Book Notes: EWU’s Spatz will read from ‘Inukshuk’ Tuesday

Gregory Spatz, a writing professor at Eastern Washington University, will read from his latest book, “Inukshuk,” on Tuesday at North Idaho College.

Spatz, who won a Washington State Book Award in 2003 for his collection of short fiction, “Wonderful Tricks,” will talk at the Lee Hall Annex’s Writing Center from noon to 1 p.m.

“Inukshuk,” which earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, is about a father who moves with his son to a remote Canadian town after his wife leaves. The boy, 15, deals with the isolation by fantasizing about the fate of Capt. John Franklin’s failed expedition to find the Northwest Passage.

For information, call (208) 769-3337 or visit Spatz’s website, www.gregoryspatz.com.

WSU’s ‘Naked Voice’

Jaap Blonk, a Dutch sound poet and performance artist, will visit Pullman this week as part of Washington State University’s Visiting Writers Series.

Blonk will be presenting a show called “The Naked Voice,” what he calls “an on-the-spot” choice from his repertoire, which includes sound poetry and voice pieces from artists ranging from Hugo Ball to John Cage, and his own works, “experimental text, phonetic etudes, invented languages, improvisations.”

Blonk’s presentation begins at 7 p.m. and will be held in Kimbrough Hall, Room 101. Admission is free. For information, call (509) 335-2353 or visit Blonk’s website, www.jaapblonk.com.

Reedy gets ready

In 2004 and 2005, Trent Reedy was in Afghanistan, serving with the Army National Guard.

That experience helped inspire his first young adult novel, 2011’s “Words in the Dust,” about a young Afghan girl who hopes for peace.

Now, the former high school English teacher from Iowa is living in Spokane, working at EWU, and celebrating the publication of his new young adult novel, “Stealing Air” (Scholastic), about three boys who bond over building a secret airplane.

He’ll mark the occasion with a launch party at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave., at 2 p.m. Saturday. For details, call Auntie’s at (509) 838-0206 or visit www.trentreedy.com.

Learning ahead at Gonzaga

Two Gonzaga University faculty members will discuss “What Can We Learn From St. Ignatius Loyola” this week.

The forum, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, will feature J. Kevin Waters of Gonzaga’s music department, and Daniel Bradley, of Gonzaga’s philosophy department. The event is free and will be in the Wolff Auditorium (Jepson room 114). 

The event is part of the “What Can We Learn?” series of presentations by faculty members of Gonzaga’s College of Arts and Sciences and is co-sponsored by the college and its Powers Chair of the Humanities. 

Konecny signings set

Coeur d’Alene children’s author Linda Konecny will be signing copies of her two Dave’s Dog Adventures – “Dave’s Thanksgiving” and “Dave’s First Christmas” – as a series of events this fall. They include:

Today, 1-4 p.m., Hastings, 101 E. Best Ave., Coeur d’Alene;

Oct. 27, 10 a.m.-noon, Pawpular Companions, 21950 E. Country Vista Drive, Suite 100, Liberty Lake;

Nov. 3, 4 to 7 p.m., Hastings, 1704 W. Wellesley, Spokane;

Nov. 7, 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave.;

Nov. 10, 1 p.m., Hastings, 2512 E. 29th Ave., Spokane;

Nov. 17, 10:30 a.m., Hayden Library, 8385 N. Government Way.