Portland Book Events: April 5-11

From what I could find (please contact me if you have an event you would like me to add to this or future schedules), the local book events for the week of April 5, 2009 through April 11, 2009 are:

Sunday April 5-

The Joy Of Censorship (Central Library, @12:30pm): In his long-running, nationally acclaimed program, MAD Senior Editor Joe Raiola takes an illuminating, satiric and at times disturbing look at America’s most hotly debated First Amendment issues, including the dramatic effect of 9/11 on free speech. He sheds light on the endless arguments over banned books, movie rating, the FCC, the Patriot Act, Internet filters, flag burning, indecency, the true meaning of obscenity and more.

Raiola also traces MAD‘s unlikely and colorful history, from renegade publisher Williams Gaines’ historic showdown with the United States Senate over comic book censorship to MAD‘s emergence as a revolutionary satirical force.

The Joy of Censorship includes a one-of-a-kind slide presentation spotlighting many of MAD‘s most controversial, thought-provoking and outrageous covers and articles.

Poets Kathryn Cowles & Ely Shipley (Powells Books on Hawthorne, @4:00pm): Inspired by early-20th-century avant-garde, Kathryn Cowles’s first book of poetry, Eleanor, Eleanor, Not Your Real Name (Bear Star Press), won the 2008 Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize. In Boy with Flowers (Barrow Street Press), winner of the 2007 Barrow Street Press Book Prize, Ely Shipley maps the fragmented space of a transgendered self.

Spare Room Presents John Tipton, Beth Murray, & Brandon Shimoda (Concordia Coffee House, @7:30pm): John Tipton was the founder of the Chicago Poetry Project reading series in 2001. His first full-length collection, Surfaces, was published by Flood Editions in 2004; in 2008 Flood brought out his translation of the Ajax of Sophocles.

Beth Murray lives on the island of Alameda with her dog, Laney. Her new book, The Island, published by Second Story Books, is an invocation of her conversations with the Island and the animals who live there. Her other books include The Night’s Night from Noemi Press and Hope Eternity Seen on the Hip of a Rabbit from a+ bend. She works as homeopath for both people and animals, including those at the Oakland Zoo. In her practice she finds poetry.

Brandon Shimoda was born in North America. Texts and images chronicling the intervening years can be found in The Alps (Flim Forum Press, 2008) and The Inland Sea (Tarpaulin Sky Press, 2008), as well as in the pages of Boston Review, Denver Quarterly, Fence, jubilat, New American Writing, Peaches and Bats, West Wind Review, and elsewhere. He currently lives in North America, once again, where he works for Wave Books.

Monday April 6-

Shilpa Agarwal Book Signing (Annie Blooms Books, @7:00pm): Shilpa Agarwal will be signing copies of her debut novel, Haunting Bombay.

After her mother’s death crossing the border from Pakistan to India during Partition, baby Pinky was taken in by her grandmother, Maji, the matriarch of the powerful Mittal family. Now thirteen years old, Pinky lives with her grandmother and her uncle’s family in a bungalow on the Malabar Heights in Bombay. While she has never really been accepted by her uncle’s family, she has always had Maji’s love.

One day, as monsoons engulf the city, Pinky opens a mysteriously bolted door, unleashing the ghosts of an infant who drowned shortly before Pinky’s arrival and of the nursemaid who cared for the child. Three generations of the Mittal family must struggle to come to terms with their secrets amidst hidden shame, forbidden love, and a call for absolute sacrifice.

Nic Sheff Reading (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): In a voice that is raw and honest, Nic Sheff spares no detail in Tweak (Atheneum), the compelling, heartbreaking, and true story of his drug addiction, relapse, and recovery. “Difficult to read and impossible to put down” (Chicago Tribune), Tweak paints a picture of a person at odds with his past, his family, his substances, and himself.

Doug Fine Reading (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): In Farewell, My Subaru (Villard), NPR’s Rural Guy, Doug Fine, vows to give up modern conveniences to move to a ranch in New Mexico where he’ll grow all his own food — never mind that he has no practical experience or mechanical skills. This is both a hilarious account and an inspiring call to action for anyone who wants to live greener.

Hester Rumberg Reading (Powells Books on Hawthorne, @7:30pm): In 1993, Judith and Michael Sleavin and their two children set out to sail around the world. But one night, a freighter off the coast of New Zealand altered its course and changed everything. Hester Rumberg’s Ten Degrees of Reckoning (Amy Einhorn Books) is an account of the unbelievable yet true story of one family’s love and loss, and a remarkable woman who decided to live against all odds.

