Literopolis: A Weekly Look at Portland Literary Events, September 28-October 4

Monday, September 28, 2015

Emily Goldman, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Happy Monday!

This week’s exciting literary guest star is none other than Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the hit memoir Eat, Pray, Love. This Sunday evening, she will be giving a reading of her newest book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear in which she delves into her own sources of inspiration and encourages her readers to go beyond their fear to access their own in order to better their creative lives. The event is hosted by Powell’s Books at the Newmark Theater. The ticket price includes the cost of a copy of the book, and can be purchased here. 1111 SW Broadway Ave., 7pm, $34.95

MONDAY
David Silverman, president of American Atheists, will be discussing his new book Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World at Portland State University. Smith Memorial Student Union, room 296, 6pm, donations encouraged

Poet, memoirist, and Lambda Award-winning author Judith Barrington is September’s guest for the Hillsboro Public Library’s Conversation with Writers monthly event. 2850 NE Brookwood Pkwy, 7-8:45pm, FREE

Spit/Write, a local arts organization dedicated to encouraging children and teenagers to express themselves through poetry and spoken word, will be hosting the the final competition for the inaugural Portland Youth Poet Laureate competition in which 12 teenage Poet Ambassadors representing Portland’s high schools will compete for the title. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 7pm, FREE

Science fiction author Ian McDonald will be at Powell’s at Cedar Hills presenting his new novel Luna: New Moon, a story about a heavily corporatized moon in which the children of one of those corporate scions who fought for her place at the top have to defend their empire from the enemies her mother made along the way. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 7pm, FREE

At Powell’s on Hawthorne, Steven Gillis, co-founder of independent publisher Dzanc Books, will be reading from his new novel Benchere in Wonderland in which a widowed sculpture seeks to find a new way to define himself and his art following the death of his wife. 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 7:30pm, FREE

In honor of Banned Books Week, First Amendment Lawyer Duane Bosworth will be giving a talk about free speech, privacy, and government control of its citizens’ speech titled “May Government Control Our Speech and Expression, and If So, How and When?” at Powell’s City of Books. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE

TUESDAY
Caitlin Doughty became a licensed mortician in her twenties, and decided to use her experiences with the macabre and gallows humor to write about the behind-the-scenes world of those who care for the bodies of the recently deceased titled Smoke Gets in Your Eyes And Other Lessons from the Crematory, which she will be reading at Powell’s City of Books. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE

WEDNESDAY
At Powell’s at Cedar Hills, YA author Ava Dellaira will be sharing her debut novel Love Letters to the Dead, in which an English class assignment to write a letter to a dead person of your choice turns into an outlet for Laurel to talk about high school, her friends, family, and her conflicted relationship with her deceased sister May. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 7pm, FREE

Paul Clarke will be presenting The Cocktail Chronicles, a mixology guide to the craft of cocktails, at Powell’s City of Books. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE

THURSDAY
Local author Beth Everett will be at Annie Bloom’s Books presenting her debut novel Death on Alder, in which a middle-aged woman’s return to San Francisco away from her married life leads to the discovery of a dead landlord an unlikely partnership between her and the detective. 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 7-8pm, FREE

Another Read Through will be hosting local author Dawn Menken, author of Raising Parents, Raising Kids, a “how-to” book with a new approach on parenting and how best to support children, emotionally, spiritually, and socially. 3932 N Mississippi Ave., 7-8pm, FREE

At Powell’s at Cedar Hills, Robert Michael Pyle will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of his environmental conservation guide Wintergreen about the land, plants, people, and animals of the Willapa Hills of Washington State. He will be joined in conversation with David Guterson, author of Snow Falling on Cedars. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 7pm, FREE

Cartoonist Ted Rail will be sharing his graphic novel of the life of infamous whistleblower Edward Snowden titled Snowden at Powell’s on Hawthorne. 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 7:30pm, FREE

FRIDAY
Three of YA’s top authors—Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti—have teamed up to write a new novel titled Zeroes, the first in a series about six Californian teens with superpowers who have to work together in the face of catastrophe, which they will be presenting together at Powell’s at Cedar Hills. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 7pm, FREE

At Powell’s City of Books, Lauren Groff will be reading from her new novel Fates and Furies, a creative and insightful exploration of one couple’s marriage and creative partnership. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE

SATURDAY
Glyph Cafe is hosting a reading by Los Porteños, a Portland-based group of Latino writers, in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. This bilingual literary event will feature classical guitar playing by Maria Olaya and fiction, nonfiction, and poetry readings by several Los Porteños members. A tertulia—social gathering—will commence afterward. 804 NW Couch St., 4-7pm, FREE

At Powell’s City of Books, textile artist Anna Joyce will be sharing how to add patterns to ready-made surfaces of household walls and items using her own special hand-printing techniques, all of which can be found in her book Stamp Stencil Paint: Making Extraordinary Patterned Objects by Hand. 1005 W Burnside St., 4pm, FREE

Leigh Bardugo will be at Powell’s at Cedar Hills reading from her newest YA novel Six Crows, described as Game of Thrones meets Ocean’s Eleven in which a con artist needs help from five other criminals to pull off the heist of a lifetime. She will be joined in conversation by Laini Taylor, author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 4pm, FREE

Looking for translated poems? Stop by TaborSpace, where Judith Pulman and Marat Grinberg will be presenting translations of Russian poet Boris Slutsky while Annie Lighthart and Michael Faletra will be presenting translations of Anglo-Saxon poetry. This event is funded in part by a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council. 5441 SE Belmont St., 6:30-8:30pm, FREE

SUNDAY
The Portland Poetry Slam is kicking off the year with an inaugural event at the Portland Center Stage in the Ellen Bye Studio, featuring acclaimed Seattle-based slam poet Ela Barton. 128 NW 11th Ave., 6:30-9:30, $0-5

Man Booker Prize finalist Steve Toltz will be at Powell's City of Books reading from his new novel Quicksand, in which a failed novelist decides his best friend is his muse and uses his life story to write his next novel. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE