THE MOTH MAINSTAGE RETURNS TO PORTLAND

 

WALK THE LINE: Stories of Balancing Acts Featuring storyteller Lisa Lampanelli & event host Mike Daisey.

One of the most loved radio shows, The Moth, returns to Portland for another round of true stories told live at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Consistently a sell-out, The Moth Mainstage is our 3rd annual collaboration with one of New York City's hottest literary shows.

The Moth's storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Storytellers share life-changing events that often come with laughter, tears, cringing, chaos, eye-rolling, resolve and perhaps all of these and more.  

Who: Literary Arts Presents The Moth Mainstage

Theme: WALK THE LINE: Stories of Balancing Acts 

Where: The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

When: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 7:30pm 

Ticket Information: $25 - $60 | All seats are reserved seating.

- Order online at www.ticketmaster.com 

- Portalnd Center for the Performing Arts Box Office, SW Broadway and Main Street

- Charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000

- All Ticketmaster outlets

- Visit www.literary-arts.org for additional information.

- Tickets go on sale to the general public this Sunday.

24th Annual Oregon Book Awards Ceremony

Celebrate Oregon's Literary Excellence

24th Annual

Oregon Book Awards Ceremony

DATE: Monday, April 25, 2011
TIME: 7:30PM
LOCATION: The Gerding Theater at the Armory

Kurt Andersen will host the 24th Annual Oregon Book Awards. Andersen is the host of NPR's Studio 360 and the author of the novels Heyday and Turn of the Century. His articles have appeared in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Time, and he was one of the co-founders of Spy magazine. He's also the co-founder of the "Portland Brooklyn Project" which nurtures connections, partnerships and new opportunities for the arts, education and for private businesses between Portland and Brooklyn.

The Oregon Book Awards recognize the year's finest accomplishments by Oregon writers in the genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature. This year, for the first time, Literary Arts is offering a Readers Choice Award, sponsored by the Oregonian. The winners will be announced at the Oregon Book Awards ceremony on April 25th. A complete list of the 2011Oregon Book Awards Finalists can be found online at www.literary-arts.org

In addition to recognizing the finest achievements of Oregon authors in several genres, Literary Arts recognizes individual contributions withthe Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award and the Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award.This year's recipients will receive their awards at the ceremony on April 25th.

The Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award

The Stewart H. Holbrook Award is presented to a person or organization in recognition of significant contributions that have enriched Oregon's literary community. Past recipients include Brian Booth, founder of the Oregon Book Awards, Paulann Petersen and Kim Stafford.

Recipient: John Laursen of Portland

John Laursen is a designer, typographer, printer and publisher. He is the co-author, with Terry Toedtemeier, of Wild Beauty: Photographs of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867-1957. For four decades, Laursen has been owner and operator of Press-22, a Portland studio specializing in the design and production of high-quality books and text-based public art projects. His designs can be found in the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, the Walk of the Heroines at PSU, Hazel Hall Park, John Reed Memorial Bench in Washington Park, and at the Mount Tabor Entryway. He has worked with a variety of non-profit organizations focused on the arts, education, history, and the environment, including the Portland Art Museum, the Oregon Historical Society Press, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission, the Library of Congress Center for the Book and the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

The Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award

The Walt Morey Award is presented to a person or organization in recognition of contributions to young readers literature. Past recipients include Claudia Jones, Wallowa County youth librarian; Barbara J. McKillip, founder of the Libri Foundation; Jerry Isom, director of Books 4 Kids; and Mark Mizell, high school English teacher.

Recipient: The Children's Book Bank of Portland

The Children's Book Bank is a nonprofit organization located in Portland. They strive to improve the literacy skills of low-income children by giving them books of their own before they reach kindergarten. The Children's Book Bank collects, repairs, and packages used books and distributes them to families free of charge.The Book Bank project allows families who are financially challenged to significantly increase their children's exposure to books at home. The Children's Book Bank also administers the Leading for Reading program, an internship program for high school students. Upon completion of the program, each high school student has led a group of volunteers, organized a book drive in their own community, and planned and run a grassroots fundraising event.

Oregon Book Awards Special Awards candidates are nominated by the public, and reviewed by the Oregon Book Awards Advisory Committee and the Literary Arts Board of Directors. For more information, please visit http://www.literary-arts.org/ .