Tuesday April 7-

Title Raves: The Great Northwest (Central Library, @12:00pm): Celebrate your love of reading and local writers.  Join in a discussion about your favorite Northwest authors, what book you have read lately and why you liked it.  Leading off the discussion will be a panel of people known around town for their love of reading and books:

• Lono Waiwaiole, whose Wiley crime noir series takes place in Portland
• Dennis Stovall and Karen Brattain, publishers at PSU’s student-run Ooligan Press
• Jeff Baker, book editor, The Oregonian

Spring 2009 Release Party of The Spectrum (PSU Smith Memorial SU, Room 236, @12:30pm): The Spectrum, a new student publication at Portland State University will be unveiling its first issue, comprised of student submissions on issues concerning sex and gender equality, oppression, discrimination, and advocacy within the community.  You are invited to attend the release party that is currently scheduled to kickoff the 2009 Review with featured guest speakers, collaborators, supporters and FREE FOOD.

Rev. Charles Gordon Annual Lecture (UP Buckley Center, @4:00pm): Gordon’s lectures, Conversations with Fr. Charlie, aim to expose the community to the richness of Catholic literature. This year, he will highlight British novelist Evelyn Waugh, author of Brideshead Revisited, and whose biting humor mocked British aristocracy and high society for several decades in the 20^th Century. The title of Gordon’s talk is “The Church as One’s Foundation: The Spirituality of Evelyn Waugh, Catholic Novelist.”

The Joy Of Censorship (Midland Library, @6:30pm): In his long-running, nationally acclaimed program, MAD Senior Editor Joe Raiola takes an illuminating, satiric and at times disturbing look at America’s most hotly debated First Amendment issues, including the dramatic effect of 9/11 on free speech. He sheds light on the endless arguments over banned books, movie rating, the FCC, the Patriot Act, Internet filters, flag burning, indecency, the true meaning of obscenity and more.

Raiola also traces MAD‘s unlikely and colorful history, from renegade publisher Williams Gaines’ historic showdown with the United States Senate over comic book censorship to MAD‘s emergence as a revolutionary satirical force.

The Joy of Censorship includes a one-of-a-kind slide presentation spotlighting many of MAD‘s most controversial, thought-provoking and outrageous covers and articles.

Sage Cohen Offers Writing the Life Poetic Presentation (The Old Church, @7:00pm): Poetry is one of the great pleasures in life. And no one needs an advanced degree in creative writing to reap its rewards. Sage Cohen’s new book, Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry (Writer’s Digest Books) is packed full of captivating new ways to generate ideas and have fun with the writing process. In her “Writing the Life Poetic” workshop, Sage will share some of her favorite exercises and invite writers of all backgrounds to experience their life through a poetic lens. Participants will discover new ways to think and write about the subjects that interest them–and get inspired to start capturing those observations on paper immediately.

Sage Cohen is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry (Writers Digest Books, 2009) and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World. She writes four monthly columns about the craft and business of writing and serves as Poetry Editor for VoiceCatcher 3. Co-curator of a monthly reading series at Barnes & Noble, Sage teaches the online class Poetry for the People. Sage is publisher of the Writing the Life Poetic blog and zine; drop by and join in the conversation at www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com! To learn more about Sage, visit www.sagesaidso.com.

Two Judiths with Grace! (Broadway Books, @7:00pm): Grace Paley’s last book Fidelity – a beautifully designed poetry collection first published in cloth in March 2008, seven months after her death — has just been published in paperback. Offering some of her most personal work, this collection includes poems about family, friendship, aging, death, and her longtime homes in New York and Vermont. Join us tonight as two of her Portland friends, colleagues-in-poetry Judith Arcana and Judith Barrington, read poems from Fidelity, talk a bit about Grace, and read a few of their own poems. Through the magic of technology, hear Grace reading one of her best-loved poems.

April Henry Reading (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): In Fox News correspondent Lis Wiehl’s novel Face of Betrayal (Thomas Nelson), written with April Henry, three fiercely smart and justice-seeking women investigate the disappearance of a Senate page connected to a philandering politician.

Craft Circle Book Group (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): This month’s craft circle book group meets to discuss Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton. Bring your crafting supplies as we talk books and crafts the first Tuesday of each month. New members to the group are always welcome.

