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.
VIRTUAL LITERARY EVENTS
“Let’s Stay Together: Notes About Black Poetry & Community”
Thursday, February 11 | 4:00 p.m. PST
The Blaney Lecture on contemporary poetry and poetics is offered annually by a prominent poet. The 2020-2021 Blaney Lecture will be delivered by Adrian Matejka, author of five poetry collections, including Map to the Stars (Penguin, 2017) and The Big Smoke (Penguin, 2013), which won the 2014 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.
We Didn’t Arrive Here Alone
February 13 | 2:00 p.m. PST
A virtual, live-streamed program of readings and discussion among renowned US-based undocumented writers and poets on the topic of mental health. Guest curated and moderated by poet and speaker Yosimar Reyes and featuring Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, Jose Antonio Vargas, and Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
Windfall Reading Series
February 16 | 6:00 p.m. PST
Join Lane Literary Guild and Eugene Public Library for a livestream of the Windfall Reading Series, a monthly gathering highlighting local and regional writers. This month, writers Susan Leslie Moore and David Bradley read and take questions online.
The Glass Hotel (Wisconsin Book Festival) with Emily St. John Mandel & Chloe Benjamin
February 16 | 7:00 p.m.
Emily St. John Mandel will appear live on Crowdcast to discuss her newest book, The Glass Hotel, in conversation with Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists.
Writers Worktable: From the Editor’s Desk
February 17 | 4:00 p.m. PST
Poets and editors Duriel E. Harris (“Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora”) and Ashaki M. Jackson (“The Offing”) discuss their editorial careers, the mission and work of the journals they manage, and working with and advocating for Black writers.
PSU Creative Writing 2020-21 Reading Series presents Lysley Tenorio
February 19 | 4:00 p.m. PT | Zoom webinar with ASL interpretation
Lysley Tenorio is the author of the novel The Son of Good Fortune and the story collection Monstress, which was named a book of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tax Tips for Authors 2021
Wednesday, February 24 | 2:00 p.m. EST
Have questions about managing your taxes for your writing business? Robert Pesce, a partner at Marcum Group LLP, will conduct a webinar on tax tips for authors.
Moth Mainstage: Great Expectations
February 27 | 7:30 p.m. PST | $15
Join us for an evening of stories of who we are and what we hope to become. Best laid plans gone awry. Dreams writ large. Reckoning with reality and the surprising turns that changed the course forever. Hosted by acclaimed author and Moth Storyteller Jonathan Ames.
RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR WRITERS
Civil Rights Memorial Center Seeks Poem Submissions for New Exhibit
The Civil Rights Memorial Center is partnering with New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander to produce a community poem for a new exhibit that will be featured at the Center when it reopens later this year. The public is invited to submit poems to be considered for the exhibit.
Submissions will be accepted from February 10-March 10, 2021.
Anyone living in the United States can submit a poem for consideration.
2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Deadline: February 12
This book awards program open to independent publishers and authors worldwide is now accepting entries written in English and released in 2019, 2020 or 2021.
Fields Artist Fellowship
Deadline: February 15
The Fields Artist Fellowship aims to support artists who are at a pivotal moment or inflection point in their careers, where the fellowship can provide meaningful impact. Oregon Community Foundation and Oregon Humanities will award four Fields Artist Fellows $100,000 each over a two-year period; along with robust professional development, networking and community building opportunities. In addition, a one-time sum of $10,000 will be awarded to eight finalists.
2021 Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction
Deadline: February 15
This contest is open to any short fiction writer of English. The prize includes a $2,000 cash award and publication of the winning manuscript. Judged by Alice Sebold.
Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships
Deadline: February 23
The 2021 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships are $50,000 awards given to honor poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions and to enable them to undertake meaningful, impactful, and innovative projects that engage their fellow residents, including youth, with poetry, helping to address issues important to their communities.
2021 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant
Deadline: April 26
The Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant of $40,000 will be awarded to as many as eight writers in the process of completing a book-length work of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction for a general readership.
Hindsight 2020 Seeking Submissions
Deadline: Rolling
Seeking nonfiction stories from around the world that capture what it was like to wake up every day to a new normal — whether that means navigating emergencies as a first responder or tying the knot over Zoom. We’re particularly interested in material that gets up close and personal with the struggles of 2020, rather than headlines or commentary on current events. Rolling deadline.
AUTHOR NEWS
2020 Oregon Book Award-winning Aloha Rodeo Being Adapted for Disney+
Deadline has revealed that Aloha Rodeo, the best-selling history book by David Wolman and Julian Smith, is to be adapted as a live-action film for Disney+. The true story follows three Hawaiian cowboys as they travel from Hawaii to Wyoming in the early 20th century to compete in the Frontier Days rodeo.
2021 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists Announced
Honorees include Portland Book Festival authors Ross Gay, Kawai Strong Washburn, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Raven Leilani, C Pam Zhang, and Isabel Wilkerson. Watch their 2020 Portland Book Festival appearances in our Video Archive.
FOR KIDS/TEENS
Desvelado (Northwest Children’s Theater)
February 12—28
What happens when Little One can’t sleep? The moon (la luna) comes to the rescue! Joined by Música (the music of imagination) and a turtle with no name but who is very much loved, Little One and the Harvest Moon count sheep, catch stars, and discover true friendship.
2021 AAJA-SPJ Emerging Northwest Journalists Internship
Deadline: Sunday, February 21
This internship is intended to provide opportunities for members of racial and ethnic minority groups that are underrepresented in Pacific Northwest newsrooms. Applicants must be a college sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student majoring in journalism, or who aspire to a career in journalism.
WHAT WE’RE READING
Book Advice for Lovers— Ask Aunt Paige (Powell’s Books)
Missing Museums: Why Art is a Necessity for Public Health by Veronica Esposito
“At a moment when so much of our social fabric has been casually torn apart by public health authorities, art is a vital activity of connecting to another human mind. As Tolstoy puts it in What Is Art?, “To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and [then] . . . to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling—this is the activity of art.” … Art is also a public health intervention at a time when our physical health is seemingly at the forefront of everyone’s mind.”
Blog cover image from Annie Spratt.
