tell the Driver
If a youth doesn’t have a Rider’s License Connect card or a student ID, they can simply let the driver know their age when boarding the bus. They won’t be turned away!
Scan the QR code to watch STA's fun video on how to ride the bus—perfect for those new to Spokane Transit.
Debra Magpie Earling’s award-winning novel Perma Red is the 2024 Spokane Is Reading selection. Two events with Earling will take place on October 24th, both free and open to the public. Also, separate from Spokane Is Reading, she will teach a ghost stories workshop at the Central Library on October 25th.
Spokane Public Library’s Writing Education Specialist Sharma Shields recently conversed with Earling over email about her novel, and here is their exchange.
Perma Red was deservedly one of 45 debut novels listed in The Atlantic Monthly’s “Great American Novels” list, which featured major literary opuses from 1923 to 2023. What are your thoughts about Perma Red being honored in this way?
I was astonished and giddy! I laughed out loud at my good fortune. All those years of dogged and grimlyhopeful determination, all those rejections, all those back-to-the-drawing board moments, through fire and reclamation and out-of-print years to then have my work recognized alongside Hurston, Morrison, Faulkner, Hemingway, Silko, and Erdrich is unbelievable. Luck, timing, and love lit my path—also family, friends, and my first editor, Greg Michalson.
I get goosebumps every time I re-read the first paragraph of Perma Red. Your prose is immediately textured, magical, and transportive. How have you honed your craft over the years to cultivate this atmospheric voice?
Atmospheric writing marries word choice to the uncanny. Writing is a spooky craft. As writers, we wish to put the listener into the story we are telling. And when we write with power, words transform and transport readers to other times and other places. I love the voices and conversations between old friends and lovers and family members. I listen for the constraints and limitations of communication, the way people’s voices soar or rumble or whimper or whine. Language is everywhere—in and among trees, canyon sounds, birds, water, breath. Expression.
People might mistakenly call this novel a love story, but for me this is first and foremost Louise White Elk’s story, a story of survival. How did Louise come to you and how did you develop such a complex woman on the page?
I was relieved when Perma Red was recast. The original jacket cast the men as suitors and did not highlight a woman seeking all ways to survive under heart-breaking and brutal practices of governmental assimilation of Native people.
ABOUT DEBRA MAGPIE EARLING
Born in Spokane, Debra Magpie Earling is a Native American novelist, short story writer, and professor emeritus at University of Montana. She is Bitterroot Salish. She is the author of Perma Red and The Lost Journals of Sacajewea Her work has also appeared in Ploughshares, the Northeast Indian Quarterly, and many anthologies. She has been a Guggenheim Fellow and won an American Book Award and WILLA Literary Award for Perma Red. Debra Magpie Earling’s second novel, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea, published in 2023, reimagines the story of an oftenmythologized figure from American history.
Louise is based on the life story of my Aunt Louise. I was always drawn to the stories my mother and aunts told me about Louise’s headstrong personality and dazzling charisma. Louise was a victim of boarding schools and government agents who attempted to break her connection to her people, and to herself.
Check out Perma Red from any Spokane Public Library or SCLD location or buy a copy at Auntie’s Bookstore.
Louise died when my mother was only 14 or 15 and she couldn’t remember where her sister had been buried, only that she had been buried out on Camas Prairie in 1947. I searched for her grave in old cemeteries on lost allotment lands. After the Allotment Act illegally divided the Flathead Reservation, many Indians sold off their allotments because they couldn’t feed their families. Large areas of land were sold for pennies. Cemeteries were fenced off but cattle broke down the fences, and do so even now. Graves are trampled. Disregarded.
As I searched for Louise I heard other stories about her. One farmer described her eyes and how they turned green in sunlight, how she was fearless and swam in the Flathead River where others wouldn’t swim. How she was funny and smart and never backed away from fun or trouble. How everyone, men and women, were irresistibly drawn to her. I found Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) papers of her struggles, of forced schooling, constant humiliations, and removal from the Flathead, and then back again to Indian boarding school at St. Ignatius. I read many incidents of arrests for truancy and how she was able to outsmart the police, both tribal and state. I read letters she’d written to the Agency Superintendent, just seven years old, letters where she begged to go home, and later begged for socks and underpants, and I read about her relief from being sent away to all white schools where kids made fun of her, the only Indian.
How did you approach writing about the land? Was it from visceral memory?
My parents traveled to Montana often to fence off my grandmother and great-grandmother’s land. It was miserable work in the fields of Perma, dusty fields and rattlers, relentless sun and miles of fence posts to dig. Misery sparks writing. I’d look off to the
alkali-green Flathead River and wish I were back in Spokane. Montana wasn’t desirable to me then. Nothing happened. Streets rolled up way before dark. The movie theater in Hot Springs smelled like rotten eggs and creeping mold and had the audacity to play terrible movies like “That Darn Cat” and “Flubber.” Only my mother made the place magical with her stories. Perma was lit with her generous memory.
Can you talk about your Spokane roots and what impact they’ve had on your writing?
I was born in Spokane and I love all the stories and memories of my days there. My experiment with writing began in 7th grade at St. Paschal School in the Spokane Valley when Sister Bernard challenged us to write a ghost story. I had been reading dime store paperbacks all summer. I was fascinated with weird tales. I fashioned a tale about a woman who’d moved to the country, ignoring the history of her newly bought farm where a mean-spirited boy had been struck by lightning. We had to end the story at a critical point. I ended with the line, “I fell, and my screams pierced the cold black air around me.” I thought the line was original. Ha. But I never forgot the look on my classmates’ faces when I walked back to my desk.
In the 8th grade my best friend Susan died and I tried to hold on to her through writing. I wrote about the haunted railroad tracks Susan and I walked on our way to school, the lilac bushes where we hid from the nuns, the sound of squealing girls, the scent of snuffed candles, autumn leaves and blue snowstorms swirling at school windows, the deep wonder and consternation of Catholicism as translated by a nun who believed when you died, no matter your age, you would be 33 years old forever. Writing became the scent of lilacs, blacktop and jump ropes, my mother’s stories, my brother Dennis’s humor, the stuff of memory, and the desire to fasten life experience to the page—the impossible task! I felt I had to write certain stories, hard stories. Now I feel I’m entering the hallowed space where I get to write what I truly want to write, fantastical stories, even whimsical stories, ghost stories maybe, or not.
UPCOMING EVENTS WITH DEBRA MAGPIE EARLING
Spokane Is Reading October 24
1 PM at Spokane Valley Library (SCLD)
7 PM at Central Library (SPL)
Learn more at spokaneisreading.org
Ghost Stories: A Writing Workshop with Debra Magpie Earling (registration required) October 25
10:30 AM-12 PM at Central Library (SPL)
Learn more and register at go.spokanelibrary.org/DMEWritersWorkshop
