Beginning September 16, Miracle Theatre Group is pleased to present “La Luna Nueva,” the third annual festival of Hispanic arts and culture from around the world celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Sprinkled among the nights of hot Latin jazz, fiery flamenco and inventive hip-hop are several literary events, including:
The House of the Spirits/La Casa de los Espíritus
A play by Caridad Svich, based on the novel by Isabel Allende
Beginning September 16, Miracle Theatre Group is pleased to present “La Luna Nueva,” the third annual festival of Hispanic arts and culture from around the world celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Sprinkled among the nights of hot Latin jazz, fiery flamenco and inventive hip-hop are several literary events, including:
Poets Open Mic Night
Share works of poetry by Latino poets—from the canons of literary giants such as Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca as well as original work by local authors.
Beginning September 16, Miracle Theatre Group is pleased to present “La Luna Nueva,” the third annual festival of Hispanic arts and culture from around the world celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Sprinkled among the nights of hot Latin jazz, fiery flamenco and inventive hip-hop are several literary events, including:
The House of the Spirits/La Casa de los Espíritus
A play by Caridad Svich, based on the novel by Isabel Allende
Please save the date for Wordstock’s evening of Literal Fun. We’ll celebrate the power of writing to for grown-ups. Think cakewalks, fortune tellers, and much more! effect positive change in children’s lives with a back-to-school carnival.
Proceeds benefit teachers, students, readers and writers participating in Wordstock’s literary arts and education programs.
Tickets available online.
The Text Ball is Portland’s unique celebration of all things text, where attendees are encouraged to come dressed with text as part of their evening attire. The theme for this year’s ball is “In Poetic Fashion.” Along with live music, poetry readings and text-based refreshments, attendees can enjoy word games like Scrabble, giant crossword puzzles, a dirty limerick challenge and a silent auction. The evening will culminate in a costume parade, with literary prizes for best outfits. To buy tickets or view photos from last year’s ball, visit iprc.org.
Note that costumes are encouraged but definitely not required.
All proceeds from the Text Ball benefit the IPRC’s mission to facilitate creative expression, identity and community by providing access to self-publishing tools and resources.
Tickets: $12–$15, available at iprc.org
ShanRock's Triviology hits the books for Wordstock in October with the Wordstock Lit Quiz, a trivia night devoted to all things bookish and hosted by ShanRock at 6 pm Sunday, Oct. 2, at East Burn, 1800 E Burnside St. Joining into the quiz is free, limit team size to 5, with prizes and a trophy to the champs.
Join a group of Northwest TNB Literati as they dazzle, entertain, and read to you. Libations and merrymaking will abound. More details to follow, so stay tuned. In the meantime, mark your calendars!
*Like AA, but with alcohol
In honor of our Wordstock 2011 theme “American Stories,” three Portland-based festival authors will present three different takes on “Portland Stories.”
Bring your young readers to meet three of Portland’s most popular children’s literature authors who will also be appearing at Wordstock 2011 on the Knowledge Universe Children’s Stage.
• Carmen Bernier-Grand, author of Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina
• Carolyn Conahan, author of The Big Wish
• Ann Cameron, author of Spunky Tells All
This Oregon Humanities event is part of the Think & Drink happy-hour discussion series, which sparks provocative conversations about big ideas. More information at: oregonhumanities.org.
Free and open to the public No cover (21+)
Lives and language on the edge: Three teens from the Bronx tell their stories of friendship and struggle, showing how a radical poetry class can ignite change.
Bronx teens Karina, Pearl and Anthony search for their voices and an answer to the question: Can language change lives? Inspired by three teachers in a radical poetry workshop, they try to write their own life stories, imagining a future where fathers aren’t in jail, mothers aren’t abusive and college is a place where you wake every morning instead of just dreaming about it every night. A dedicated filmmaking team follows their lives, celebrating the value of poetry, devoted teachers and the power that comes from writing your own life story.
