Published March 4, 2010<\/SPAN> The Mid-Columbia Literary Festival is bringing back two of the Inland Northwest’s brightest writing talents tonight.<\/P> Award-winning authors Jess Walter of Spokane and Pete Fromm of Great Falls, Mont., will discuss their work at 7 p.m. at HUB Mainstage on the Columbia Basin College campus in Pasco.<\/P> Both writers have appeared at past LitFest events, and their return is a good turn for Tri-City book lovers.<\/P> Walter’s latest novel, The Financial Lives of Poets<\/EM>, earned critical acclaim. “The funniest way-we-live-now book of the year,” Time<\/EM> magazine raved.<\/P> He has published five novels and one nonfiction book, all to favorable reviews. The Zero<\/EM>, a novel exploring the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was a finalist for the National Book Award.<\/P> Fromm’s latest novel, As Cool As I Am<\/EM>, earned him an unprecedented fourth Pacific Northwest Booksellers Literary Award.<\/P> His novel How All This Started<\/EM>, a story collection, Dry Rain<\/EM>, and his memoir, Indian Creek Chronicles<\/EM>, also earned the prestigious award.<\/P> Indian Creek Chronicles<\/EM>, Fromm’s account of a winter alone in Idaho and Montana’s Selway-Bitterroot wilderness, ought to be a staple in any collection of outdoor tales.<\/P> The memoir puts Fromm among the American West’s most promising writers, according to the Los Angeles Times<\/EM>.<\/P> Tonight’s LitFest event celebrates good books and this unique corner of America. Don’t miss it.<\/P>
By the Tri-City Herald editorial staff<\/P>