TICKETS:

- $17 to $50
- Order online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/
- Or charge by phone at 1-800-838-3006

For additional information visit us online at http://www.literary-arts.org/  or call our office at 503-227-2583.

Leslie Marmon Silko and Molly Gloss

Literary Arts proudly presents an evening with

Leslie Marmon Silko and Molly Gloss

EVENT DATE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010

TIME: 7:30 P.M.
LOCATION: LINCOLN PERFORMANCE HALL - PSU

Leslie Marmon Silko is the author of numerous books including Almanac of the Dead, Garden in the Dunes, Ceremony, and most recently, The Turquoise Ledge. Silko is a Native American novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and short-story writer whose work is primarily concerned with the relations between different cultures and between humans and the natural world. Silko was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and grew up at Laguna Pueblo. The Pueblo has been home to members of her family for generations and is where she learned traditional stories and legends from her grandmother Lilly and her aunt Susie.

Called the most accomplished Native American writer of her generation and an "American Indian Literary Master," Silko has been awarded a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," the National Endowment for the Arts Discovery Grant, the Boston Globe prize for nonfiction, the Pushcart Prize for Poetry, and the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities "Living Cultural Treasure" Award. Silko was also the youngest writer to be included in The Norton Anthology of Women's Literature, for her short story "Lullaby."

Molly Gloss is a native Oregonian and one of Portland's literary icons. She is the author of such books as The Jump-Off Creek, The Dazzle of Day, Wild Life and The Hearts of Horses. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award for American Fiction. In 1990, Gloss won the Oregon Book Awards in fiction for her novel The Jump-Off Creek.

TICKETS: $15 & $20 (ALL SEATS RESERVED)
TO PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE CLICK HERE!
You may also charge by phone at 503-725-3307 or at PSU box office - 1825 SW Broadway.

Literary Arts Presents September 23

MARGARET ATWOOD IN CONVERSATION WITH URSULA K. LE GUIN

DATE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
TIME: 7:30PM
LOCATION: THE ARLENE SCHNITZER CONCERT HALL

The 2010-2011 season of Portland Arts & Lectures launches with two of our most visionary contemporary storytellers in conversation. These award-winning authors will discuss politics, publishing, and their prolific works of literature. Celebrated Canadian author Margaret Atwood has published over 40 books, including novels, short stories, poetry and nonfiction. Her novels include The Handmaid's Tale (1985), The Robber Bride (1998), the Booker award-winner Blind Assassin (2000), Oryx and Crake (2008), and her latest, The Year of the Flood (2009). Atwood is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and has been presented with the Order of Ontario and the Norwegian Order of Literary Merit. Wired magazine says Atwood's speculative fiction "has an uncanny knack for tapping into humanity's uncertain future and predicting mankind's cultural, scientific and sociopolitical falls from glory."

Like Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin is a prolific author of more than 40 books. Her books include A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), the National Book Award winner The Farthest Shore (1973), and Lavinia (2008). Her work has received many awards, including five Hugo Awards and six Nebula awards, and has been translated into 16 languages. Le Guin has earned the praise of critics like Harold Bloom, who included her in his list of "classic American writers" and authors like John Updike, who called her "a magisterial imaginer." Margaret Atwood has said of Le Guin, "whatever else she may do-wherever her curious intelligence may take her-she never loses touch with her reverence for the immense what is."

TICKETS: This talk is part of the 2010-11 season of Portland Arts & Lectures. Tickets are sold by subscription only. Season tickets (all five lectures) start at $70. Individual tickets will be subject to availability and start at $35.

For additional information on ticket availability visit us online at http://www.literary-arts.org/ or call our office at 503-227-2583.

New Season of Portland Arts & Lectures

Portland Arts & Lectures Proudly Announces
The 2010-2011 Season
Spring is here and so is a new season of Portland Arts & Lectures.

We have crafted next season to feature some of the finest writers. Four of our speakers next season have won the Pulitzer Prize while one has won the Man Booker Prize. All have more literary laurels than can be tallied here!

