The Archive Project

In this episode, we feature a conversation with Michael Lewis from the 2023 Portland Book Festival. Lewis is one of the most accomplished and celebrated writers of nonfiction at work today. He is the author of 17 books of nonfiction including Liar’s Poker , Moneyball , the Big Short and Flashboys . All his books are about unconventional people doing extraordinary things, usually behind the scenes....

This week, we’re reaching way back into our archive to feature a talk from Pulitzer Prize winning writer Annie Dillard’s special event in 1989.  We’re broadcasting this talk now to celebrate her incredible contribution to American literature, as she passed away in September 2026 at the age of 81. When Annie Dillard won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975, she was the youngest woman ever to do so. She won f...

The City of Portland is engaged in a national dialogue about public art, history, monuments, and memorials. With support from the Mellon Foundation, the Portland Monuments Project is a multi-year project with the goal of deciding on the future of seven monuments that were damaged, toppled, or removed following demonstrations in Portland in 2020-2021. Portland Monuments Project aims to foster publi...

The City of Portland is engaged in a national dialogue about public art, history, monuments, and memorials. With support from the Mellon Foundation, the Portland Monuments Project is a multi-year project with the goal of deciding on the future of seven monuments that were damaged, toppled, or removed following demonstrations in Portland in 2020-2021 by fostering public dialogue  to reimagine and t...

The City of Portland is engaged in a national dialogue about public art, history, monuments, and memorials. With support from the Mellon Foundation, the Portland Monuments Project is a multi-year project with the goal of deciding on the future of seven monuments that were damaged, toppled, or removed following demonstrations in Portland in 2020-2021 by fostering public dialogue  to reimagine and t...

This week features a conversation on humor in fiction featuring two masters of the genre: Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things and, most recently, Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One, the story of a lesbian clown navigating life, love, and art in Florida; and Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins and, most recently, So Far Gone, about a journalist living off the grid who is forced back into...

In this urgent presentation, strategist and democracy defender  Scot Nakagawa , co-founder of the  22nd Century Initiative , makes the case that artistic freedom is not a cultural amenity but democratic infrastructure. It is the most sensitive indicator we have of the health of a free society. Drawing on the historical record from Nazi Germany to contemporary Hungary, and on the latest research on...

Each year, Portland youth spend months writing and competing in poetry slam competitions on high school campuses across the city. Each April, about 20 finalists compete for the title of city-wide Portland slam champ at Verselandia!, in front of an audience of nearly 1,000. The 2026 Verselandia! competition returns to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Thursday, April 30 at 7 pm. For more informa...

Every year, the Multnomah County Library chooses one book they hope the whole city will read. Between January and April, the Library, and their partner organizations, host events based around the themes of the book, and they distribute thousands of free copies—thanks to the Library Foundation—to readers of all ages from across the county. At Literary Arts, our role is to bring the author to town f...

In the words of the Los Angeles Times, “A new book by (Patrick Radden) Keefe means drop everything and close the blinds; you’ll be turning pages for hours.” Keefe is an award-winning investigative journalist, a staff writer at the New Yorker, the creator of a popular podcast, and the author of six books, including the bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain, and Say Nothing . “When I go out looking for...

In this episode we feature one of the giants of story telling and of long form journalism, Tracy Kidder. Kidder passed away at the age of 80 in March 2026, and so we are sharing this recording from 2011 as a way for us to celebrate his life and work, and all that he has given to readers. Spanning over 50 years, Kidder’s career began at the Iowa Writers Workshop where he enrolled in 1974 after mili...

This week we are bringing you a conversation that Literary Arts hosted in October 2025 with historian and political philosopher Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny , who spoke about his book On Freedom with Literary Arts executive director – and co-host of this show – Andrew Proctor. Timothy Snyder is the author of several books including Bloodlands and The Road To Freedom , as well as numerous a...

Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, three short story collections and several works of nonfiction. He has written countless articles, plays, an opera libretto and a collection of poetry, and been a finalist for the Booker Prize multiple times He is perhaps best known for his novel Brooklyn , which was made into a movie that was nominated for three Oscars. Set in the middle of the 20th cent...

