Each month, Literary Arts staff will round up news, events, and more happening in Portland, and beyond. Let us know in the form below the blog if you have any events or news to share.
EVENTS
Annie Carl in Conversation With Christy George, Ellis Bray, Simon Quinn, Dawn Vogel & Travis Flatt (Powell’s Books)
Friday, October 20, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
Too often, science fiction and fantasy stories erase — or cure — characters with disabilities. Soul Jar (Forest Avenue Press), edited by author and bookstore owner Annie Carl, features thirty-one stories by disabled authors, imagining such wonders as a shapeshifter on a first date, skin that sprouts orchid buds, and a cereal-box demon. An insulin pump diverts an undead mob. An autistic teen sets out to discover the local cranberry bog’s sinister secret. A pizza delivery on Mars goes wrong. This thrillingly peculiar collection sparkles with humor, heart, and insight, all within the context of disability representation. Carl will be joined in conversation by Soul Jar contributors Christy George, Ellis Bray, Simon Quinn, Dawn Vogel, Travis Flatt & Mika Grimmer.
Hillary Dixler Canavan in Conversation With Brooke Jackson-Glidden, Bonnie Frumkin Morales & Nong Poonsukwattana (Powell’s Books)
Saturday, October 21, 3:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
All the must-eat recipes from the most popular and influential restaurants across the country, brought to you by Hillary Dixler Canavan, the restaurant editor of the food and dining culture brand Eater. Packed with expert advice from chefs, bartenders, and sommeliers on easy ways to level up your meals at home — whether it’s building a celebration-worthy seafood tower, using a jar of chili crisp to quickly add depth of flavor to your cooking, sourcing game-changing ingredients and tools, or pairing sake with any kind of food — Eater: 100 Essential Restaurant Recipes From the Authority on Where to Eat and Why It Matters (Abrams) is a must-have for anyone who loves to dine out and wants to bring that magic home. Canavan will be joined in conversation by Eater Portland editor Brooke Jackson-Glidden, Kachka chef and co-owner Bonnie Frumkin Morales, and Nong’s Khao Man Gai founder and owner Nong Poonsukwattana.
The Oliver Lecture, featuring Blaine Harden
Saturday, October 21, at 7:00 pm. | In person at First Congregational Church, 1126 SW Park Ave, Portland | Tickets
The 2023 Oliver Lecture will feature Blaine Harden, author of Murder at the Mission: A Frontier Killing, Its Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the American West. Harden’s book examines the 1847 killing of Protestant missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and 11 others, all white, at a mission station near Walla Walla by a small number of Cayuse Indians. This incident became infamously known as the Whitman Massacre. Murder at the Mission reveals the true history of the incident and its aftermath. First Congregational UCC invited Harden to present this story as a step towards reckoning with the role of Congregationalists in the taking of the Northwest from indigenous tribal people.
Alisha Dietzman & Leslie Sainz (Powell’s Books)
Sunday, October 22, 3:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
A National Poetry Series winner selected by Victoria Chang, Alisha Dietzman’s Sweet Movie (Beacon Press) confronts romantic and religious masochism to interrogate spiritual, sexual, and moral agency. Sweet Movie‘s love poems and ekphrasis echo splintered versions of the same question: how do we navigate a world where the expectations of our performance — our presentation, our means of existence — are dictated by the viewers themselves? Perpetually observant, Sweet Movie guardedly but desperately consumes a world that has become unsettling and uncertain. Leslie Sainz’s Have You Been Long Enough at Table (Tin House) explores the personal and historical tragedies of the Cuban American experience through a distinctly feminine lens. Formally diverse with echoes of Spanish throughout, this debut collection critiques power and patriarchy as weaponized by the governments of the United States and the Republic of Cuba. Through lyric and associative meditations, Sainz anatomizes the unique grief of immigrant daughters, as her speakers discover how family can be a microcosm of the very violence that displaced them. What emerges is a spiritual blueprint for disinheritance, radical self-determination, and the nuanced examinations of myth, ritual, and resistance.
Hanif Fazal in Conversation With Ann Nguyen & Matt LaVine (Powell’s Books)
Sunday, October 22, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
Addressing the leaders of today and tomorrow, An Other World (Page Two) alternates between heart-wrenching but hopeful letters to Hanif Fazal’s daughter Amina, reflections on Fazal’s formative life experiences and lessons on identity, Black and Brown relationships, and a unique type of freedom that could be available to all of us. In this moving blend of social commentary and memoir with a call to action, Fazal — co-founder of the Center for Equity and Inclusion — documents his journey towards Black and Brown joy, freedom, and belonging. In An Other World, Fazal pinpoints how educational and professional diversity frameworks often perform surface-level inclusion but refuse to invest fully in the complex realities of their BIPOC learners and employees. He also stares down the myth of “making it” and invites BIPOC communities to reflect and redefine success on their own terms. Fazal will be joined in conversation by Ann Nguyen, educator, consultant, and Senior Facilitator at Center for Equity and Inclusion, and Matt LaVine, Senior Race Equity Consultant and Facilitator at the Center for Equity and Inclusion.