MARGARET ATWOOD & URSULA K. LE GUIN Together In Conversation Sept. 23, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

Margaret Atwood-The Washington Post calls Atwood, "Canada's greatest living novelist." Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1939 and attended the University of Toronto and then Radcliffe College where she completed her master's degree. Atwood's novels are best known for illustrating the characters of women in modern society and their roles in urban life and sexual politics. Her works have been translated into more than 30 languages and she currently writes book reviews for multiple Canadian magazines. Atwood is also a strong promoter of women's rights and her writing reflects her position. "We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and powerful woman as an anomaly," says Atwood.

Ursula K. Le Guin-The Guardian comments on Le Guin's writing as a "pleasure to read on all levels." Le Guin is famous for her science fiction and fantasy novels like Lavinia, which is set in Virgil's Aeneid. Le Guin appreciates most the works of classical authors and enjoys complimenting them by setting her stories in their novels. Le Guin was born in Berkeley, California in 1929 and studied at Radcliffe College and then Cambridge University where she received her master's degree in romance languages. Her father was an anthropology professor at UC-Berkeley. Le Guin believes that most of her creativity comes from him. "My father studied real cultures and I make them up," says Le Guin.

NATASHA TRETHEWEY Oct. 21, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. Pulitzer Prize-winner Trethewey is "clearly a poet to savor," says Maxine Kumin. Trethewey was born in Gulfport, Mississippi in 1966 and studied at the University of Georgia and then received her master's degree in creative writing and English from Hollins University. Trethewey is best known for her books of poetry, Bellocq's Ophelia and Storyville Diary. Each of these books has received numerous awards such as the Grolier Poetry Prize and the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Currently, Trethewey teaches as an Assistant Professor of English, poetry and creative writing at Emory University in Georgia.

ELIZABETH STROUT Jan. 25, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. Strout is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the best-selling books, Olive Kitteridge and Amy and Isabelle. The New Yorker says, "Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force." Amy and Isabelle was made into a movie in 2001, which was produced by Oprah Winfrey. Strout was born in Portland, Maine in 1956 and studied at Bates University and later earned a law degree from the Syracuse University of Law and a Certificate of Gerontology from the Syracuse School of Social Work.

TRACY KIDDER March 3, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. The New York Times says, "Kidder has become a high priest of the narrative arts." Kidder is the author of Strength in What Remains, House and The Soul of a New Machine. Kidder is a literary journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winner whose work covers a wide range of topics and often celebrates the heroic acts of everyday people. Tracy Kidder was born in New York City in 1945 and studied at Harvard College in 1967 where he earned an AB degree. Kidder served in Vietnam from 1967 until 1969 and was later awarded a bronze star. Kidder later earned an MFA from the University of Iowa.

ART SPIEGELMAN April 28, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. Steven Barclay Agency says, "Art Spiegelman has almost single-handedly brought comic books out of the toy closet and onto the literature shelves." Spiegelman is referred to by many as the "father of graphic literature" and is the only graphic novelist in history to win the Pulitzer Prize. Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1948. He later attended SUNY Binghamton University where he earned an honorary doctorate of letters in 1995. Spiegelman attributes most of his success to the influential graphic authors of the past. "I'm supposed to be making comics, so I had to do it the best way I knew how, which is what those guys at the beginning of the Twentieth Century were doing," says Spiegelman.

SUBSCRIPTION TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLY (5 LECTURES):-Season ticket prices start at $70 ($14 per lecture).-Order Online at http://www.literary-arts.org/-Or contact us by phone at 503.227.2583-All events are at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Isabel Allende

ISABEL ALLENDE - ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA
DATE: TUES., MAY 11, 2010
TIME: 7:30 PM
LOCATION: ARLENE SCHNITZER CONCERT HALL

Isabel Allende is the author of numerous books, including New York Times bestsellers The House of the Spirits and Daughter of Fortune. Allende's books have been translated into over 27 languages, and transformed into plays, movies, ballets and operas all over the world.

Presented by Literary Arts and Powell's Books. Tickets are currently on sale. For more information: http://www.literary-arts.org/

Upcoming From Literary Arts

Literary Arts is bringing to Portland one of "New York City's hottest and hippest literary tickets" (The Wall Street Journal).

The Moth is a huge hit with broadcasting on more than 200 stations in the U.S. and more than one million downloads per month on iTunes. Having spurred a revival in oral storytelling, The Moth is dedicated to promoting the art of storytelling through true stories told live on stage without scripts, notes, props or accompaniment. Each Moth event mixes humorous and heartbreaking tales told with honesty, bravery and wit.