Ben Parzybok Reading (St. Helen’s Bookshop, @7:00pm): The Do Drop In Reading Group’s selection of “Couch” for April brings an evening open to all. Portland author Benjamin Parzybok will visit to discuss and sign his humorous debut novel that has quickly taken readers on a fun quest of self-discovery, secret histories, and unexpected revelations. The story features three guys taking their couch around Portland after a freak accident floods their apartment. Maybe it’s not just a couch…?

Alva Noë Reading (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): Alva Noë is one of a new breed of thinkers — part philosopher, part cognitive scientist, part neuroscientist — who are radically altering the study of consciousness by asking difficult questions and pointing out obvious flaws in the current science. Debunking the outmoded philosophies that rule the scientific study of consciousness, Out of Our Heads (Hill & Wang) is a fresh attempt at understanding our minds and how we interact with the world around us.

Book Release Party For Chelsea Martin (The Maiden, @8:00pm): Chelsea Martin is the author of Everything Was Fine Until Whatever, just released from Future Tense.  Come join her and special guests Matthew Simmons and Brandon Scott Gorrell to celebrate this collection of Chelsea’s stories, weird lists, art, and random small print distractions. Chelsea’s web site is www.jerkethics.com if you want to see more about her.

Wednesday April 8-

Lilian Faschinger Reading (UP Buckley Center, @4:00pm): Austrian writer Lilian Faschinger is a prolific author, poet, and translator. Faschinger typically incorporates into her works a rigorous critique of Austrian society and customs, as viewed from a woman’s perspective. She will read from her most recent work. Faschinger has written three novels, two radio plays, two volumes of short stories, a volume of poetry, and completed multiple translations from English-speaking authors. Her first novel “Die Neue Scheherazade” (The New Scheherazade, 1985) attracted considerable critical recognition. Her 2007 novel, “Stadt der Verlierer,” (Town Full of Losers), written in 2007, won the Friedrich Glauser Prize for best (German) crime novel of the year in 2008.

Presented by the University’s Foreign Languages Department. Free and open to the public.

Crystal Williams Reading (Milwaukie Ledding Library Pond House, @7:00pm): Crystal Williams, Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Reed College, was raised in Detroit, Michigan, and Madrid, Spain. Her poetry appears in magazines such as Luna, Fourth River, Callaloo, the Indiana Review, and in the anthologies: American Poetry: The Next Generation, Poetry Nation, Sweet Jesus, and Beyond the Frontier, among others. Ms Williams’ recent poetry collection entitled Lunatic received high praise: “Lunatic…gives us another glimpse of this fine artist’s keen eye for social nuance and her deep respect for oral tradition. Lunatic courageously roots out the underbelly of the human condition with humor, irony, and unflinching directness.”. She has been a featured reader at venues across the country including: The National Arts Club, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Sarah Lawrence College. Ms Williams was chosen by Marilyn Nelson for the 2009 Long Madgett Poetry Award and was short-listed for the Idaho Prize. She lives with her dog Oliver-a dog’s dog, a dog among dogs, the super duper top dog. They spend as much time as they can in Chicago, Illinois, roaming the lake front and keeping tabs on the stars.

Michael Dickman and Mary Szybist Reading (Barnes & Noble Vancouver, @7:00pm): Michael Dickman will read from his illuminating, acclaimed title End of the West. Mary Szybist, a professor at Lewis & Clark College, will be reading from Granted, her collection of poems that was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. We feature free Starbucks coffee and treats, hundreds of poetry titles on our shelves, and a wide-ranging open mic! Barnes & Noble Vancouver: 7700 NE 4th Plain Blvd.

Book Bags Book Group (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): This month’s women’s book group meets to discuss Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family by Lauren Kessler. New members to the group are always welcome.

Thomas E. Ricks Reading (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): Fiasco, Thomas E. Ricks’s #1 New York Times bestseller, transformed the political dialogue on the war in Iraq. The Gamble (Penguin Press), the story of General David Petraeus and the American military, reveals that many high-level officials were opposed to the 2003 invasion.

Richard Engeman presents The Oregon Companion (Annie Blooms Books, @7:00pm): What’s the connection between Ken Kesey and Nancy’s Yogurt? How about the difference between a hoedad and a webfoot? What became of the Pixie Kitchen and the vanished Lambert Gardens? Richard Engeman’s The Oregon Companion is an A-Z handbook of over 1000 people, places, and things.

VOICES Contemporary Lectures Presents Amy Dickinson (First Congregational Church, @7:30pm): Amy Dickinson is a syndicated advice columnist, penning the “Ask Amy” column, which appears in over 200 newspapers, including the L.A. Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Oregonian and The Washington Post. Dickinson made news around the country in 2003 when she was chosen to step into the void created by the death of legendary advice columnist Ann Landers. Under Dickinson’s stewardship, the advice column has come of age. In May 2007, Dickinson signed a two book deal with Hyperion for a novel and a memoir, to be titled The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter and the People Who Raised Them.

Loggernaut Reading Series (Mississippi Studios, @8:00pm): Loggernaut turns four! Please join us for an anniversary reading and concert on Wednesday, April 8th, at Mississippi Studios (3939 N. Mississippi) in Portland. Doors open at 7PM, show starts at 8PM. Admission is $10 and all proceeds go to benefit the work of Write Around Portland. We’ve got a terrific lineup: Carrie Brownstein, David J. Morris, and B.T. Shaw, with music by Lovers. Learn more about them here. The prompt for April is RISK. Please join us!

Thursday April 9-

Matthew Dickman and Endi Bogue Hartigan Reading (Reed College, Psychology 105, @6:30pm): Matthew Dickman’s first collection of poems, All American Poem, won the 2008 American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Prize in Poetry. His poems appear in Tin House, Clackamas Literary Review, Agni Online, and The New Yorker, among others. Endi Bogue Hartigan’s first book, One Sun Storm (Center for Literary Publishing at Colorado State University, 2008), was selected for the 2008 Colorado Prize for Poetry by poet Martha Ronk. A member of Reed’s Class of 1994, and an M.F.A. recipient from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Hartigan has lived primarily on the West Coast and Hawaii, and now works and lives in Portland, with her husband and son. For more information, visit the Visiting Writers website.

David Abel Reading (Cover to Cover Books, @7:00pm): David Abel is a writer, performer, and multidisciplinary artist, as well as an editor, bookseller, and curator/organizer. Born in Salt Lake City in 1956, he has lived in Utah, Florida, New York, California, New Mexico, and Oregon. As an undergraduate at Deep Springs College, Bard College, and New Mexico State University, he studied language, literature, and music; in 1984 he was a member of the first class to graduate from the interdisciplinary MFA program of the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, where he pursued studies in poetry, music, and video.

Abel was involved in the “downtown” literary and music communities in New York City in the 1980s, appearing often with composers and artists such as Jackson Mac Low, Franz Kamin, Charlie Morrow, and others. He edited the newsletter for the New Wilderness Ocarina Orchestra and assembled the book-and-media store for the 12th Annual International Sound Poetry Festival in 1980; opened and operated the Bridge Bookshop from 1987–89; and co-directed Granary Books gallery and shop in 1990–91. From 1994–96 Abel maintained Passages Bookshop and Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he also organized the Tangents Reading Series. In 1997, he moved to Portland, Oregon. In Portland, he has collaborated with many individuals and organizations on literary, music, film, theater, and intermedia projects. Abel was a member of the Four Wall Cinema Collective (2002–03), and is a founder and member of the Spare Room reading series (www.flim.com/spareroom), now in its eighth year.

Abel is the author of numerous chapbooks and artist’s books including Twenty- (Crane’s Bill Books), Let Us Repair (with Anna Daedalus; wax paper scissors), Black Valentine (Chax), and Threnos (with Katherine Kuehn). In the spring of 2007 he curated the exhibition By All Means: Artist’s Books and Objects for the New American Art Union (www.newamericanartunion.com), and produced and edited the collection of artists’ multiples that served as the catalogue of the exhibition. He has also contributed poems, essays, and reviews to magazines, anthologies, and exhibition catalogues.

Poetry Reading with VoiceCatcher (Looking Glass Bookstore, @7:00pm): Join VoiceCatcher poets for a National Poetry Month reading at Looking Glass. Featuring readings from the new anthology: VoiceCatcher 3! Poet line-up to be announced, so stay tuned…

Deadly Diversions Book Group (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): This month’s mystery book group meets to discuss From Doon with Death by Ruth Rendell. New members to the group are always welcome.

Travis Williams Reading (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): The first comprehensive guide ever written about this 200-mile-long body of water, Travis Williams’s The Willamette River Field Guide (Timber Press) is the story of Oregon’s earliest inhabitants, the connection between the river and the towns along its banks, the wildlife it supports, and the effects of alterations to its geography and ecology. Includes tips for more than a dozen riverside visits and trips.