Reading: Anne Gudger: The Fifth Chamber (Annie Bloom’s Books)
Monday, October 23, from 7:00–8:00 p.m. | In person at Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR | FREE
Annie Bloom’s Books welcomes Anne Gudger for an in-store reading from her memoir, The Fifth Chamber. Anne will be in conversation with Portland writer Jackie Shannon Hollis, author of This Particular Happiness: A Childless Love Story.
Ed Begley Jr. (Powell’s Books)
Monday, October 23, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
Ed Begley Jr. is truly one of a kind, a performer who is known equally for his prolific film and television career and his environmental activism. From an appearance on My Three Sons to a notable role in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman to starring in St. Elsewhere — as well as films with Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and mockumentarian Christopher Guest — Begley has worked with just about everyone in Hollywood. In To the Temple of Tranquility… And Step On It! (Hachette), Begley shares a fountain of hilarious and poignant stories throughout his life. Begley’s unmistakable voice is honest and revealing in a way that only a comic of his caliber can accomplish. Behind all the stories, Begley has wisdom to impart. This is a book about family, friends, addiction, failure, and redemption.
A. Y. Chao in Conversation With Fonda Lee (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing)
Monday, October 23, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR | FREE
Pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sasshole. As the King’s ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the taunts of the spiteful hulijing courtiers, and trying to control her explosive temper — with varying levels of success. So when Jing overhears the courtiers plotting to steal a priceless dragon pearl from the King, she seizes her chance to expose them, once and for all. But when her hijinks put the mortal in danger, she must decide which is more important: avenging her loss of face, or letting go of her half-empty approach to life for a chance to experience tenderness — and maybe even love. A. Y. Chao’s Shanghai Immortal (Hodder & Stoughton) is a richly told adult fantasy debut teeming with Chinese deities and demons cavorting in jazz age Shanghai. Chao will be joined in conversation by Fonda Lee, author of Untethered Sky and the Green Bone Saga.
Poetry Reading: Paulann Petersen and Carlos Reyes (Broadway Books)
Tuesday, October 24, from 6:00–7:00 p.m. | In person at Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, Portland, OR | FREE
We are pleased to welcome poets Paulann Petersen (My Kindred, Salmon Poetry) and Carlos Reyes (The Four Hinges of the World, Cyberwit.net), who will be reading and discussing their new collections. Balancing curiosity, beauty, surprise, and the weight of mortality, My Kindred’s kinship embraces multitudes: fir, owl, manatee, and pollen; sun, sea, lily, and snake; the poet’s parents, Paul and Grace Whitman; the Good Gray Poet Whitman. The immense variety of poems in Reyes’ The Four Hinges of the World reveal an impressive vitality or mental power of the poet.
Reading: Steven Mayfield: The Penny Mansions (Annie Bloom’s Books)
Tuesday, October 24, from 7:00–8:00 p.m. | In person at Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR | FREE
Annie Bloom’s Books welcomes back Portland author Steven Mayfield for an in-store reading from his new novel, The Penny Mansions. With the Spanish flu pandemic on the rise, a former gold rush town is threatened with extinction via eminent domain should their population fall below 125 citizens. When the town’s council agrees to sell four abandoned mansions for a penny apiece, the new families knock over the first domino in a row that includes three romances, twelve sticks of dynamite, an unintentionally hilarious community theater production, an investigation by a Chicago insurance detective, and last of all, murder!
Tristan Taormino in Conversation With Epiphora (Powell’s Books)
Tuesday, October 24, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
In A Part of the Heart Can’t Be Eaten (Duke University Press), award-winning author, sex educator, filmmaker, and podcast host Tristan Taormino shares her coming-of-age story, revealing how her radical sexuality and unconventional career grew out of an extraordinary queer father-daughter relationship. Raised by a hard-working single mother on Long Island, Tristan got her sex ed from the 1980s TV show Solid Gold and The Joy of Sex. She spent summers at drag shows in Provincetown with her father, Bill, who had come out as gay in the mid-1970s. Her sexual identity bloomed during her college years at Wesleyan University, where she discovered her desire for butches and kinky sex. After a lifetime of outrageous adventures, Taormino reflects on the bonds, loss, and mental health struggles that shaped her. She weaves together history from her father’s unpublished memoir, exploring the surprising ways their personal patterns converge and diverge. Bracingly emotional and erotically charged, A Part of the Heart Can’t Be Eaten reveals the transformative power of queer pleasure and defiance. Taormino will be joined in conversation by veteran sex writer Epiphora.