THE MOTH IN PORTLAND
DATE: 7:30 PM MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2010
LOCATION: GERDING THEATER
TICKETS: $25

For more information, how to get tickets and other upcoming Literary Arts events, check their website at: http://www.literary-arts.org/

Upcoming Events From Literary Arts

23rd Annual Oregon Book Awards Ceremony
Monday, October 26, 2009 - 7:30 p.m.

Sponsored by The Oregon Cultural Trust

After several years of sold-out ceremonies at the Portland Art Museum, this year's Oregon Book Awards ceremony, hosted by local author and Portland State University MFA faculty member Tom Bissell, will be held at the Gerding Theater at the Armory.

In addition to honoring the finalists and winners, Literary Arts will also honor Matt Love of Newport and the Read to the Dogs Program of Portland with special awards, and take a moment to acknowledge this year's Oregon Literary Fellowships recipients.

Also this year, for the first time, we are offering a ticket that includes a donation to the Oregon Book Awards, and a patron ticket that includes a donation and premium seating, in addition to our general admission tickets. Your contribution with your ticket purchase helps ensure that we can continue to encourage, celebrate and honor Oregon's writers.

Literary Arts and Powell's Books Present An Evening With

AL GORE

Our Choice

EVENT DATE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009

TIME: 7:30 PM

LOCATION: KELLER AUDITORIUM

Al Gore to speak on the bold choices necessary to stimulate economic growth through environmental policies. Former Vice President Al Gore reached millions of people with the message that the climate crisis is threatening the future of human civilization, and that it must, and can, be solved. OUR CHOICE is an inspiring call to action for those ready to fight for solutions that really work - including some bold initiatives that were deemed impossible only a short time ago but are now gaining support around the world. Since the publication of the New York Times bestseller An Inconvenient Truth, Mr. Gore has led more than thirty "Solutions Summits" with top scientists, engineers and policy experts to examine every solution to the climate crisis in depth.

In his lecture OUR CHOICE, Mr. Gore draws on the conclusions developed through those summits as well as on extensive independent research. He continues to make sense of the pressing issues we face and describes how the bold choices necessary to save the earth's climate should also be the foundations of policies worldwide to create new jobs and stimulate sustainable economic progress.

For more information on these events and others, visit: Literary Arts

Literary Arts September Calendar and Portland Arts & Lectures Series

The centerpieces of September's Literary Arts' activities is the start of the 26th season of Portland Arts & Lectures with Wally Lamb on September 24th and the first of our special events with acclaimed scholar Karen Armstrong on September 29th.



To find out more about the series and what Literary Arts is up to, visit their website at http://www.literary-arts.org/pal/

An Evening With Humanitarian Greg Mortenson

Presented by Literary Arts & Powell's Books on December 14, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. in Portland.

Greg Mortenson is the author of the New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea. In his talk with Literary Arts, Mortenson will recount his ongoing efforts to promote peace through education and literacy by establishing schools for girls in Afghanistan; his extensive work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005; and the unique ways he has built relationships with Islamic clerics, militia commanders, and tribal leaders even as he was dodging shootouts with feuding Afghan warlords and surviving an eight-day armed abduction by the Taliban.

To receive a discount, enter the code: HOPE into the Promotions And Special Offers Box.

For further information on the event and how to get tickets , see the website: Literary Arts. [click to go there]

Scott Simon Lecture at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

There are certain voices in America that stitch into our lives like family recipes, old jokes, and wedding dresses; they become a part of our routine, a part of our consciousness, and we depend on them. Scott Simon is such a voice. With a smooth Midwestern corn-husk purr, Simon has delivered straightforward and compelling reporting for National Public Radio for more than three decades. He has covered strife, siege, politics and baseball from many parts of the world, including Central America, Africa, India, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. His commentary is precise, opinionated and smart.

In addition to his coverage for NPR, Simon has been a frequent guest host of the CBS television program Nightwatch and CNBC's TalkBack Live. He has appeared as an essayist and commentator on NBC's Weekend Today and NOW with Bill Moyers. He has hosted many public television programs and has written for The New York Times' book review and opinion sections for the Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and Gourmet Magazine.