The 12 Step Buddhist (Powells Books on Hawthorne, @7:30pm): In this refreshing look at the true reasons behind destructive, addictive behavior, Darren Littlejohn combines Buddhist wisdom with the traditional 12-step program, presenting a guidebook to inner peace and spiritual sobriety that is aimed at those for whom the traditional approach does not work. The 12-Step Buddhist (Beyond Words Publishing) provides wisdom and meditations that can help addicts truly find a deep, spiritual liberation from all causes and conditions of suffering — for good.

Friday April 10-

John Law Reading (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): The Space Between (Furnace Press) is a collection of three stories inspired by author John Law’s lifelong obsession with bridges. Part dreamscapes, part adventure tales, these narratives take the reader on an exploration of bridges to inspire their contemplation on a structural as well as metaphysical level.

Saturday April 11-

Bright Neighbor University — Randy White presents Lawns to Gardens (Powells City of Books, @11:00am): Bright Neighbor founder and Lawns to Gardens editor Randy White shows ways to thrive during times of economic and ecological duress. Learn about profitable startups that are perfect for urban entrepreneurs looking to start an earth-friendly business while helping the local economy.

Smorg Reading Series Presents Dan Fisher and Rodney Koeneke (The Waypost, @7:30pm): Please come out to The Waypost, 3120 N. Williams Ave., PDX, Saturday, April 11th at 7:30 pm to hear beautiful poems from Dan Fisher and Rodney Koeneke. This is Dan Fisher’s first trip to Portland. Rodney Koeneke’s new chapbook, Rules for Drinking Forties, will be launched!

DAN FISHER lives on the island in the East Bay. An island that has 4 bridges and a tunnel. He makes poems and some of them have appeared in Bay Poetics, Viz, Work, Cricket Online Review, Lament, and some other places too. He also makes collages under the name Fish Fishtofferson. He works for Upward Bound at Mills College in Oakland. He’s never been to Portland.

RODNEY KOENEKE is the author of the poetry collections Musee Mechanique (BlazeVOX, 2006) and Rouge State (Pavement Saw, 2003). A new chapbook, Rules for Drinking Forties, is just out from Cy Press. His poems have been included in Abraham Lincoln, Jacket, New American Writing, ZYZZYVA, and other publications, and in the anthologies Bay Poetics and the Flarf primer due out this fall. He lives in Portland, where he curates the Tangent Reading Series with poets Kaia Sand and Jules Boykoff. This reading will be the Portland launch for Rules for Drinking Forties.

Poems and Physics: Live Wire! Starts Year Six (Aladdin Theater, @7:30pm): Live Wire! Radio begins its sixth year on April 11 at the Aladdin Theater. Featuring guests for both the right (a physicist) and left (a poet) brain, the show promises to be a well-rounded entertainment experience — no matter which hand you write with.Science Channel host Michio Kaku will discuss his latest book, “The Physics of the Impossible,” with Portland author Daniel H. Wilson (“The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame”).

Anis Mojgani is a superhero in the Slam Poetry world. His emotionally and physically energetic performances have transfixed audiences and earned him the title of 2007 World Cup Poetry Slam Champion.

Kill Rock Stars’ Americana band Horsefeathers brings music from their 2008 release “House With No Home.” Built around songs by Justin Ringle, the sound coming off this collection of musicians is warm and simmering, with just a hint of nostalgia.

Run on Sentence avers that it can be a one-man show or a 12-piece extravaganza, depending on who’s in the room. …Dustin Hamman, and with his rotating cast of stellar players he produces songs that combine folk with almost everything else. They will perform music from “Oh When the Wind Comes Down,” their 2008 CD that calls itself a “fable.”

In addition to these fabulous guests, look for original sketch comedy from Faces For Radio Theater, music from Ralph Huntley and the Mutton Chops, and host Courtenay Hameister.

Live Wire! is an independently produced radio variety show recorded in front of a theater audience at the Aladdin Theater in Portland and broadcast on Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). The show includes original sketch comedy, illuminating interviews and local and national musical guests. Show dates and podcasts are available at livewireradio.org .

Please note: Tickets ($20 general admission, $30 reserved seating) are available at the Aladdin Theater box office or through Ticketmaster.

Here are links to the community calendars for the Tri-County area Libraries (there are a phenomenal amount of events held at our local libraries, we should count ourselves lucky): Washington County, Multnomah County, Clackamas County