M. R. O’Connor (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing)
Tuesday, October 24, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR | FREE
In a riveting investigation of the science and ecology of wildfires, journalist M.R. O’Connor ventures into some of the oldest, most beautiful, and remote forests in North America to explore the powerful and ancient relationship between trees, fires, and humans. Along the way, she describes revelatory research in the fields of paleobotany and climate science to show how the world’s forests have been shaped by fire for hundreds of millions of years. As she weaves together first-hand reportage with research and cultural insights, O’Connor also embeds on firelines alongside firefighters and “pyrotechnicians.” These highly trained individuals are resurrecting the practice of prescribed burning in an effort to sustain fire-dependent forest ecologies and prevent the catastrophic wildfires that are increasing in frequency and intensity as a result of global warming. At the heart of Ignition: Lighting Fires in a Burning World (Bold Type) is a discussion about risk and how our relationship to it as a society will determine our potential to survive the onslaught of climate change.
The 2023 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction (Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation)
Wednesday, October 27, 5:30 p.m. | Online | FREE
The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction is an annual $25,000 cash prize given to a writer for a single work of imaginative fiction. This award is intended to recognize those writers Ursula spoke of in her 2014 National Book Awards speech—realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now. The Prize is given to a writer whose work reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Ursula’s own work, including but not limited to: hope, equity, and freedom; non-violence and alternatives to conflict; and a holistic view of humanity’s place in the natural world. Join us and host Alicia Vikander as we celebrate the nine books shortlisted for the 2023 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, and announce the recipient of this year’s prize!
Host – Panel Discussion: Science of Reading (Eugene Public Library)
Thursday, October 26, from 6:00–7:45 p.m. | In person at Eugene Public Library Downtown Branch,
100 W 10th Ave, Eugene, OR | FREE
In honor of Dyslexia and Dysgraphia Awareness Month, Eugene Public Library and Eugene Public Library Foundation are hosting Science of Reading, a series featuring free screenings of three acclaimed documentary films and an expert panel. At a panel discussion of local experts, we will explore how we think and talk about these issues and learn about research on ways to support developing readers, especially those with learning differences.
Taylor Wolfe (Broadway Books)
Thursday, October 26, from 6:00–7:00 p.m. | In person at Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, Portland, OR | FREE
We are pleased to welcome Taylor Wolfe, who will be reading and discussing her debut memoir, Birdie & Harlow: Life, Loss, and Loving My Dog So Much I Didn’t Want Kids (…Until I Did), published by HarperOne.A charming and touching memoir, Birdie & Harlow is a tribute to the many expressions of modern motherhood, to both human and fur babies alike. Taylor’s story reminds all of us that life will surprise you and that families should come in every shape and size.
Jacqueline Woodson Remember Us Book Tour (in conversation with Kesha Ajose-Fisher)
(Third Eye Books Accessories & Gifts LLC)
Thursday, October 26, at 7:00 p.m. | In person at Wieden + Kennedy Auditorium, 224 NW 13th Ave., Portland, OR | Tickets $15–35 & include a copy of the book
Inspired by Jacqueline’s own childhood in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood—dubbed “The Matchbox” by the local papers because of the arson fires that consumed it during the ’70s and ’80s—Remember Us is the transcendent story of a coming-of-age summer in young Sage’s life. Jacqueline Woodson says, “Remember Us is a book that has been with me for a long time. It’s inspired by a time in my childhood when I really was afraid my whole neighborhood would burn to the ground. Thankfully, it didn’t. But the memory lives with me and is now a part of Sage and Freddy’s story, a story that delves into questions about time, memory, and what we take with us into the future.” Each ticket includes a copy of the book. A book signing will take place after event. The event will be moderated by Kesha Ajose-Fisher, winner of the 2020 Oregon Book Award For Fiction for No God Like The Mother.
Reading: Erin Pringle: Unexpected Weather Events (Annie Bloom’s Books)
Thursday, October 26, from 7:00–8:00 p.m. | In person at Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR | FREE
Annie Bloom’s Books welcomes Erin Pringle for an in-store reading from her new story collection, Unexpected Weather Events. Erin will be in conversation with Rachel King, author of Bratwurst Haven: Stories. Erin Pringle grew up in Casey, Illinois, and now lives in Spokane, Washington. She is the author of the novel Hezada! I Miss You, and two other story collections: The Whole World at Once and The Floating Order. Unexpected Weather Events is her fourth book.
