Benjamin McPherson Ficklin is a Portland author. They are the author of the novella The West & the collection A Cynical View of Dystopian America. Among various publications of fiction, poetry, & journalism, their work has been recognized in Best Small Fiction 2019 and Best American Essays 2020.
Our events, classes, and seminars bring the community together to hear, learn, and discuss the most compelling issues and ideas of our day. We hope you will join us in our community space and bookstore at 716 SE Grand Avenue, Portland, OR, online, and at partnering venues across Portland and Oregon.
The Wild West has always been a fiction. The heroic cowboy settling the frontier is a myth. The Western novels of the mid-20th century rewrote genocide & colonialism to justify the existence of the United States. As a needed response, The Anti-Western works to undermine this false history by complexifying & subverting the tropes of
Gabriel García Márquez began his writing career as a journalist & once referred to the profession as "the best in the world." While the international literary community celebrated him as one of the greatest-ever fiction authors, he never ceased writing journalism. The Scandal of the Century was first published in English in 2019, & this
César Aira is one of the most prolific authors of our time, having published over 100 books since 1975, his bizarre & starkly idiosyncratic work pushes through genres that sometimes collapse mid-text only to be rebuilt around another plot to end his powerful little books. Winner of numerous literary awards & finalist for the 2015
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin is considered by some to be her magnum opus, yet somehow it remains one of her most overlooked texts. Sometimes reading more
Literary Arts, Inc. is a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Tax ID# 93-0909494
Copyright © 2025 Literary Arts
Made by Needmore Designs
Literary Arts appreciates the continuing support of…
