The Archive Project

This episode of The Archive Project features a panel discussion of modern masterpieces in a classic genre: the intergenerational family epic. In a conversation recorded live at the 2019 Portland Book Festival, authors Karl Marlantes, Elizabeth McCracken, and Daniel José Older—with moderator Maria Russo of the New York Times —discuss how the themes of their latest works, including ancestry and...

In this episode, we feature poet Robert Bly who came to Portland as part of our Poetry Downtown series in 2006. Born in 1926, Bly is considered one of the legends of contemporary poetry.  He is not only the author of more than 30 collections of poems, he has also written many works of nonfiction, and, crucially, he introduced many unknown European and South American poets to a U.S. audience throug...

Toni Morrison begins her lecture by saying she wants to discuss two of her books in particular— Beloved (1987) and Jazz (still forthcoming at the time)—and the progression of her writing. She considers the impact of history on both novels. In discussing Beloved , Morrison touches on the pornography of writing about violence as a voyeur and how she worked to keep the focus on the characters themsel...

This episode of The Archive Project , features a panel discussion between authors Casey Cep, Lara Prescott, and moderator Pamela Paul of The New York Times , from the 2019 Portland Book Festival. Cep and Prescott are both New York Times best selling debut authors who have drawn inspiration from famous figures in literary history. Cep’s nonfiction book, Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Tr...

In this episode of The Archive Project , Malcolm Gladwell joins Literary Arts executive director, Andrew Proctor, for an onstage discussion at the 2019 Portland Book Festival. Gladwell shares his latest book, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know , which is a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers—and why they often go wrong. As a writer, Gladwel...

In this episode of The Archive Project , Amor Towles discusses his celebrated second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow , in front of a live audience in Portland, Oregon. In the talk, Towles shares the creative origins of the novel and treats the listener to a lively lesson on Russian history and, in particular, the history of the landmark Metropol Hotel. A Gentleman in Moscow begins in 1922, when Count...

Ta-Nehisi Coates, National Book Award-winning author of bestselling nonfiction titles Between the World and Me , The Beautiful Struggle , and We Were Eight Years in Power , shares from and discusses his debut novel, The Water Dancer , with fellow writer Renée Watson. The Water Dancer explores the story of Hiram Walker, a gifted young man born into bondage on a plantation in the American South. In...

In this episode, The Atlantic staff writer George Packer discusses his recent biography, Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century . Richard Holbrooke, a diplomat and activist who served under numerous American presidents, has been described as a brilliant, utterly self-absorbed almost-great man who possessed almost inhumane energy and appetites. In this lecture, Packer detail...

This episode of The Archive Project features a conversation recorded live at the Keller Auditorium in Portland, Oregon between Margaret Atwood, acclaimed novelist, poet, literary critic, and activist, and Omar El Akkad. Atwood visited Portland to celebrate the publication of The Testaments , the sequel to her acclaimed dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale , which was originally published in 1985. T...

Women who find themselves confined to wild places, trapped in a cell, by circumstance, by lack of means, by animals and men; and haunted by the past and present alike. The short stories in Lauren Groff’s  Florida  are set in a landscape of physical and environmental dangers, where panthers and snakes lie in wait and hurricanes brew; while personal crises of sex, loneliness, and rage thre...

This episode of The Archive Project features a special discussion between contributors to the new anthology,  New Poets of Native Nations,  with Trevino L. Brings Plenty, Laura Da’, Layli Long Soldier, and editor Heid E. Erdrich.  New Poets of Native Nations  gathers poets of diverse ages, styles, languages, and tribal affiliations to present the extraordinary range and power o...

Lindy West interviews Abbi Jacobson, about her life, career, and new book I Might Regret This: Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities, and Other Stuff,  a hilarious and poignant collection about love, loss, work, comedy, and figuring out who you really are when you thought you already knew. When Abbi Jacobson announced to friends and acquaintances that she planned to drive across the country...