The world is filled with an infinite number of interesting topics. But as a writer, how do you seek out the kinds of salient information, tension, and—most of all—characters that bring an issue to life? How do you craft a narrative that leaves readers with the feeling that they have read a story, not a research paper?
Even thoughtful, informed feedback can be painful. But does it hurt because it’s so right, or because it’s so wrong? The difference is critical. Learn to use the critique and/or editorial process to strengthen your story, not gut it.
How can you compete against video games, sports, and movies for the attention of male teen readers? Start by writing stories about boys kicking butt and chewing bubble gum, but leave out the bubble gum.
A vivid scene is the result of vivid imagery created by a unique combination of words. Learn seven easy-to-follow steps that can help writers understand and create memorable images that bring a story to life.
Buy your ticket
Is homeland where you were born or where you live? This panel explores a quintessential American experience—the search for identity by those caught between multiple cultures.
Find out what agents are looking for, what editors and publishers hope to see in new writing and how each discovers prospective clients.
The legendary Robert Sheckley (1928-2005) is recognized as science fiction's seminal humorist. This panel will examine his massive career and the future life of his work.
How effective are book trailers and what makes a good one? A publisher and two authors discuss the ups and downs of book trailers and more.
It's a common problem: writers suppressing their own work before reviewers, readers and relatives have a chance to pass judgement. How to get around the snarkiest critic of all?
Join the editorial staff of Portland graphic novel publisher Oni Press as they explore the unique joys, pitfalls, and opportunities for writers looking to collaborate with an artist in the medium of sequential art a.k.a. comic books.
Designed for right-brain thinkers, this workshop provides a simplified overview of the options for forming creative business endeavors. Whether you’re a new writer or an established writing group, you’ll leave ready to take the necessary steps to legally legitimize your work.
What are the unique challenges in presenting another culture to children? Our panelists will discuss how they approach their unique subjects when writing for young readers.
Graphic novels are now prevalent in almost every genre. Our panelists will discuss why they used this medium to document a variety of genres.
Every writer faces a basic decision at the keyboard: how much of my own life, and which parts, can I disclose? Will my friends and family recognize themselves? Will they disapprove? How do we, as writers, find the balance between their right to privacy and our right to make art? This discussion, which applies both to fiction and nonfiction, uses examples from Cheryl Strayed and others as a point of departure.
As writers, we can become consumed with talk of agents, marketing, and networking, and wonder why we even started writing. Consider this workshop a crucial and rejuvenating reminder—a time to engage in playful writing, share inspiration, and find yourself reenergized to create.
Plazm Magazine presents a discussion of how the phenomena of social media, e-publishing, and pocketable gadgetry are changing how we interact, read, write and view our own identities.
Learn from four author-preneurs who found unconventional methods to launching their books about Portland's food scene.
Two authors discuss the role of food in their writing, and how it helps tell the story of place, passions and people.
Oil and Water is a fictionalized account of a trip Oregon activists and artists took to view the impact of the BP oil spill. A thought-provoking presentataion on the creation of the book.
An intensive seminar that will aim to make sure we're exciting the right parts (our, ahem, hearts) when we write sex scenes. Check your inhibitions—if not your clothing—at the door.
In this class we’ll think about how to get a story off the ground, focusing particularly on how an opening can give both readers and writers an angle of vision from which to view the characters and glimpse the story’s possible trajectories.
“Shelf Life” takes viewers on a whirlwind trip through Powell’s City of Books, the world’s largest bookstore. It seeks out customers and staff, book buyers and sellers, writers and readers, to discover what this exceptional place means to them, and why reading is important. Writers Chuck Palahniuk and Ursula K. Le Guin, among others, weigh-in on the joy and necessity of reading and how it makes us who we are. A love letter to the book itself, “Shelf Life” gets readers to “tell all” in the aisles and reveal the books that changed their lives. Now, viewers and readers everywhere can go inside, browse Powell’s shelves, experience the eccentric, opinionated staff, and think about what book they’d like to get their hands on if they could have anything they wanted.
