Blogtown, PDX

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Books Readings! Listenings! Talkings!

Posted by Alison Hallett on Thu, Jun 19 at 2:20 PM

Why is everything happening tonight? I just want to go see Frightened Rabbit. (Is anyone else absolutely having a relationship with The Midnight Organ Fight?)

But I can’t. Because:

1. Inspired by San Francisco’s Porchlight, the Back Fence PDX storytelling series commences tonight. Because Melissa Lion is hard to say no to, I will be participating. When I get nervous, I pee. It should be good.
Tour de Crepes, 2921 NE Alberta, 473-8657, $7

2. There’s a new “literary convergence” in town: The Unwin-Dunraven Literary Ecclesia (gulp) tonight presents readings from Bethany Ides and Emily Kendal Frey, with music from Old Time Relijun’s Arrington de Dionyso. It’s the second quarterly event for the series, with plans to eventually evolve into a full-fledged small press—and the name, UDLE founder Garrett Strickland explained to me, is a Borges reference. What, you didn’t get it?
Funky Church, 2456 SE Tamarack, 7 pm, $5-12 sliding scale (“includes a free chapbook of previously unpublished work by the writers featured the night of the event, as well as free wine, beer, and light snacks.”)

3. DIY, Portland Listening Party at the Waypost. Tonight’s topic: gender expression. “Can gender be a DIY project?” I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that the answer is YES.
Waypost, 3120 N Williams, 7 pm, FREE

4/5. Saša Stanišić is reading at Powell’s Cedar Hills, 7 pm; John Price at Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 pm. These are both great-sounding readings: What I’ve read of John Price’s goofily titled memoir Man Killed by Pheasant and Other Kinship is surprisingly funny, while Stanišić’s How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone has gotten some good reviews. (Read an excerpt here.)

Seriously, literary types? Start a phone tree or something. This is too much for one night to handle.

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Neil Diamond After canceling his September performance in Portland, Neil Diamond is back and ready to blow us out of our seats! Fine, maybe he won’t “blow us,” but I bet he’ll come to the stage locked and loaded with hits such as “Cherry, Cherry,” “Sweet Caroline,” and “I’m a Believer.” And does anybody remember “Heartlight”? I do! WSH Rose Garden, 1 Center Court St., $55-120, 8:00 PM Universal Blobhand with Sumi Ink Club, Josh Orion Kermiet, and ERock This month, Stumptown’s downtown location boasts an impressive roster of artists. Local artist and electronic musician ERock returns to oils for a group of enormous psychedelic paintings, while fellow Portlander Josh Orion Kermiet presents a series of intricately collaged Xeroxes and ink drawings of castles and caves. If that weren’t enough, Stumptown will also be showing work by L.A.’s Sumi Ink Club: Sarah Anderson and Luke Fischbeck, who record experimental music as Lucky Dragons. Stumptown Coffee (Downtown), 128 SW 3rd Ave., Jon Raymond: Livability Portlander Jon Raymond wrote the short stories on which the films Old Joy and the recent Michelle Williams vehicle Wendy and Lucy are based. The stories in his collection Livability are, like those films, understated and captivating, full of quiet insights. Forget Chuck Palahniuk—Raymond is the local author you should be reading. AH Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7:30 PM

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