Written by Aimee Brooks
Join Spokane Campfire Stories team at Lawrence Rist Memorial Fireplace at Manito Park on August 22nd at 7pm for the official launch party.
When I moved into Studio C at The Hive® in the fall of 2024, I was already deep into the SAGA application that came to fund Spokane Campfire Stories. The more I look back on both of these experiences, the more I find myself reflecting on how similar they are. The Hive supports artists in all stages of their careers, from emerging to established. The Hive allowed me to meet so many wonderful people and live my life in creative community and mentorship. That’s all I want for Spokane Campfire Stories; for voices to be heard, for connections to be made, to bring people closer together.
At The Hive, I heard the stories of my studiomate, Darya Pilram, and watched her build up the Spokane arts community through her organizing while she repaired century old ceramics with tree sap and gold. I made block prints with friends and printed textiles to give as gifts, taking some of them as far as back home to Texas. I worked on my own writing side-by-side with the creative friends that became editors for Spokane Campfire Stories.
It didn’t take the editorial team long to break traditional press form and begin to explore the unorthodox. In February, the team and I hosted Crafting Campfire Stories, a generative storytelling workshop, along with Pivot, Spokane’s premier oral storytelling community. Around a campfire made of mason jars paper mâchéd with Trader Joes bags and tissue paper flames, editor Katy Shedlock told a real story of her time living in Kazakhstan with the Peace Corps, and I told an adaptation from The National Parks Campfire Stories collection about Zion, both which featured fire. Eric Woodard from Pivot taught the group some storytelling techniques, and we gathered again around the fire at the end to tell new stories.
Each Hive resident has the opportunity to teach classes related to their field. When I taught short story classes, I thought it was important to be vulnerable in front of my students, so I gave them my unpolished stories on the first day and received their feedback before I asked them to do the same in front of their classmates. My second group read Ravenous Creature in one of its earlier drafts, and I took their advice to help me mold the story into its final form. When I was in a creative rut or overwhelmed by work and life, seeing the students always brightened my week and inspired me to keep honing my work.
Nearly six months out from my last day at The Hive, Spokane Campfire Stories will make its debut into the world. This book was steeped in an ecosystem of creatives from the very beginning, and now I’m thrilled to share the collection with the people of the Inland Northwest. On August 22nd at 7 pm, please join me and the editors, Dylan Cooper, Morganne Elkins, and Katy Shedlock for our launch party at the Lawrence Rist Memorial Fireplace, that features readings from our contributors, games, s’mores, treats from Lunarium, and book sales by Aunties. Please bring a lawn chair or a blanket if you can. There will be extras provided. My hope is that Spokane Campfire Stories brings you joy, makes you laugh, and makes you think about our shared home.
What is The Hive?
The Hive® is a non-traditional library centered around arts education and free, public event space—no books or computers here! It is also home to the administrative offices for Spokane Virtual Learning and the Library’s Artists-In-Residence Program.