In this episode, we feature the beloved Irish novelist Emma Donoghue, in conversation with OPB’s Crystal Ligori, from the 2025 Portland Book Festival.  Emma Donoghue has extraordinary range, writing for the screen, and the stage, as well as authoring many acclaimed novels. Her international bestseller Room was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth...

Jill Lepore is a Harvard professor and contributing writer to the New Yorker. Her books include  The Secret History of Wonder Woman ,  New York Burning ,  These Truths: A History of the United States , and her latest,  We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution  – and instant New York Times bestseller.    This year is the semi-quincentennial of the United States of America and, as Lepore po...

If you like Heated Rivalry – if you don’t, you’re the only one, but anyway – if you like Heated Rivalry and want more queer romance but wish it had more wine, we’ve got the books for you. This week’s conversation is features queer romance at the 2025 Portland Book Festival, with authors Jasmine Guillory, Adib Khorram, and moderator Anita Kelly. Jasmine Guillory is the New York Times bestselling au...

In this episode of The Archive Project , we feature a discussion on late writer Ursula K. Le Guin’s legacy of pacifism and environmentalism. Our moderator is Theo Downes-Le Guin, Ursula’s son and literary executor. Theo is in conversation with Oregon-based writers Juhea Kim, author of the novel Beasts of a Little Land , a finalist for the 2022 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and Michelle Ruiz Keil, a...

Stacey Abrams is probably best-known as a politician and political organizer; she the first Black woman in U.S. history to become the gubernatorial nominee of a major political party. Abrams has launched multiple nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies, with a longstanding focus on voter registration and voters’ rights.         What you might not know is that Abrams has published 17 books...

This episode, we bring you Marjane Satrapi. She gave this talk on April 7, 2008, just about one year after the film adaptation of her comic Persepolis had been featured at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature. Sastrapi’s death was announced on June 4, 2026. President Emmanual Macron of France said in the announcement, “Her passing marks the loss...

We’re taking it back to the 2025 Portland Book Festival this weekend, with poets m. mick powell and Taylor Byas, and moderater Jae Nichelle.   Taylor Byas’s second collection, Resting Bitch Face, uses watching and surveillance to explore Black female subjectivity. Byas engages with multiple art forms — painting, film, sculpture, and photographs – to explore the perspectives of artist and mus...

In this episode we feature one of the giants of story telling and of long form journalism, Tracy Kidder. Kidder passed away at the age of 80 in March 2026, and so we are sharing this recording from 2011 as a way for us to celebrate his life and work, and all that he has given to readers. Spanning over 50 years, Kidder’s career began at the Iowa Writers Workshop where he enrolled in 1974 after mili...

The City of Portland is engaged in a national dialogue about public art, history, monuments, and memorials. With support from the Mellon Foundation, the Portland Monuments Project is a multi-year project with the goal of deciding on the future of seven monuments that were damaged, toppled, or removed following demonstrations in Portland in 2020-2021. Portland Monuments Project aims to foster publi...

The City of Portland is engaged in a national dialogue about public art, history, monuments, and memorials. With support from the Mellon Foundation, the Portland Monuments Project is a multi-year project with the goal of deciding on the future of seven monuments that were damaged, toppled, or removed following demonstrations in Portland in 2020-2021 by fostering public dialogue  to reimagine and t...

In the words of the Los Angeles Times, “A new book by (Patrick Radden) Keefe means drop everything and close the blinds; you’ll be turning pages for hours.” Keefe is an award-winning investigative journalist, a staff writer at the New Yorker, the creator of a popular podcast, and the author of six books, including the bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain, and Say Nothing . “When I go out looking for...

The City of Portland is engaged in a national dialogue about public art, history, monuments, and memorials. With support from the Mellon Foundation, the Portland Monuments Project is a multi-year project with the goal of deciding on the future of seven monuments that were damaged, toppled, or removed following demonstrations in Portland in 2020-2021 by fostering public dialogue  to reimagine and t...