Marmo Gallery hosts a literary evening

Spokane author Leyna Krow's book reading and signing at 5 p.m. Feb. 22 at Shelton's Marmo Gallery is sandwiched between appearances at two of the Northwest's premier bookstores, Elliott Bay Books in downtown Seattle and the block-long Powell's Bookstore in downtown Portland.

Local fiction lovers can thank Marmo's Jeff Corey, who attended graduate school with Krow. The author will read from her new collection of short stories, "Sinkhole & Other Inexplicable Voids," which was published this year by Penguin Randon House.

The free event also features a book reading by Olympia writer Megan Kruse and a literary open mic, Krow said in a telephone interview with the Journal.

"It will be a real hodge podge of things," she said.

Krow grew up in Orange County in Southern California. Both parents wrote, her father in public relations and her mother was a technical writer. There were lots of books and newspapers around the house.

"They were both big readers," Krow said.

Krow said she started writing for fun while in high school and attended the University of California at Santa Cruz. "I dabbled with it through my 20s," she recalled. Her epiphany came when she was in her late 20s: "I decided if I had to do anything, it would be as a fiction writer."

A summer as tour guide for the City of Spokane inspired Krow's debut novel "Fire Season." Every day on the job, she told visitor about a fire that devastated Spokane in 1889. The cause of the inferno was never solved.

At the time, Krow was also employed by a couple community colleges. She used their academic resources and historical archives and read old newspaper archives at the Spokane Public Library to craft a novel about the inferno, which was published in 2022. Her first collection of short stories, "I'm Fine, But You Appear to be Sinking" was published in 2017.

Two of her short stories have been optioned for films by the Universal and Warner Brothers studios. Her books will be available for purchase at the Marmo event.

Krow noted that all the short stories in her new collection are set in the Pacific Northwest, including one at Mount Rainier. Krow lives in Spokane with her husband and two children, ages 4 and 8.

Kruse is the author of "Call Me Home," published in 2015 by Hawthorne Books in 2015. The Olympia resident's work has appeared in journals and anthologies.

Kruse teaches fiction for the low-residency Master of Fine Arts program at Eastern Oregon University and Gotham Writer workshop. She is working on a novel about oysters and grief.

Attendees are invited to read aloud their poetry, short prose or short fiction for a suggested time limit of five minutes. Limited reading slots are available, so participants are encouraged to arrive early to sign up.

IF YOU GO

WHO: Authors Leyna Krow and Megan Kruse

WHAT: Readings and a literary open mic

WHEN: 5 p.m. Feb. 22

WHERE: Marmo Gallery, 217 W. Cota St., downtown Shelton

ADMISSION: Free