Palouse Writers Guild is hosting presentations and workshops with local authors for the first-ever Palouse Writers Festival on Saturday at the 1912 Center in Moscow.  

The goal of the festival is to showcase local novelists and poets as well as provide low-cost workshops for people who may not be able to attend larger and more expensive writing conferences, event organizer Khaliela Wright said. 

“I thought, we have this wonderful wealth of resources here with the two universities,” Wright said, “so why don’t we start our own festival?”

The festival will have a keynote address, two workshop sessions and a “Books and Brews” portion in the evening, where participants can buy books from BookPeople of Moscow, get them signed by local authors and purchase beverages from Hunga Dunga Brewing, according to the event website. 

“I think it’s really special that … authors are taking the time out of their life to come [to the festival],” said Carol Price, owner and manager of BookPeople of Moscow. “We’re all sort of used to not doing events right now.”

Participants can attend the workshops either in person or on Zoom, Wright said. Pricing is a la carte — each workshop is priced separately so people can choose which ones they stay for. Workshops are open to everyone, but members of the guild get $5 off one workshop. 

“Anybody is welcome to attend,” she said. “We really want to bring writing to the masses.”

The guild hosted a writing contest and will announce the winners during the Books and Brews portion, Wright said.

Event organizers are taking precautions such as spacing authors’ tables six feet apart, providing masks and hand sanitizer as well as keeping traffic in the building moving in one direction, she said. 

Annette Pimentel, officer of the Inland Northwest Region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, said the event is a great opportunity for people to get a feel for the local writing community and see if writing is something they may be interested in. 

“The festival is a really easy way to dip your toes in the water,” Pimentel said. 

The Palouse Writers Festival is 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on June 27.