“We Have to Create Alternative Habitats for Writers”
Lidia Yuknavitch on the future of literature and art in Oregon and beyond. Interview by Alex Behr.
Not a Circle, Not a Line
Susan DeFreitas writes about Ursula K. Le Guin's long view of the American West
Consider This with Omar El Akkad
A live conversation with the author of American War and What Strange Paradise.
UPDATED: Consider This with Omar El Akkad
Join us for an onstage conversation with Omar El Akkad, author of American War and What Strange Paradise. This event is part of our 2022 Consider This series, American Dreams, American Myths, American Hopes.
Due to the current rise in COVID cases, we have canceled the in-person portion of this event. The conversation will be streamed live on YouTube. Click here to watch.
Consider This with Mitchell S. Jackson
Join us for a conversation on family, self-determination, and redemption with the author of Survival Math and The Residue Years.
Consider This with Mitchell S. Jackson
Join us for a live virtual conversation with the author of The Residue Years and Survival Math and winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.
Mad
An excerpt from Emilly Prado's forthcoming essay collection, Funeral for Flaca.
The Crowd Might Cover You
Recollections of finding anxiety, kindness, and community on the streets of Portland
Steelhead
An excerpt from Tina Ontiveros's memoir, rough house.
Dear Stranger
Dear Stranger is a letter-exchange project that connects Oregonians through the mail to share experiences, beliefs, and ideas. Send your letter by February 28 to participate.
Resume of Failures—2011
Kim Stafford writes about the stories of struggle, insecurity, and loss behind his accomplishments in the 2011 “Fail” issue.
Think & Drink on Today's Media Challenges
Local journalists will talk about the need for media literacy in these days of political divisiveness, social media, and national debates about truth. This panel discussion features Cathy Noah, former editor of the Medford Mail Tribune, and Geoffrey Riley, producer for Jefferson Exchange, among others. This event is cosponsored by Oregon Humanities.
If You've Made It This Far
An excerpt from Don Waters' memoir These Boys and Their Fathers
Think & Drink on Accessible Cities
A Think & Drink conversation exploring ideas about creating walkable spaces, reducing the demand for cars, what makes a great public space, and how to work toward implementing these ideas. Click here to learn more about this event. This event is presented in partnership with Jackson County Library, the City of Medford, and the Friends of the Medford Library.
Think & Drink with Rich Benjamin
Join Rich Benjamin, author of "Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America," for a conversation about community, belonging, social values, and the state of whiteness in America. This event is cosponsored by Oregon Humanities.
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Although Census data show Oregon’s population becoming more racially diverse, the state remains one of the whitest in the nation. Many Oregonians value racial diversity and the dimension and depth it adds to our lives, yet we remain largely isolated from one another and have yet to fulfill the vision of a racially integrated society. Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era. What does the racial integration of place require of us, and how might we prepare to create and embrace this opportunity?
Airlie Poetry Night
Airlie Press, a nonprofit publisher, is hosting a free, public, open poetry event at Devil's Den Wine Bar in the Alberta Arts District as part of the Association of Writers and Publishers (AWP) conference. This event is family-friendly, all-ages, and open to anyone interested in reading their work. The event will also featured notable local writers.
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Although Census data show Oregon’s population becoming more racially diverse, the state remains one of the whitest in the nation. Many Oregonians value racial diversity and the dimension and depth it adds to our lives, yet we remain largely isolated from one another and have yet to fulfill the vision of a racially integrated society. Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era. What does the racial integration of place require of us, and how might we prepare to create and embrace this opportunity?
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Although Census data show Oregon’s population becoming more racially diverse, the state remains one of the whitest in the nation. Many Oregonians value racial diversity and the dimension and depth it adds to our lives, yet we remain largely isolated from one another and have yet to fulfill the vision of a racially integrated society. Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era. What does the racial integration of place require of us, and how might we prepare to create and embrace this opportunity?
Our Most-read Stories of 2018
Our readers' favorite articles and videos from the past year explore stories of identity, place, and belonging.
