Learning & Tech

James Spooner joins PAM CUT for a screening of his film Afro-Punk, followed by an author talk for his new book It Starts With Anger. Books will be available for sale on site.

It Starts With Anger is a coming-of-age graphic memoir exploring race, identity, and rebellion through James Spooner’s teenage years in 1990s New York into his young adulthood in the early 2000s. Confronted with systemic racism, microaggressions, and Nazi extremism within punk spaces, Spooner traces how reactionary anger evolved into a creative force and a path to self-determination, along the way following the founding of the Afro-Punk movement, his eventual decision to leave the company, and an ongoing raw examination of the tensions between underground culture and mainstream success.

While not a traditional graphic memoir, It Starts With Anger combines black-and-white, zine-inspired visual elements including photos, illustrations, and cartoon panels with traditional narrative in a unique package that recounts the story behind Afro-Punk. James Spooner has not talked publicly about his reasons for quitting Afro-Punk previously, and the book is a damning indictment of its corporatization. But more importantly, it also offers a look at issues of Black identity, representation, and the lack thereof in a movement that had often prided itself on allyship, while being completely myopic to all the ways it fell short in that regard as a scene that was ironically both liberating and alienating for the Black people drawn to it.

ON SCREEN: Afro-Punk

2003. Directed by James Spooner. Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes.

This film, which many may assume is a historical punk documentary, is actually an honest and needed treatment of race and identity. Punk and Hardcore music are simply the microcosm in which it is told. First-time director, James Spooner, in telling this story, has opened new dialogues on these crucial subjects both intra- and interracially. Many times funny, sometimes sobering, a wake-up call to America. An examination of the duality of racial identity that DuBois called “double consciousness.” What could have been “The Bad Brains Story” is a story about kids, alienated by two cultures and two communities. Many of these punk and hardcore kids have never questioned their role in the punk scene or the black community until their interviews, and it’s obvious as they struggle on camera to reconcile a fragmented self.

This program is co-presented by Literary Arts as part of the Cover-to-Cover program.

Black Arts PDX is a display of ephemera and an extended documentary trailer that foregrounds the history of the Black visual arts community in Northeast Portland. Curated by Dr. Kiara Hill, this rotating installation sheds light on the practices of key figures who were instrumental in shaping the perception of Black arts and culture in Portland. Whether utilitarian or decorative, these materials highlight ways Black artists sought to beautify the city and utilize their technical skills to address the needs of Black people. Black Arts PDX stems from a collaboration between Dr. Hill and Cultural Bearers Archive, Inc., on an archival project dedicated to preserving the unique lived experiences of Black artists and cultural workers in Portland.

CREATE SPACE is an interactive environment within the Black Art & Experiences (BAE) galleries that invites visitors to slow down, reflect, and respond. Designed as a rest area, reading room, art studio, and community gathering space, it supports connection, creativity, and dialogue. Through artist-led programs, hands-on activities, and quiet areas for reading or reflection, visitors can engage with the Black Art and Experiences gallery in a personal, generative way. This first year, CREATE SPACE is activated alongside Conductions: Black Imaginings II, which centers Black performance art and its archives. Both spaces emphasize process — research, writing, improvisation, and experimentation — as essential to the creative journey.

Sticking together through thick and thin, sisters Lucy and Frida decide it is time to explore what lays beyond the family farm after catching glimpses of a two fanged monster wreaking havoc at night in Daniel Nayeri’s newest graphic novel The Bizarre Bazaar: Down a Dark Path. In Ghost Guild: The Lost Threeby Annie Barrows we meet Genie, Fenella, and Tillotson Maconochie as they begin their journey as ghosts. Without a copy of Ghostology the Maconochie siblings are led astray and find themselves trapped by a notorious swindler. Joined by moderator Shana Targosz both authors come together to discuss their beautifully illustrated new works about family and unexpected journeys.

A wickedly entertaining supernatural story about three siblings finding their way in the world as ghosts from the bestselling author of the Ivy and Bean series, Annie Barrows.

