Northwest Passages is honored to produce the Saturday keynote event of the EWU Get Lit! Weekend featuring Willy Vlautin in conversation with Jess Walter. 

Vlautin has been the recipient of three Oregon Book Awards, The Nevada Silver Pen Award, and was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. He was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and was shortlisted for the Impac Award (International Dublin Literary Award). Three of his novels, The Motel Life, Lean on Pete, and The Night Always Comes have been adapted as films. His novels have been translated into eleven languages. Vlautin teaches at Pacific University’s MFA in Writing program.  

Vlautin's new novel, The Left and the Lucky, will be released April 14, 2026.