This special episode of  The Archive Project  is broken up into three sections, each corresponding to a single event during Lit Crawl Portland 2018. Lit Crawl is an eclectic mix of literary events staged in nontraditional locations. From poetry readings in bars to literary trivia and karaoke in hotel lobbies, Lit Crawl seeks to unite readers and writers in a single night jam-packed with...

This conversation between chef Edward Lee and Sam Sifton, food editor for the New York Times , was from the Portland Book Festival in 2018. The Portland Book Festival 2019 schedule has just been announced! The Festival will take place on November 9 in downtown Portland. For more information about the author line up, schedule, and tickets visit:  literary-arts.org American food...

This humorous and personal conversation between renowned actor Tom Hanks and Parul Sehgal, book critic for the New York Times , was from the Portland Book Festival in 2018.  The Portland Book Festival 2019 line up has just been announced . The Festival will take place on November 9 in downtown Portland. For more information about the author line up, schedule, and tickets visit: literary-arts....

What is my story, and what is not my story? Jacqueline Woodson, acclaimed author of more than two dozen award-winning books for children and young adults, broaches this question in her 2019 lecture in Portland, Oregon. A highly personable and conversational Woodson discusses how her passion for writing began and grew from a young age. Through recollections from her own life and stories from her fa...

In this episode, we hear one of Oregon’s most celebrated authors, Barry Lopez, discuss his latest book of nonfiction called Horizon with Andrew Proctor, Executive Director of Literary Arts. The two discuss the themes behind his book, including the environmental crisis at hand. Pulling from 30 years of lived experience, Horizon defies category. It is not merely travel, science, or nature writing. I...

In this episode of The Archive Project , we celebrate Portland’s creative youth during the seventh annual Verselandia! poetry slam. This city-wide event features students from Parkrose, Roosevelt, Metropolitan Learning Center, Benson, Lincoln, Gresham, Sam Barlow, Franklin, Madison, Wilson, Jefferson, Grant, and Cleveland high schools competing for poetic glory. Verselandia! is the Grand Slam for...

In this episode, we honor two-time United States Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner W.S. Merwin. In November of 2008, Merwin joined Literary Arts downtown in the Newmark Theatre for an intimate Q&A session, followed by a reading from his 2005 National Book Award-winning collection, Migration . The collection features a combination of new poems and selected favorites from the course of his...

In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan joins us in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall for a lecture on the journey to her New York Times best seller Manhattan Beach . In her own words, Egan takes us through her research process for the novel—from the initial spark of intrigue and inspiration, through the many stories she uncovered along the way, and finally to the relationship...

Toni Morrison begins her lecture by saying she wants to discuss two of her books in particular— Beloved (1987) and Jazz (still forthcoming at the time)—and the progression of her writing. She considers the impact of history on both novels. In discussing Beloved , Morrison touches on the pornography of writing about violence as a voyeur and how she worked to keep the focus on the characters themsel...

In this episode of The Archive Project , American Book Award winning poet Martín Espada discusses his then most poetry collection, A Mayan Astronomer in Hell’s Kitchen . In this, his sixth collection, Espada has created a poetic mural. There are conquerors, slaves, and rebels from Caribbean history; the “Mayan astronomer” calmly smoking a cigarette in the middle of a New York tenement...

In this rare, vintage recording from the Literary Arts archive, world-renowned author, poet, and essayist John Updike reads from various poems as well as an essay at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the fall of 1988. Updike reads from his essay, “Getting the Words Out,” which meditates on his lifelong struggle with stuttering, as well as the nature of speech and communication. With sparkling,...

Civil rights leader DeRay Mckesson engages the Portland community in a timely conversation on culture, social justice, and politics. Drawing from his own experiences as an organizer, educator, and public official, Mckesson explores the issues of the day and discusses the subtle structures and inherent biases that impact our communities. The conversation examines the core themes of Mckesson’s upcom...

In this episode, Harvard professor, staff writer at The New Yorker , and  New York Times  bestselling author Jill Lepore discusses her newest work,  These Truths: A History of the United States . Cited as the most ambitious one-volume American history in decades, Lepore offers a magisterial account of the origins and rise of a divided nation, an urgently needed reckoning w...