The annual Risk/Reward Festival is here, with a jam-packed lineup of new performance art. Unlike most art fests, Risk/Reward's lineup is selected by a panel of local artmakers... from proposals, not finished products—and the selection committee often doesn't see the end-product until we do. Which means every performance is guaranteed to be a surprise. I talked to the festival's director about how weird/cool that is:

When we talked earlier this week, Producing Artistic Director Jerry Tischleder admitted that selecting submissions sight unseen can be "kind of terrifying," but there's an upside to it as well. With each festival, Tischleder says he's able to identify "tiny little tangible moments where you get these little ripples between the works."

Portland's Future Tense Books' newish ebook imprint, Instant Future, is killing it. Their latest, Starvation Mode, comes from Seattle writer Elissa Washuta. Katie Pelletier sunk her teeth into a book that appears—at first, deceptively—to be a traditional food memoir:

Organized into sections or "rules," like a diet manual, the narrative traces a shifting and anxious relationship with eating. Rules and conclusions abound, and some can seem too typical of food-issue memoirs. And yet, in the slippery quality of these insights, we sense something bigger is coming. Washuta does not deal in easily digestible revelations.

Another small press, Two Dollar Radio, just released Colin Winnette's latest, Haints Stay, which Suzette Smith loved—and, should there be a film version, she wants Lars von Trier to direct. This is maybe why?

The cinematic quality to this work is undeniable and there's a coolness that reminds me of Cormac McCarthy—but I like this more than McCarthy. Winnette offers a philosophical meatiness to gnaw on as his characters cross, double back, and re-cross the unnamed terrain. They recover their old battle sites but fail to learn from their past blooms of violence. Like I said, short memories.

In other art news: Ta-Nahesi Coates' latest, Between the World and Me, came out ahead of schedule this week (review forthcoming), and I'm still really confused about the new Archie. Read all about it! (And please tell me if you think new Archie looks like the blonde one from One Direction.)