Alison Pouliot (Powell’s Books)
Thursday, October 26, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
What can we learn from the lives of fungi? Splitting time between the northern and southern hemispheres, ecologist Alison Pouliot ensures that she experiences two autumns per year in the pursuit of fungi — from Australia’s deserts to Iceland’s glaciers to America’s Cascade Mountains. In Meetings with Remarkable Mushrooms (University of Chicago Press), we journey alongside Pouliot, magnifiers in hand, as she travels the world. With Pouliot as our guide, we smell fire-loving truffles that transform their scent after burning to lure mammals who eat them and, ultimately, spread their spores. We spot the eerie glow of the ghost fungus, a deceptive entity that looks like an edible oyster mushroom but will soon heave back out — along with everything else in your stomach — if you take a bite. And we crawl alongside vegetable caterpillars, which are neither vegetable nor caterpillar but a fungus that devours insects from the inside out. Featuring stunning color photographs of these mycological miracles, Meetings with Remarkable Mushrooms shows that understanding fungi is fundamental for harmonizing with the natural world.
Matt Kirkland in Conversation With Andy Baio (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing)
Thursday, October 26, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR | FREE
The wildly popular email newsletter that has been described as an “internet sensation” (The New York Times) and “the coolest book club on the internet” (Fast Company) is breathing new life into Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel. Now, the internet phenomenon can be experienced in Dracula Daily: Reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula in Real Time with Commentary by the Internet (Andrews McMeel), a deluxe hardcover book that includes hilarious commentary and artwork from Dracula Daily readers. Combining Stoker’s original text alongside reader-generated content, this version of Dracula is a fun and immersive experience, perfect for vampire scholars, Dracula Daily readers, and newcomers to the story. Inside, you’ll find a rich selection of artwork and memes from the newsletter’s hundreds of thousands of subscribers. From comics celebrating Dracula’s famous wall-climbing ability to armchair analysis of the novel’s complicated love triangles, the witty commentary and colorful fan art brings a unique twist to the classic tale. Dracula Daily creator Matt Kirkland will be joined in conversation by writer and technologist Andy Baio.
Mary Rechner in Conversation With Chelsea Bieker (Powell’s Books)
Friday, October 27, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
When her troubled husband dies unexpectedly, mercurial Therese gets tangled in competing desires and demands — her own and those of her friends and family on Long Island. Ambitious in scope yet carefully observed, Mary Rechner’s Marrying Friends (Propeller Books) deftly illuminates multiple characters as grief forces them to reimagine their lives and relationships. A frank and often wry look at the bewildering bonds between women, men, siblings, parents, and children, this novel-in-stories confirms Rechner’s talent for capturing how we find meaning not only in our dreams, but also in our desperations. Rechner will be joined in conversation by Chelsea Bieker, author of Heartbroke.
Liên Shutt in Conversation With Mark Unno (Powell’s Books)
Sunday, October 29, 3:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
Home is Here (North Atlantic Books) builds on foundational Buddhist teachings — the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path — offering an intersectional frame to help you embody antiracist practices and tend to your own healing under racism and oppression. Grounded in practice, memoir, and mindful self-help skill-building, Rev. Liên Shutt’s Engaged Four Noble Truths illuminate a path toward healing and liberation. She shares her own experiences with anti-Asian hate — as a teen riding her bike, meditating in whitewashed monasteries — and asks, what does it mean to attend to our suffering in body, heart, and mind when racism can cause such intense hurt and pain? What does it look like to heal? While written mainly for Asian American Buddhists and other BIPOC practitioners, Home is Here moves us all from knowing and contemplation to a place of action and wholeness. Rev. Shutt will be joined in conversation by Mark Unno, Professor of Buddhist Studies and Department Head of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon.
Altars of Imagination: An Altar-Building & Writing Workshop with Stephanie Adams-Santos (Corporeal Writing)
Sunday, October 29, from 1:00–4:00 p.m. | Zoom | Tickets
Stephanie Adams-Santos is a Guatemalan-American writer from Oregon. Their work spans poetry, prose, and screenwriting. Often grappling with themes of strangeness and belonging, their work reflects an endless fascination with the weird, numinous, and primal forces that shape inner life. Together we will craft personal, transient altars as sites of mystery and transformative power. With our altars as catalysts, we will engage in a series of generative writing exercises, inviting new and ancient material to emerge from primal depths onto the page.