Everyone at the Ghost Guild knows how the afterlife is supposed to work. But something is amiss with the case of three siblings – Genie, Fenella, and Tillotson Maconochie – who are beginning their journey as ghosts in a highly irregular way. They haven’t even been issued their copy of the Ghostology, which would have helped them know how to stay out of trouble. It’s no wonder that they fall prey to the infamous swindler Serena Aster, and end up trapped in her mansion to do her evil bidding for eternity. When they discover that a young orphan is trapped with them, their desire to break free and find their greater ghostly purpose takes on new urgency.

In this page-turning, beautifully illustrated yarn, perfect for fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science readers will discover that at the end of their lives, the Maconochie siblings’ remarkable story is only just beginning.

Enter the Bizarre Bazaar, a phantasmagorical graphic novel series sure to enchant or entrap its curious customers! In this spine-tingling mystery, there’s evil lurking in the shadows just outside the Buford family farm!

Lucy and Frida Buford have never stepped foot outside their family farm in the Carolina Inner Banks. It’s the dead of July, and in the midst of yet another boring summer making jam for the family business, the girls are clamoring to be taken to the elusive town they’ve never been allowed to visit. Their father has always said that the outside world is a dangerous place, but danger is closer to home than they even know.

There’s something in the nearby woods uprooting trees, scaring fish from the water, and scratching at Lucy’s window in the middle of the night. Lucy can’t shake the feeling that there’s a monster out and about—one with two pointy fangs who only comes out at night.

It’s up to these two sisters to discover what this monster wants. But the further they stray from home, the weirder things become. What’s really going on beyond the Buford family farm?

Uncover the bizarre (and more!) in this sinister graphic novel series sure to bring chills and thrills!

Tickets $15. Are you ready to time travel back to the year 1990?! We're thrilled to present a documentary about a TV show called BUZZ, which aired in 1990 for one season on MTV as a "current affairs" show. Following the screening, there will be a moderated conversation and Q&A with Mark Pellington and Lance Bangs.

Join a special evening with trailblazing drag artist, activist, and political candidate Marti Cummings and Portland-based constitutional law professor and author Robin Maril. Before the film, Marti and Robin will sit down for a live conversation about queer representation, civic engagement, and the power of showing up for your community. The conversation will be moderated by Kyndall Mason of Basic Rights Oregon.

Following the conversation, stick around for Queen of New York, the acclaimed documentary following Marti Cummings’ groundbreaking 2020 campaign to become one of the first openly nonbinary members of the New York City Council. This evening also celebrates the launch of Robin Maril’s new book, A Queer Guide to Saving American Democracy. Copies will be available for purchase on site.

ON SCREEN: Queen of New York

2023. Directed by Emma Fidel. Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes.

Welcome to a different kind of drag race. As NYC emerges from the chaos of 2020, Marti Cummings (they/them), an audacious and big-hearted drag queen, goes all out in a historic bid to become a City Councilperson. It’s one of the most hotly contested Council races in years, and Marti’s strongest competitor is Shaun Abreu, a tenants’ lawyer with deep roots in the district’s Latinx community. As these first-timers race to do the most good for their Upper Manhattan neighbors, they offer very different visions for Democratic politics — one in a suit and tie, the other in combat boots and floral print. As this immersive documentary reveals, Marti’s passion inspires queer activists and allies to change the political system. Their campaign becomes a community of its own, especially for Marti’s non-binary peers who have never before seen themselves represented.

What happens to all the food we grow but never eat? And what can we do to change that?

Join Slow Food Portland for a special screening, followed by a community conversation exploring food waste and the local efforts working to address it.

In this thought-provoking documentary, filmmakers Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin challenge themselves to live for six months on food that would otherwise be thrown away. Along the way, they uncover the staggering amount of perfectly edible food wasted across our food system and the environmental, social, and economic consequences.

Following the film, we’ll bring together local panelists working in food recovery, sustainability, and food systems to discuss what’s happening here in Portland and how we can create a less wasteful, more equitable food system.