Think & Drink with Omar El Akkad
The 2018–19 Think & Drink series on Journalism and Justice continues with a conversation with reporter and novelist Omar El Akkad, author of American War.
"Poetry Builds Community"
Kim Stafford is Oregon’s ninth Poet Laureate.
Black History Month Film Series: "I Am Not Your Negro"
Self Enhancement, Inc. presents Raoul Peck's film I Am Not Your Negro, followed by a panel discussion with Aisha Karefa-Smart, a niece of James Baldwin, and Darrais Carter, assistant professor of Black studies at Portland State university. This program is made possible in part by a Responsive Program Grant from Oregon Humanities.
Read. Talk. Think.
Things that make you say O. Hm.
Sarah Shulman: Reading <i>Conflict Is Not Abuse</i>
This free, facilitated reading group is part of PICA's World AIDS Day Program.
On Bearing Bad News
Robert Leo Heilman writes about trying and failing to save library services in Douglas County.
Think & Drink with Walidah Imarisha
A conversation on criminalization, poverty, prisons, harm, and systems of accountability within the US criminal justice system with writer and educator Walidah Imarisha.
Remembering Peter Sears
We were saddened to learn of the death of former Oregon Poet Laureate Peter Sears, who passed away July 20.
Unbuttoned into the Blow
Conversation Project leader, poet, and essayist Wendy Willis defends human fragility.
So to Speak
Novelist Laila Lalami on moving between languages to find her voice
The Long Boat
Talking about Dying facilitator Jenny Sasser reads Stanley Kunitz's poem "The Long Boat" in this animated video produced by Dan Sadowsky for Oregon Humanities.
The Rim of the Wound
Writer Wendy Willis's open letter to the students of Columbia University Multicultural Affairs Advisory Board, with a special note to her daughters.
Magazine Podcast: Fix
Jaimie Passaro talks about parenting through bipolar episodes with Oregon Humanities editor Kathleen Holt
Another Life
I think often of the taste of my grandfather's grapes and of the meat from my father's knife. An essay by Hanna Neuschwander
What's the Use?
Why bother with history? Why bother at all? An essay by Robert Leo Heilman
To Begin Is to Start
An excerpt from Spells, a novel-within-photographs
In Defense of Navel-Gazing
To understand the world, we must first understand ourselves. An essay by Jay Ponteri
The Thing with Feathers
Joanna Rose on a writer's road trip gone wrong
Posts
Readers write about "Me"
Imaginary Metropolis
What do the cities of science fiction books and films say about the way we perceive the cities we live in? An essay by Dan DeWeese
What It Means to Say Portland
Mitchell S. Jackson on the experience of growing up Black in North and Northeast Portland.
A Region by Any Name
From Ecotopia to Cascadia Megaregion, visions of the Pacific Northwest have been secessionist in nature. An essay by Carl Abbott
One Giant Step
Coming of age during the hopeful days of American space exploration. An essay by Dmae Roberts
Burning Bushes
When it comes to attention-getting spectacles, God is no longer the only game in town. An essay by Dan DeWeese
An Anecdotal Glossary of Spectacle
M. Allen Cunningham sorts through our landscape of scandal, show, and distraction
After the Fall
Somewhere beyond fate and reason, the real work of being human begins. An essay by John Holloran
Résumé of Failures
The stories of struggle, insecurity, and loss behind a successful writer's accomplishments. By Kim Stafford
Laughing Into the Abyss
The existential howl of Jewish American humor. By Scott Nadelson
The Artist as Worker
Rilke would never have understood the current desire to merge commerce and creativity. An essay by M. Allen Cunningham
Go Ahead and Look
In praise of forbidden looking. An essay by Scott Nadelson
Just Look and Read
Can photography make a poem more accessible? By Henry Hughes and Paul S. Gentry
Here, Not There
A wife looks to the Greeks when her husband is called away to war. An essay by Sarah Gilbert