Sy Montgomery & Matt Patterson (Powell’s Books)
Sunday, October 29, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
When acclaimed naturalist and National Book Award finalist Sy Montgomery (author of The Soul of an Octopus) and wildlife artist Matt Patterson arrive at Turtle Rescue League, they are greeted by hundreds of turtles recovering from injury and illness. Endangered by cars and highways, pollution and poachers, these turtles — with wounds so severe that even veterinarians would have dismissed them as fatal — are given a second chance at life. Montgomery turns to these little understood yet endlessly surprising creatures to probe the eternal question: how can we make peace with our time? In pursuit of the answer, Montgomery and Patterson immerse themselves in the delicate work of protecting turtle nests, incubating eggs, rescuing sea turtles, and releasing hatchlings to their homes in the wild. Hopeful and optimistic, Of Time and Turtles (Mariner) is an antidote to the instability of our frenzied world. Elegantly blending science, memoir, philosophy, and drawing on cultures from across the globe, this compassionate portrait of injured turtles and their determined rescuers invites us all to slow down and slip into turtle time.
Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West (Oregon Historical Society)
Monday, October 30, from 7:00–8:30 p.m. | In person at McMenamin’s Kennedy School, 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave, Portland, OR | Tickets
Reading from her new book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts, and screening a short film by Carolina Ebeid that engages archival images, Julie Carr will tell the story of her great-grandfather, Omer Madison Kem, a settler in Nebraska, a founding member of the Populist Party, a three-term congressman, a practicing spiritualist, and an avid eugenicist. Kem’s final years were spent in Oregon, where he owned a power company and became a passionate advocate for the forced sterilization of all those he came to believe were “unfit” to breed. This talk will focus on the ties among the American eugenics movement, American spiritualism, and contemporary U.S. fascism.
Reading: Terry Repak, Sophia Kouidou-Giles, Glenda Goodrich (Annie Bloom’s Books)
Monday, October 30, from 7:00–8:00 p.m. | In person at Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR | FREE
Annie Bloom’s Books welcomes Northwest authors Terry Repak, Sophia Kouidou-Giles, and Glenda Goodrich for readings from their new books, all published by She Writes Press. Terry Repak’s Circling Home: What I Learned by Living Elsewhere highlights how living abroad transformed her and her family into global citizens and gift them with resilience, perspective, and a profound sense of home. In Sophia Kouidou-Giles’ An Unexpected Ally, a cast of irresistible characters weaves an adventure laced with beauty and terror in a newly woven set of tales that brings ancient Greek myths to life and revives issues familiar to contemporary readers. Glenda Goodrich’s Solo Passage: 13 Quests, 13 Questions illustrates the author’s search to find healing and meaning in midlife as she undertakes a series of wilderness quests into the backcountry of Oregon, Washington, and California to discover what the natural world has to teach her about life, death, happiness, spirituality, and forgiveness.
E. Lily Yu in Conversation With Karen Russell (Powell’s Books)
Monday, October 30, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
In the village of Yiwei, a fallen wasp nest unfurls into a beautifully accurate map. In a field in Louisiana, birdwatchers forge an indelible connection over a shared glimpse of a Vermilion Flycatcher, and fall. In Nineveh, a judge who prides himself on impartiality finds himself questioned by a mysterious god. On a nameless shore, a small monster searches for refuge and finds unexpected courage. At turns bittersweet and boundary-breaking, poignant and profound, these twenty-two stories sing, as the oldest fables do, of what it means to be alive in this strange, terrible, beautiful world. For readers who loved the intelligence and compassion in Kim Fu’s Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century and the dreamlike prose of Kelly Link’s Magic for Beginners, Jewel Box (Erewhon) introduces the short fiction of Hugo, World Fantasy, and Nebula Award nominee E. Lily Yu, winner of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer and author of On Fragile Waves, praised by the New York Times Book Review as “devastating and perfect.” Yu will be joined in conversation by Karen Russell, author of Orange World and Other Stories.
We Are The Revolution: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation (The Schnitzer Collection)
August 26 – December 1, 2023, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 12:00–5:00 p.m. | In person at The Schnitzer Collection, 3033 NW Yeon Avenue Portland, OR | FREE
An anchor event for Converge 45’s citywide 2023 biennial, Social Forms: Art As Global Citizenship, the exhibition We Are the Revolution: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation plumbs the depth of commitment of Jordan Schnitzer to the art of his time, while tapping into a living history of social expression through art in diverse media—from monumental paintings to free-standing sculpture to works on paper. Designed in part to explore ways in which the art of the past meets and affects the art of the present, the exhibition gives voice to art as both social commentary and aesthetic experimentation from the 1960s to today. Driven by the conviction that history is constructed through both continuity and discontinuity, the exhibition strives to establish unexpected juxtapositions and revealing connections among historical and contemporary artists and artworks. We Are the Revolution features over 100 works by 32 artists and is co-curated by William Morrow, Director of Exhibitions, Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, and Converge 45 Guest Curator Christian Viveros-Fauné.
RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS AND WRITERS
The 2024 Cave Canem Fellowship
Since 1996, Cave Canem has awarded fellowships to more than 500 Black poets whose practices range from spoken word, to formalism, to multimedia performance. Cave Canem Fellows are unparalleled in their distinguished literary honors, in addition to their tremendous service to their communities across the globe. Recipients of a Cave Canem Fellowship are invited to attend our week-long Retreat held annually at the University of Pittsburgh Greensburg. Fellows receive an unparalleled opportunity to study with world-class faculty and join a community of peers. In order to ensure an equity of voices in our gathering, poets are chosen across aesthetics—solely based on the quality of their work. Apply by November 10, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. (ET). The Retreat will be held from June 9 to June 16, 2024. There is no submission fee for the Fellowship application. The Cave Canem Retreat is free to all Fellows once accepted.
American Poetry Review: Honickman First Book Prize
A prize of $3,000 and publication by American Poetry Review is given annually for a debut poetry collection. The winning book will be distributed by Copper Canyon Press through Consortium. Roger Reeves will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages with a $25 entry fee by October 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival Fiction Contest
A prize of $1,500 is given annually for a short story by a writer who has not published a full-length book of fiction. The winner also receives domestic airfare of up to $500, private lodging, and an invitation to read at the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival in March 2024. Margot Douaihy will judge. Submit a story of up to 7,000 words with a $25 entry fee by October 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Zoetrope: All-Story website is given annually for a short story. The winner and finalists are considered for representation by several literary agencies, including ICM, William Morris Endeavor, and the Wylie Agency. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of up to 5,000 words with a $30 entry fee by October 2. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship
An award of approximately $66,500 is given annually to a U.S. poet for a year of travel and study outside of North America. Submit two copies of up to 40 pages of published or unpublished poetry, or two copies of a published poetry collection along with two copies of up to 20 pages of additional poetry by October 15. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.
Tulip Tree Publishing Humor Story Contest
A prize of $1,000 and publication in the Fall/Winter issue of TulipTree Review is given annually for a humorous poem, story, or essay. Submit a poem or a work of prose of no more than 10,000 words with a $20 entry fee by October 17. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Volunteer Writers Needed: Pets for Patriots
Pets for Patriots is seeking volunteer writers for their website and blog. Interested writers can connect with them via phone at 1-877-473-8223 or via email at volunteer@petsforpatriots.org.
Next Gen Radio Projest: Call for Northwest Storytellers
OPB is hosting NPR’s Next Gen Radio project Oct. 23-27. We’re looking for curious storytellers from all walks of life to apply for this free, weeklong program. Participants get hands-on experience learning audio and digital journalism under the mentorship of working journalists and editors. College students, recent graduates and career changers in Oregon or Southwest Washington are all encouraged to apply to this narrative storytelling training. Want to apply or know someone who should? Get your application in by 11:59 p.m. PT on Oct. 1.
Creative (Writing) Drop-In Sessions (with Haldane King, MFA)
Every Wednesday, from 5:00–6:00 p.m.
In person at the Vintage Conference Room. Vida Coworking Space, 401 NE 19th Avenue Suite #200, Portland, OR and online via Google Meet
Email HaldaneKing@gmail.com to sign up
Haldane King is an author and facilitator currently working with the Why There Are Words Literary Organization. He has an MFA in Writing & Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies. The Creative (Writing) Drop-in is open to everyone and all forms of creative expression, with an emphasis on the written form.
WNDB IS SEEKING 2024 MENTORS
Are you a traditionally published author or illustrator? WNDB mentors are paid a stipend of $1,000 and work one-on-one with an unpublished writer or illustrator for the entire year (January-December 2024). Mentors must be traditionally published with three or more forthcoming/published books in their category, either: Illustration, Picture Book, Middle Grade, or Young Adult. If you are interested in serving as a mentor, please email mentor@diversebooks.org with the subject line ‘2024 WNDB Mentor,’ with your name, your publication history, and the genre you are seeking to mentor.
FOR KIDS/ TEENS
Linsey Miller’s Prince of Thorns and Nightmares (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing)
Tuesday, October 3, 7 p.m. | In person at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR | FREE
In Linsey Miller’s Prince of Thorns & Nightmares (Disney Press), Prince Phillip tells his side of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, where once upon a dream was just the beginning. Miller will be joined in conversation by Rosiee Thor, author of Tarnished Are the Stars.
