Thursday 4/17: Portland State University presents My Walk Has Never Been Average: A Staged Reading, based on a collection of interviews with Black tradeswomen. Lincoln Studio Theatre, doors open at 5:30 p.m., reading 6 – 7:30 p.m. Free to PSU students; all others are $7 in advance, $10 at the door.
Krista Bremer in conversation with Cheryl Strayed on Bremer’s new book, My Accidental Jihad (April 2014). Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
Stephen Graham Jones reads as part of the Illuminations Spring Reading Series. This event is a featured program in conjunction with This is Not a Silent Movie, an exhibition organized by The Craft & Folk Art Museum in collaboration with the Anchorage Museum. The Lab at The Museum of Contemporary Craft, 6:30 – 8 p.m., free.
Brian Plover reads from his latest book, The Plover (April 2014), the long-awaited companion novel to his popular Mink River (October 2010). Broadway Books, 7 p.m., free.
PQ Monthly release party, April issue. Starky’s, 5 p.m., free.
William L. Sullivan reads from his new short story collection, each story set in a different Oregon state county, The Oregon Variations (March 2014). Powell’s Books on Hawthorne, 7:30 p.m., free.
Friday 4/18: Hannah Kent reads from her suspenseful debut novel, Burial Rites (September 2013). Set in Iceland in 1829, Burial Rites follows the last days of a young woman charged with brutally murdering her master. Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
The Portland Women of Color Zine Collective hosts an open mic and workshop exclusively for women of color. This month the workshop will be lead by poet and founder of Solar Throat, Jamondria Harris. Women’s Resource Center, 5:30 – 7 p.m., free.
Political activist, scholar, and author Angela Davis speaks at Pacific University. Stoller Center, 7:30 p.m., free.
Saturday 4/19: Comedian and writer Chelsea Handler stops by Portland to read and perform from her new book, Uganda Be Kidding Me (March 2014). Keller Auditorium, 7 p.m., tickets start at $75. Powell’s City of Books will be hosting a free book signing, open to the general public, at 12 p.m. the same day.
Sunday 4/20: Sean Davis reads from his debut memoir on his experience in the Iraq War, The Wax Bullet War (April 2014), at an intimate release party. Dar Salam, 6 p.m., free.
Monday 4/21: Powell’s is one of 20 bookstores across the U.S. chosen to host an official World Book Night launch reading. Join Cheryl Strayed, Matthew Dickman, Amanda Coplin, Paul Collins, and Chelsea Cain, as they each discuss a notable book that changed their lives as readers and writers. Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
Meg Wolitzer reads from her popular novel, The Interestings (April 2013), now in paperback. Powell’s Books on Hawthorne, 7:30 p.m., free.
Tuesday 4/22: Join the Mountain Writers, a poetry collective that works under the tutelage of Peter Sears, as they read from their new anthology, Just Now: 20 New Portland Poets (April 2014). Readings by Carol Ellis, Martha Ragland, Jane Greenbaum, and Dan Hannon. Broadway Books, 7 p.m., free.
Lewis & Clark presents its annual Senior Fiction reading, this year with writers from Paul Toutonghi’s Advanced Fiction Workshop. The Frank Manor House, 7 p.m., free.
Wednesday 4/23: Katie Safford hosts the William Stafford Centennial Celebration. Writers Tim Barnes, Katie Radditz, and Dennis Cunningham join Stafford in reading selections of William Stafford’s works. Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