Whether you’re passionate about food justice, sustainability, or simply curious about reducing food waste, we hope you’ll join us for an evening of film, conversation, and community.

• Director: Jenny Rustemeyer & Grant Baldwin
• Year: 2014
• Country: United States
• Runtime: 75 minutes

Experience "Native Wisdom: The Peoples of Eastern Oregon," produced by Wisdom of the Elders, with a discussion led by Paiute/Shoshone artist, photographer, writer, musician and videographer Timothy Keenan Burgess. This thought provoking, illuminating film brings the foundational stories of the Pacific Northwest to the forefront of past, present, and future. A discussion will follow. Suitable for teenagers and older.

Join a very special Portland premiere of director Chad Brown’s new documentary Unseen: Invisible Wounds, Invincible Spirit. Taking place the week of Veterans Day, this film follows five veterans as they bike through two hundred miles of raw, unforgiving wilderness on a trail that asks everything of you and gives back something no clinic or desk job ever could. Following the film, director Chad Brown will be joined on stage for a Q&A about the film.

They came to Lakeview, Oregon, carrying things that don’t fit in a pack. Five veterans. Two hundred miles of raw, unforgiving wilderness. One trail that asks everything of you and gives back something no clinic or desk job ever could. Unseen begins at the edge of what most people call the end of the map Lakeview, Oregon, the last frontier, the quiet gateway to the Oregon Timber Trail; from that threshold, it launches something that can only be called a reckoning. This is not an adventure film. This is a document of survival, of spirits refusing to be broken, of invisible wounds meeting invincible will. Five veterans strap into their bikes and ride into the kind of silence that forces you to finally hear yourself. The cameras go with them. And what unfolds over volcanic plateaus, through alpine forests and ancestral lands, across a living corridor of history that stretches 600 miles from the California border to the Columbia River Gorge is something that will not let you look away. But Unseen is not only the story of these five riders. It is haunted by another story one America nearly buried. The Triple Nickel. The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion. America’s first Black smokejumpers, who were dispatched to Oregon’s forests during World War II on a covert mission called Operation Firefly protecting this very land from Japanese incendiary balloon bombs at a time when their country denied them the right to fight as combat soldiers overseas. They parachuted into burning forests to save a nation that had not yet decided to save them. Their bravery was classified. Their names, forgotten. Their sacrifice, erased. Today, as five veterans pedal through the same wilderness those men protected with their lives, their ghosts ride alongside. The Oregon Timber Trail becomes something more than a route. It becomes a corridor of memory. A long-overdue act of remembrance.

2026. Directed by Chad Brown. Runtime: 65 minutes.

Cascadia School will host a free screening of “Screenagers: Generation AI” from 1-3:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Vancouver Community Library’s Columbia Room at 901 C St., Vancouver. This is the fifth film from the team behind the acclaimed “Screenagers” documentary series. “Generation AI” captures the critical moment as AI reshapes young people’s relationships, learning and mental health. The film blends science and personal experiences, equipping parents, educators and policymakers with tools to shape how AI enters their schools and homes. After the screening, participants can share their thoughts about the film. RSVP at zeffy.com.

See full details at tomorrowtheater.org.

Climate change, especially in recent years, has escalated not only into a global environmental crisis but also into a highly intensified challenge in a time of political divides—often leaving one feeling overwhelmed and powerless. How can better conversations help move individuals, communities, and the planet toward collective solutions?

Called “one of the nation’s most effective communicators on climate change” by The New York Times, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, has an uncanny ability to navigate all sides of the conversation on climate. With a singular balance of scientific rigor and storytelling, patience and empathy, and an abiding adherence to her faith, Hayhoe is often able to reach audiences that other climate scientists have not been able to reach — demonstrating that by finding shared values, we can better connect our unique identities to collective action.

WorldOregon welcomes Katharine Hayhoe back to Portland for this rich conversation exploring how to incorporate climate change into both our public decisions and private conversations at a moment of urgency when climate action and environmental policy are at a crossroads.