Kosoko Jackson in Conversation with Aiden Thomas (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing)
Friday, October 6, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR | FREE
Kosoko Jackson is the author of YA novels championing holistic representation of Black queer youth across genres, including Yesterday Is History and Survive the Dome. He will be discussing his most recent novel, The Forest Demands Its Due, a page-turning YA horror/fantasy set in dark academia about a queer Black teen who discovers the sinister history of his boarding school and the corrupt powers behind it all.
Kids’ Storytime With Leslie Barnard Booth (Powell’s Books)
Saturday, October 7, 10:30 a.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
“Where do rocks come from?” The answer may be more incredible than you think! After all, a stone is not just a stone: a stone is a story. Embark on a journey across time to see how one stone can change and transform, from magma under Earth’s crust to the sand swept up by a rushing river to the very heart of the tallest mountain. Watch what happens when rain, ice, and wind mold this rock into something new, something you might even hold in your hand — something full of endless possibility. Complete with additional information about geology and the rock cycle, Leslie Barnard Booth’s A Stone Is a Story (Margaret K. McElderry Books) is a lyrical and captivating story that invites readers to experience the wonder of the natural world around us, and to see — in every cliff, pebble, and stone — a window into Earth’s deep past.
Storytime Reading: Leslie Barnard Booth: A Stone Is a Story (Annie Bloom’s Books)
Thursday, October 12, from 10:00–11:00 a.m. | In person at Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR | FREE
Follow a stone’s journey through time as it faces ice, water, wind, and scorching heat in this beautiful nonfiction picture book that is Seeds Move! meets A Stone Sat Still. “Where do rocks come from?” The answer may be more incredible than you think!
Kids’ Storytime With Ryan T. Higgins (Powell’s Books)
Saturday, October 14, 10:30 a.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
Celebrate all things scary with Ryan T. Higgins’s new Mother Bruce picture book, Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow (Disney-Hyperion). Bruce is a bear who does not like holidays, and he really doesn’t like Halloween. His family of mice and geese decides the only way to get Bruce excited about Halloween is to tell a scary story. But their campfire tale takes a turn when a ghostly visitor appears. Will Bruce get in the Halloween spirit? Or will the Halloween spirit get Bruce?
Ways to Build Dreams (A Ryan Hart Story) (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing)
Friday, October 20, 7:00 p.m. | In person at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR | FREE
With Ways to Build Dreams (Bloomsbury UK), Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner Renée Watson continues her bestselling young middle grade series starring Ryan Hart. Middle school is just around the corner for Ryan Hart, which means it’s time to start thinking about the future — and not just how to prank her brother, Ray! Ryan wonders who she wants to be and what kind of person her family hopes she’ll become. Ryan has always been known for her sunny outlook, but can she keep hoping even when things seem hopeless? During Black History Month, Ryan learns more about her ancestors and local Black pioneers and their hopes for the future, for her generation. Drawing on the ambitions of those who came before her, and her own goals, Ryan is determined to turn her dreams into reality. Grow and shine and share with Ryan Hart in this series that brings ever more humor, more love, and more fun.
Read to the Dogs (Multnomah County Library)
Friday, October 20, 4:00—5:00 p.m. | In person at Woodstock Library, 6008 SE 49th Ave, Portland, OR | FREE
Improve your reading skills and make a new friend by reading aloud to a therapy dog. K-12. All skill levels welcome. The dogs and handlers are from Alliance of Therapy Dogs, Dove Lewis Portland Area Canine Therapy Teams, and Pet Partners.
Kids’ Storytime With Rose McGee (Powell’s Books)
Saturday, October 21, 10:30 a.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
Marie and Landon bicker about many things, but on one topic they agree: their grandmother, “Mama,” makes the best sweet potato pies. Marie and Landon love to help Mama bake pies to share. When the pies are finally ready, neighbors stop by for a slice and some comfort. After they taste Mama’s pies, they leave laughing and singing. The twins marvel at the neighbors’ transformation. Why do Mama’s pies inspire so much joy? Maybe, the twins realize, the magic isn’t in the pies. Maybe it’s in their Mama. From the creator of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie, this heartfelt family story shows how a grandmother’s particular way of caring wraps her loved ones and her neighborhood in a cinnamon-scented hug. From Rose McGee, the creator of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie, comes Can’t Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama! (Minnesota Historical Society Press), a heartfelt family story shows how a grandmother’s particular way of caring wraps her loved ones and her neighborhood in a cinnamon-scented hug.
Explore: Latin American Folk Tales (Eugene Public Library)
Thursday, October 26, 4—5 p.m. | In person at Eugene Public Library Downtown Branch, 100 W 10th Ave, Eugene, OR | FREE
Hands-on creative activities inspired by Latin American folk tales and mythology for ages 5-9.
