Each week, Literary Arts staff will round up news, events, and more happening in the literary community. Let us know if you have any events or book news to share.
Online Bookclubs
Black Girl With Magic & Books (via Publisher’s Weekly)
YA author Dhonielle Clayton created this bookclub to “do something joyous to take my mind off of the existential dread of the coronavirus.” Through Instagram and Twitter, this online bookclub will explore a common read selected monthly by Clayton with a group of her author friends, but it will also encourage writers to discuss craft. Its focus is on speculative fiction and science fiction/fantasy by black female and non-binary authors, although anyone can join.
Buzzfeed Book Club
Enter to win a signed copy of Buzzfeed Book Club’s May read: Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth. Read the first chapter and sign up for the book club here.
Virtual Events
Ground Truth Virtual Book Event and Reading (Hidden Timber Books)
Sunday, April 26 at 2:00 p.m. (PST)
The cataclysmic eruption of Mt. St. Helens in May 1980 marked the start of a decades-long struggle over resources, land-use, and economics that would leave the Pacific Northwest forever changed. Written with the critical eye of a seasoned earth scientist, Ground Truth is an extended eulogy to a rapidly changing land and population awakening to the realities of climate change, land-use, and pollution.
View the book trailer for Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life.
Launch Party Livestreams (Copper Canyon Press)
Copper Canyon Press created a weekly series of free livestreaming book launch readings in the month of April. Watch the recordings here.
The Universe in Verse (Brainpickings)
Saturday, April 25, 1:30 p.m.
Poems celebrating the science, splendor, and wonder of nature, read by Patti Smith, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Rosanne Cash, Roxane Gay, Amanda Palmer, Rebecca Solnit, astronauts, artists, astrophysicists, and other rare makers of meaning and seekers of truth. Tune in live here.
Virtual Civic Saturday with Wendy Willis
Saturday, May 5 at 11:00 a.m.
Joining Civic Saturday from Portland, OR, Wendy shares thoughts that the antidote to despair is not hope; the antidote to despair is reckless, burn-it-all-down love. Local Portland artists Lucas and David Biespiel will share poetry and music during the gathering. Civic Saturday inspires our community, encouraging us to reflect, connect, and create new civic traditions that are joyful and communal.
Wordplay Virtual Book Festival (The Loft)
April 6 – May 5, 2020
Author lineup and schedule.
Resources for Writers
Story Dome Project (Whatcom Museum)
Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, WA built a mobile, geodesic recording booth in the lobby of one of their buildings. They have shifted to a digital launch of the project due to the pandemic. Everyone is welcome to record their story (or poem, spoken word, or song!) in response to one of the prompts related to the themes of place and identity. Once they reopen, they will curate selected stories at listening stations in our gallery. And in the coming weeks, they will also share standout stories online.
Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant Due May 4
A $40,000 completion grant will be awarded to eligible writers for book-length works-in-progress. More information about eligibility, judging criteria, and the application process here.
Activities for Kids & Teens
Mondays with Michelle Obama (PBS Kids)
For four weeks, beginning on April 20 with a reading of The Gruffalo, former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama will be reading aloud from children’s books.
VIRTUAL IPRC: Teen Poetry Time (IPRC)
Every Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. (PST)
Teen Poetry Time is a weekly creative space for youth to explore free form poetry in a supportive way.
And more…
Artists Repertory Theatre Survey
Our friends at the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland created an audience survey about what live or virtual content people would feel comfortable with consuming in the time of COVID-19. Take the survey here.