He is also the author of four books: Home and Away: Memoir of a Fan; Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball; and the novel Pretty Birds. His most recent book, Windy City, has been praised by the Washington Post as "comic but sneakily effective" in its detailed portrait of urban politics. Simon is always prepared to take on a breadth of topics, particularly as he reflects on transforming political and cultural observation into literature.

Simon lives with his wife, Caroline Richard, and their two daughters.

Individual Lecture Tickets:
-Prices: $10 (Upper Balcony Only)
-Order Online at www.ticketmaster.com
-Portland Center for the Performing Arts Box Office, SW Broadway and Main Street
-Call Ticketmaster at 503-224-4400
-All Ticketmaster outlets, including select Fred Meyer
-Visit www.literary-arts.org for additional information

This event is generously sponsored by: Alter Wynne LLP

Literary Arts is a statewide, nonprofit organization that enriches the lives of Oregonians through language and literature. The programs of Literary Arts are Oregon Book Awards,
Oregon Literary Fellowships, Portland Arts & Lectures, Poetry in Motion®, Writers in the Schools and Delve: Readers' Seminars. For more information about the programs of Literary Arts, please contact James Rishky at 503.227.2583.

2008 Oregon Book Awards Winners!

Literary Arts is pleased to announce the winners of the 2008 Oregon Book Awards. From nearly 125 entries, the seven winners were announced by Oregon author John Daniel to a sold-out crowd of more than 500 people on Sunday, November 9 at the Portland Art Museum. In addition, special awards were presented to Barry Lopez of Finn Rock, Marlene Howard of Portland and Young Writers Association of Eugene for outstanding contributions to Oregon's literary community.

Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama
Steve Patterson of Portland
Lost Wavelengths

Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry
Penelope Scambly Schott of Portland
A is for Anne: Mistress Hutchinson Disturbs the Commonwealth (Turning Point)

Ken Kesey Award for Fiction
Ehud Havazelet of Corvallis
Bearing the Body (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction
Steven W. Bender of Portland
One Night in America: Robert Kennedy, Cesar Chavez, and the Dream of Dignity(Paradigm Publishers)

Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction
Lauren Kessler of Eugene
Dancing With Rose: Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer's (Viking Adult)

Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children's Literature
Elizabeth Rusch of Portland
A Day With No Crayons (Rising Moon)

Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature
The judge declared a tie in this category

Sara Ryan of Portland
The Rules for Hearts (Viking Juvenile)

Linda Zuckerman of Portland
A Taste for Rabbit (Arthur A. Levine Books)

A program of Literary Arts, the Oregon Book Awards are presented annually for the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature. All finalists are promoted in libraries and bookstores across the state, and invited to take part in the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour. The tour brings public readings by finalists to a number of locations throughout Oregon including:

Eugene, January 20, 2009

North Bend, January 21, 2009

For more information, please visit www.literary-arts.org.

The Oregon Book Awards program is sponsored by the Oregon Cultural Trust, The Oregonian and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Brian & Gwyneth Booth, Betty Bradshaw, Leslie Bradshaw Endowment, The Collins Foundation, Rocky & Julie Dixon, Gard Communications, Gray Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation, The Heathman Hotel, Robert & Cecelia Huntington, Keller Foundation, Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund, Mancini Family, Walt Morey Endowment Fund, Multnomah County Library, Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Center for the Book at the Oregon State Library, Oregon Writers' Endowment, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Rick & Halle Sadle, Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, U.S. Bank, Vibrant Table Catering and Work for Art.

Literary Arts Exhibition & Panel Discussion

Celebrating 25 years of Portland Arts & Lectures

An exhibition of various Portland Arts & Lectures and Literary Arts ephemera, including the original letter from Isaac Asimov, is on display in the Collins Gallery at the Central Library through September 22.

A panel discussion about Literary Arts' cultural contribution takes place on Tuesday, September 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the U.S. Bank Room at the Central Library.
Panelists include Portland Arts & Lectures founder Julie Mancini as well as Elizabeth Burnett, Brian Booth and Christopher Zinn.


Admission to the exhibition and the panel discussion is free and everyone is welcome.

For more information visit the library's website or contact Special Collections Librarian Jim Carmin at 503.988.6287.

Postscript:

Have you purchased your David Sedaris tickets yet? If Charles Dickens is one of the authors at the top of your fall reading list, click here to learn more about the Bleak House Delve seminar.