What defines a “middle grade” book? Our panelists will discuss this murky genre, and explore what sets it apart from other literature.
As traditions change, authors play more with form and structure in fiction, leading to new innovations. Listen to authors, a book reviewer and an editor discuss exciting ways of expression.
Instant Graphic Novel is a way for a group of people to produce a complete story. It is an exercise in basic plot creation and characterization, spontaneous creativity and comic page design. It is open to all ages and all levels of writing and drawing artistic ability.
“Self-editing” doesn’t sound glamorous, but it is a central—and culminating—point in a writer’s education. It means learning to cut your hard-won words; learning to find and listen to your inner voice; removing the static and clutter, false starts and repetitions; making the story clean before you send it off.
Filmmaker Jerry Aronson discusses his multi-year project to document Ginsberg's life and art through words of the poet and his many famous (and infamous) friends.
What does it mean to be Latino living in the US? Members of Los Porteños will read from their own bilingual work and the works of other Latino writers who inspire their dreams.
We all have fears growing up. Our panelists will discuss how YA books can help teens address their own fears through fiction.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for—the 2011 Wordstock edition of Live Wire! Come be a part of the studio audience for the popular radio variety show, recorded right in front of you and broadcast by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). You’ll witness the brilliant wit, bright stars and big laughs that are the trademark of Live Wire! It’s music, it’s conversation, it’s sketch comedy. This year’s show will feature musical guest Wild Ones and conversations with some of the extraordinary authors joining us at Wordstock, including none other than the prolific and hilarious Steve Almond and Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan!
Tickets: $25 for general admission and $35 for reserved seating, available at livewireradio.org.
This workshop will show its participants how to pick interesting people to write biographies, where to find to find accurate and fresh information that will be interesting to readers, and how to retell these true tales using a storyteller’s voice.
You can’t expect readers to go to Google, type in a few words and land on your website. If you can’t expect them to find you, how do you find them? In this class you learn how to figure out where your readers hang out online, how to tap into the audience of recognized experts, and how to make it worth their while to promote your book.
Do you believe your family has a unique tale to tell? Getting the blood and meat of the story may be harder than you think. Here’s a primer on the ways in which you can extract your family stories in order to tell a rich, textured story.
How and where do poetry and prose intersect? And what lessons might fiction writers learn from some of our master poets? In this workshop, we focus on some traditional poetic elements—such as image and sound and rhythm—and we try to gain a better understanding of the various ways these components function in literary fiction. If a person wandering through a bookstore read only a paragraph of your prose, what would that tell them about your book?
Three authors, all with different journeys, discuss their views on writing the work that was published.
Reportedly far more women read fiction than men. Can an author deliberately court the male market?
A discussion of food, sex and cinema in Hispanic Contemporary Fiction.
Sex is a profound emotional and psychological experience--and the perfect backdrop for revealing the nuances of character. Our panelists will explore why leaving your inhibitions at the door is as important for literature as it is in the bedroom.
Trends in paranormal fiction are always shifting. Our panelists explore what trends are hot right now, and what will likely be the next big thing.
Is there anything more universal than the coming-of-age story? Three authors will explore what makes this tale so deeply satisfying.
This is a brief exercise in telling stories graphically, from the single panel to the graphic novel, by the creator of Too Much Coffee Man, New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler. Audience participation is expected.
The traditional picture book for children is 32 pages long. How do you create well-rounded characters and timeless, emotionally fulfilling stories within such a tight structure?
How does language redraw the line between dream and reality? Members of Los Porteños will read from their own bilingual work and the works of Latin American writers who have dared to reimagine the world.
What is it about mean girls that we love to hate? And how do writers make a mean girl we care about? Find out in this panel.