Kids’ Storytime With Barbara Herkert (Powell’s Books)
Saturday, October 28, 10:30 a.m. | In person at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR | FREE
If ever a tree deserved a love letter, it is the Pacific madrone. Barbara Herkert’s This Old Madrone Tree (Web of Life Children’s Books) charts the life swirling around this luminous tree, from eagles to elk to hummingbirds to fungi, as it patiently stands sentinel through the seasons of the Pacific Northwest. Marlo Garnsworthy’s gorgeous paintings bring the tree’s scarlet berries, spangles of white flowers, and curls of russet and green bark to life. This story of the madrone and its animal neighbors will both comfort and enchant children as they come to understand the timelessness of nature’s cycles.
Stephan Pastis‘s Looking Up (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing)
Sunday, October 29, 3 p.m. | In person at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR | FREE
From Stephan Pastis, the creator of Pearls Before Swine and author of the Timmy Failure series, comes Looking Up (Aladdin), a quirky and heartwarming middle grade novel about a girl struggling with loneliness and the curveballs of life. Living alone with her mother in a poorer part of town, Saint — a girl drawn to medieval knights, lost causes, and the protection of birthday piñatas — sees the neighborhood she has always known and loved disappearing around her: old homes being torn down and replaced by fancy condos and coffee shops. But when her favorite creaky old toy store is demolished, she knows she must act. Enlisting the help of Daniel “Chance” McGibbons, a quiet, round-faced boy who lives across the street (and whose house also faces the wrecking ball), Saint hatches a plan to save what is left of her beloved hometown. Copies of Pastis’s new Pearls Before Swine Treasury, Pearls Seeks Enlightenment, will also be available at the event. Please note: A purchase of Looking Up is required to join the signing line.
Kids’ Story & Art Class at Awake Coffee & Art!
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10:00 a.m. | In person at Awake Coffee & Art, 7325 SE Milwalkie Ave, Portland, OR | Costs $8
Bring your little ones Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at 10:00 a.m. for a storybook reading and art session!
We’ll have a hands-on art project after the reading. It could be water-color painting, making and playing with play dough, or another creative project to engage the young artists’ talents! All materials included!
Bubbles + Books Story Time at Hammer + Jacks
Fridays at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. | In person at the Rec room at Hammer + Jacks, 406 SE Foster Road, Portland, OR | Recommended donation $5+ per child
Join us every Friday morning for weekly story time! Movement, music, reading, and BUBBLES! Storytime runs about 25-30 minutes and includes an opening song + dance followed by alternating stories, sing-alongs, and movement breaks! There are also bubbles! The event closes with a goodbye song and final dance for those wanting a little extra movement before departure! This is a great mid-morning activity for parents and children that squeezes in a lot of fun and reading! This event’s best for babies and preschoolers, but older siblings are welcome too. 😊 Shakers are provided; you’re welcome to bring your own items for music and movement! Recommended donation is $5+ per child. No family will be turned away for lack of donation.
IN THE NEWS
Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani Is Rewriting the Role (Portland Monthly)
Take a moment to read Portland Monthly’s incredible profile on Anis Mojgani, Oregon poet laureate. We’re so grateful and honored to work with him on our Board of Directors and as the host of our youth poetry slam championship, Verselandia!
2022 PBF author Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe won the Washington Book Award (Seattle Times)
2022 Portland Book Festival author Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe of Tacoma won the 2023 Washington Book Award for her autobiography Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk (Counterpoint Press).
2023 National Book Award for Fiction Longlist (National Book Foundation)
The National Book Foundation today announced the Longlist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. The Finalists in all five categories will be revealed on Tuesday, October 3.
The Divine Comedy of Roman Emperors’ Last Words (The New Yorker)
2023/24 Portland Arts & Lectures author Mary Beard writs on how “In the end, godlike aspirations often met with all too human final moments.” Get tickets for the 23/24 season of Portland Arts & Lectures now!
On Killing Charles Dickens (The New Yorker)
2023/24 Portland Arts & Lectures author Zadie Smith did everything she “could to avoid writing my historical novel. When I finally started The Fraud, one principle was clear: no Dickens.” Get tickets for the 23/24 season of Portland Arts & Lectures now!
RECOMMENDED READING
10 New Books From Around the World (Powell’s)
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month With Books for All Ages (New York Public Library)
13 Books Full of Thrills and Chills for Halloween (NPR)
13 Spooky Kids’ Books That Go Bump in the Night (Powell’s)
Community News Submissions
Let us know if you have any events, news to share, or opportunities for writers for the In the Community blog and we will consider adding it to the next blog post!
