Join us for Lilac City Live! on December 14th! The first “late night” talk show featuring local Spokane talent at the Downtown Library — Drinks! Music! Authors! Artists! Comedians! It’s guaranteed to be a fun time. And it’s a great opportunity to see some awesome Spokane talent for free. It’s also the official Grand Opening of the Community Lens, our new 3rd floor event space and stage.

DECEMBER 14th
7-8, cash bar featuring Iron Goat Brewing and Maryhill Winery (all proceeds benefit Spokane Public Library Foundation)
8-9, late night talk show-style show

Hosted by Ryan Dean

Guests
sharmashieldspicSharma Shields
Sharma Shields is the author of a short story collection, Favorite Monster, and a novel, The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac. Henry Holt will publish her next novel, The Cassandra, in early 2019. Sharma’s writing has appeared in Electric LitSliceThe New York TimesKenyon Review, Iowa ReviewFugue, and elsewhere and has garnered such awards as the 2016 Washington State Book Award, the Autumn House Fiction Prize, the Tim McGinnis Award for Humor, a Grant for Artist Projects from Artist Trust, and the A.B. Guthrie Award for Outstanding Prose. She received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Washington (2000) and her MFA from the University of Montana (2004). Sharma has worked in independent bookstores and public libraries throughout Washington State and now lives in Spokane with her husband and two young children. She is a board member for the Friends of the Spokane County Library District and also serves on the programming committee for Spokane’s Spark Central.

marshall1Marshall McLean
One of Spokane’s favorite songwriters, McLean manages to write songs without pretension.  He sets reflective moods and backs them up with a distinctive picking style that travels seamlessly from powered lead lines to dynamic rhythm. It is in the final output, however, where the Marshall McLean Band carves its most solid niche.  The method in which acoustical elements are managed through filters and amps gives forth a clear but overdriven sound that blurs the line between genres. The band is unafraid, blending these styles, taking the best of both worlds and discarding the rest.

ryan-mccombRyan McComb 
Ryan McComb has been doing comedy in the Pacific Northwest for 4 years and was recently voted Spokane’s third funniest person (don’t ask him who the top two were, it’s irrelevant). He’s a regular at the Spokane Comedy Club and has performed at The Bing Crosby Theater, Uncle D’s and a Denny’s for a nice old gentleman’s retirement party. Locals know him for his clean observational humor and his remarkable good looks. Some people have it all, I tell you. His personal life is going just as well as his professional life, with girlfriend in law school and a cute little pup that graduated and is now studying for The BARK Exam.

Amber Hoit (Artist-bio to come)