Shot on location at Wordstock 2010, and featuring Northwest literary stars like Chelsea Cain (Heartsick) and Willy Vlautin (The Motel Life), “Georgie’s Big Break” is a short film about the high hopes of a single mother, a woman living the life of the body as she raises her infant. She makes a foray back to the world of ideas through Portland’s largest literary festival. With a mix of comedy and emotion, this film offers a showcase of some of Portland’s hottest talent. Based on a short story by Monica Drake (Clown Girl) and adapted and directed by Andy Mingo.
In literary writing about medicine, clinical language needs to find a lyrical home. Using published examples and writing prompts, we’ll explore ways of combining “medical” and “literary” perspectives into a single voice, both in poetry and prose.
Great books don’t just tell a story—they tell a story in a way it has never before been told. This workshop will help writers identify the unique formal challenges in their work-in-progress and build strategies for how to embrace them.
We talk to illustrators to explore the challenges of bringing a children's story to life.
Meet an author who utilizes web-based interaction, an author successful with popular rankings among e-readers and a publishing insider who founded booktour.com.
Teens may love books about the paranormal or dystopian worlds, but one trend that will never go away in YA lit is the contemporary novel.
Some parents would prefer their children not to read at all than read certain kinds of stories. As an author, how do you deal?
It doesn’t matter how beautiful the prose of a book is if the story falls apart. In this workshop, we will break down classic structure and apply it to the construction and telling of a story.
This workshop will help writers create setting that vividly portrays place and, at the same time, enhances characterization by revealing the particular way the point-of-view character experiences the setting, given his/her background and the context of the situation.
In August 2010, following the BP oil spill, 22 Oregonians traveled to the Gulf Coast to bear witness to the impacts of this environmental disaster on the cultural, economic and environmental fabric of the region. They were introduced to a complex and ambiguous crisis, and left considering how their actions a continent away could influence what happens next. “Beyond the Spill” presents a devastated environment and economy, and the personal choices that drove us head-on into this catastrophe. What can we, as individuals, learn from the largest and most preventable oil spill in U.S. history? By accepting responsibility, by seeking ways to more quickly transition to clean energy, can we move “beyond the spill”?
PlayWrite uses the power of performance in art to transform the lives of youth at the edge. This hour includes students, coaches and actors; a skit showing a PlayWrite workshop and a staged reading of a play written by a student.
A cartoonist, a humorist and a filmmaker sit down to discuss collaboration between writers and artists in visual mediums.
Somewhere along the way, us writers got the impression that being coy or withholding information defines good writing, that it builds suspense and keeps the reader engaged. We’ll discuss the roles and responsibilities of narration, and the intimate relationship between your narrator and reader.
In some books, you scarcely recall where the narrative took place. Others could have unfolded anywhere, at any time. Perhaps this was a purposeful decision by the author—universality, timelessness. But if the story is intended to be a product of its setting, how do you render that setting in a living way? How do you take it from backdrop to character?
Kids are picky about everything. Our panelists will discuss both the perks and the unique challenges of writing for children.
Do American writers have a responsibility to weigh in on the looming moral issues of the
day? Hear three authors who have navigated this route.
VoiceCatcher is a nonprofit women's collective that provides the local writing communitywith publishing opportunites, writing scholarships, and editorial guidance. Come hear local authors read from their work.
Jerry Aronson spent ten years accumulating more than 120 hours of film to fashion his comprehensive, award-winning portrait of Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), the visionary poet and founding father of the Beat generation. (100 mins.)
More information at nwfilm.org
Greg Netzer
Isaac Marion
Pierre Ouellette
Dave Weich
Mark Bitterman
Barry Lopez
Julie Paschkis
Propeller Books
Oregon State University Press
Navillus Press
The MIT Press
Portland Book Review
Friends of the Multnomah County Library
Indigo Editing & Publications
SMART (Start Making A Reader Today)
Oregon Cultural Trust
National Endowment for the Arts
MacPac
Faceout Studio
Capital Pacific Bank
Wieden + Kennedy
Portland Wine Storage
Oregon Arts Commision
