2012 graduate in fiction, Leyna Krow, has made the inland northwest her home for the past decade since moving to Spokane for her MFA. Taking her love for Spokane and its culture, geography, and weirdness in general, she has chosen this place as the setting for her debut novel Fire Season��which was published by Viking Press in 2022.

In an interview with Viking, Leyna mentioned that she not only took inspiration from other Spokane-based writers who use the unique location as settings in their own work like Jess Walters and Sharma Shields, but also from authors with work that features fantastical re-imaginations of�� westerns such as Karen Joy Fowler and Colin Winnette. Therefore, Fire Season is not what readers would typically expect from a novel of historical fiction but instead is something unique in its style, scope, and genre. In describing her own writing, Leyna prefers the term “fabulism” which is considered a confluence of elements from multiple genres including horror, sci-fi, and magical realism, or simply “weird”.

Fire Season focuses on the historical 1889 fire that look place in what was then known as Spokane Falls and blends elements of historical fiction, place-based fiction, and fabulism into a piece of art that cannot be contained into a single categorization. Featuring three main characters with their own personal agendas surrounding the disastrous fire — a bank manager, a career conman, and a prostitute with the ability to see into the future — the novel follows how their paths intersect as they struggle with power, control, and relationships.

This is Leyna’s second book after her short story collection I’m Fine But You Appear to Be Sinking. She also has a forthcoming collection of short stories with Viking Press which focuses on women and their relationship with power.

MFA alum, Kathryn Smith’s second full-length poetry collection ,��was the winner of the Copper Nickel Jake Adam York Prize. It was published by��Milkweed Editions in early 2021.

Shawn Vestal, alum and visiting writer/professor at Eastern, received the $25,000 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction for his short story collection Godforsaken Idaho. The award was announced in September of 2014 by the PEN American Center and he received the prize from Louise Erdrich at a ceremony at the New School.

MFA alum, Kathryn Smith’s debut poetry collection, , won the 2018 Open Country Chapbook Contest which was chosen by Heather Cahoon. The collection was published in 2019 by Open Country Press.

2010 MFA graduate in fiction, Ashley Wurzbacher’s debut short story collection , won the John Simmons Iowa Short Fiction award and was published by the University of Iowa Press in October 2019.

The collection features some stories from her thesis from her time at Eastern’s MFA program!

2018 graduate of Eastern’s MFA in poetry, Kimberly Povloski’s debut poetry collection won the Adrift Chapbook Contest by Driftwood Press and was published in January 2019.

MFA alum, Kathryn Nuernberger’s book received the 2015 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, which is given to recognize a superior second book of poetry by an American poet. It was published by��BOA Editions in 2016.

Her debut poetry collection,��Rag & Bone, won the Antivenom Prize from Elixir Press and was published in 2011.

2014 graduate of Eastern’s MFA program in poetry, Kate Peterson’s chapbook won the 2016 Floating Bridge Chapbook Prize and was published in October of 2016.

MFA in poetry alum, Kimberly Lambright’s debut poetry collection won the 42 Miles Press poetry award and was published in the fall of 2016.

Here is what Chris Howell, professor Emeritus at Eastern’s MFA program, has to say about the collection:

“I am stunned by Kimberly Lambright’s verbal acuity, its lightning shifts and sudden, diamond-like stillnesses. And there are images in this book that would wake Breton from the dead. Hats off to this uniquely adventurous and mature first volume.”

2001 MFA alum in fiction, Wendy J. Fox, just published a short story collection titled����Wendy is originally from Denver, Colorado and her short story collection was named the winner of the 2014 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction. Her manuscript was selected by Kevin Morgan Watson and Christine Norris.