208 Fiction 2026 contest results
Here we present the winners of the fifth annual Sandpoint Reader 208 Fiction contest, in which we invited writers to submit a work of fiction totaling exactly 208 words for consideration by a panel...
Category: Ben Olson
Afraid to turn away
By Ben OlsonReader Staff With the publication of our fifth annual 208 Fiction winners and honorable mentions in this edition (see Pages 14-16), I thought I’d share one of my own short stories. I...
2026 year in preview
What could be in the coming year By Reader Staff While it may be a fool’s errand to predict the future, we’ve been doing it at the Reader every year since 2020 — getting...
A totally radical Christmas
Gigawatt to play An ’80s Christmas at The Hive By Ben OlsonReader Staff “Great Scott!” The 1980s was a wild decade for music. The hair was big, the costumes were over the top, colors...
Don’t give up the light: An allegory
By Ben OlsonReader Staff A long time ago, the people of Sandpoint lived in darkness. When the cold winter months set in, Sandpointians were left to navigate to and from work on streets without...
A quiet, brooding masterpiece
Train Dreams is a film that captures the Gothic desperation of North Idaho By Ben OlsonReader Staff Underneath the paved streets, the brick buildings, real estate offices and fast-food joints, there exists another North Idaho. It’s...
Sandpoint Elks donate to local organizations helping with food insecurity
By Ben OlsonReader Staff Everyone needs a little help from time to time. The Sandpoint Elks Lodge No. 1376 presented three Bonner County nonprofit organizations with grant dollars on Dec. 4 to help with...
Holiday Gift Guide: Weird gifts for your weird friends and family
By Ben OlsonReader Staff For many, the holiday season can be a time of anxiety due to a lack of creativity when it comes to giving gifts. That’s why the Reader offers a guide...
Dumb of the week
By Ben OlsonReader Staff No matter how many times I think we’ve reached the bottom of the Dumb barrel in American politics, someone like Pete Hegseth comes and says, “Hold my scrapin’ ladle.” Formerly...
‘Something for everyone’
Felicia Willow Little Shop opens at Panida Theater storefront By Ben OlsonReader Staff Felicia Willow has been excited to open a brick-and-mortar shop to display and sell her unique jewelry, metalworking, decor and fashion...