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose work bridges climate science, risks, and resilience. As Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), she directs the organization’s global scientific strategy and leads a global community of more than 1,000 TNC scientists and science staff whose work underpins every aspect of TNC’s mission: from conserving lands and waters to developing scalable, science-based solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises.

Inspired by Crater Lake National Park, Michael Gordon’s Natural History weaves Native and symphonic music in this paean to the natural landscape. Plus, hear works by two of classical music’s most intrepid pioneers: Stravinsky’s experimental musical essay on wind and brass sounds, Symphonies of Wind Instruments,and Beethoven’s vivacious and dramatic Symphony No. 1. Oregonian Grace Miedziak enhances the program with a new work that celebrates the Pacific Northwest.

• Norman Huynh Conductor
• Steiger Butte Drum and Singers Native American ensemble
• Members of Portland State University Chamber Choir Ethan Sperry, Conductor
• Oregon Symphony

• STRAVINSKY Symphonies of Wind Instruments
• Michael GORDON Natural History
• Grace MIEDZIAK Cascadence (Rizzo-Cummings Emerging Composer Fellow at the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Symphony commission)
• BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21

This concert is part of Classical Series A, and is eligible for the Choose Your Own Series (Portland only). Concert length is approximately 1 hour 33 minutes, with one intermission.

This pre-concert talk takes place one hour before the Sunday matinee performance.

SUN, NOV 1, 1PM: Conductor Norman Huynh and Rizzo-Cummings Emerging Composer Fellow Grace Miedziak with All Classical Radio host Warren Black.

Lewis & Clark College Department of Music and Portland State University’s School of Music and Theater present an afternoon with Grammy Award-winning soprano Audrey Luna on Wednesday, November 4, 2026 from 3pm to 6pm in Evans Auditorium.

• Thursday, November 5
• The Heathman Lodge | 7801 NE Greenwood Dr., Vancouver
• Doors Open: 6:00 p.m. | Program Begins: 6:30 p.m.

Church of Art's collaborative neurographics is a mindfulness-based creative activity that provides therapeutic relaxation through intuitive mark-making on a grand scale. For this mindfulness-based collaborative art activity, Church of Art will cover a long row of tables with a roll of paper and acrylic paint pens in a variety of sizes and colors. Participants will move freely around the table, filling the paper with sweeping, colorful doodles to the sounds of calming music. The giant scale allows for whole-arm movements, which signal brains to move out of fight-or-flight mode and into a state of mental relaxation and improved focus. The collaborative aspect of this workshop teaches one to let go of perfection and expectation through shared creative exploration, while working large encourages greater freedom of expression.

Neurographic art is a relatively new form of focused, intentional mark-making that uses curved, bold lines, vibrant colors and calming patterns. Physician and neurographics practitioner Ruben Halperin, M.D., will be the guide, co-facilitating this workshop with artist and Church of Art founder, Erika Halperin.

Immerse yourself in this beneficial form of meditative doodling and experience the mood-boosting effect of creativity coupled with community gathering.

Using paper and acrylic markers. All materials and supplies are provided by the studio.

Tickets Include:

• 2 hours of guided creative exploration in a supportive, friendly environment with all supplies included.
• Light snacks and non-alcoholic beverages are included.
• That wonderful feeling of joy and connectedness that comes from a few hours of in-person artistic play with other adults.

Would you like to experience the finest expression of Scotch whisky produced today? Would you like to expand your knowledge of Scotch and the many styles and flavours that make up quality whisky? Do you love smoky whisky?!

Join The Scotch Malt Whisky Society for a rare single malt Scotch whisky tasting experience at The Scotch Lodge! Attendees will be among the first to taste six (6) unique single malts from our upcoming November Peated Outturn in a seated, guided tasting format designed to expand your knowledge and appreciation for Scotch whisky.

Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is the world’s largest whisky club of whisky lovers. More than just a club, the Society is known for offering the finest expression of Scotch whisky produced today. It acquires exceptional whisky casks from distilleries across Scotland and beyond. Each cask is then bottled and offered exclusively to its community of members through the Society’s online shop smwsa.com.

While Society whisky is available for purchase by members only, this event is open to anyone eager to taste and learn in the company of fellow whisky lovers. Members enjoy a reduced price for admission and all attendees who order tickets before 2pm PT on October 15th will get the early bird special pricing.

Slàinte Mhath!

Join an intimate evening featuring a pre-show discussion and Q&A with Soccer Mommy and special Guest Interviewer, followed by a local opener and solo performance by Soccer Mommy. This event is hosted by Papertrees Creative, in partnership with Literary Arts and the Portland Book Festival 2026.

Sophie Allison has always written candidly about her life, making Soccer Mommy one of indie rock’s most interesting and beloved artists of the last decade. Allison has used Soccer Mommy’s songs as a vehicle to sort through the thoughts and encounters that inevitably come with the reality of growing up. After all, Soccer Mommy began as a bedroom-to-Bandcamp exercise with teenage Allison posting her plaintive songs as demos. Over the years, though, she has often enhanced that sound, using the endless production possibilities, newly at her fingertips, to outstrip singer-songwriter stereotypes. The records would start with songwriting’s kernels of truth, and she would then imagine all the unexpected shapes they could take. Every Soccer Mommy record has felt like a surprise.

On Soccer Mommy’s fourth album, the tender but resolute Evergreen, Allison is again writing about her life. But that life’s different these days: Since making her previous album, 2022’s Sometimes, Forever, Allison experienced a profound and also very personal loss. New songs emerged from that change, unflinching and sometimes even funny reflections on what she was feeling. (Speaking of funny, this is a Soccer Mommy album, so there’s an ode to Allison’s purple-haired wife in the game Stardew Valley, too.) These songs were, once again, Allison’s way to sort through life, to ground herself. She wanted them to sound that way, too, to feel as true to the demos—raw and relatable, unvarnished and honest—as possible. The songwriting would again lead where the production would follow. Nothing overindulgent, everything real.

Featuring special guest Gary Hershberger (Mike Nelson) in person!

Joins us for the complete Twin Peaks series on the big screen for the first time in history! We continue our year-long celebration of the greatest TV show of all time The Missing Pieces. Rarely shown in theaters, this feature film presents deleted scenes from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me assembled together as an untold portion of the story’s prequel. Following a Q&A, we’ll then begin The Return with episodes “My Log Has a Message for You” and “The Stars Turn and a Time Presents Itself.”

Gary Hershberger will be signing autographs and taking photos with fans for an additional fee at the event.

A talk by Glynnis Fawkes.

How does a cartoonist go about adapting a work of history, specifically Eric H. Cline’s 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed? In this talk Fawkes will describe the process of interpreting Cline’s text in comics, an exercise during which she repeatedly asked herself how she might tell this story visually. Through page compositions and dramatizations in which historical figures (such as Ramses III) speak, she imagined characters for whom we have no record offering commentary and opinions. To guide the narrative, she introduced two new young characters, Pel (of the Sea Peoples) and Shesha, (an Egyptian scribe) who ask the central question of the book: Why after three prosperous centuries did the civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age suddenly come to an end?

Glynnis Fawkes is the co-author with Eric H Cline and illustrator of 1177 BC: A Graphic History of the Year Civilization Collapsed (Princeton University Press). She is also the author-illustrator of Charlotte Brontë before Jane Eyre (Little, Brown)and Persephone’s Garden (Secret Acres), among other books, and her comics have appeared on the website of The New Yorker. She has worked as an archaeological illustrator around the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean and teaches at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont.

Sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America and Reed's department of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies. Free and open to the public.

Broadway Books is thrilled to welcome Anthea Kreston with her debut memoir Crescendo: Chronicles of an Adventurous Violinist (Paul Dry Books, 2026). She will be joined in conversation with Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty and Immaculate Conception.

When American violinist Anthea Kreston, called “An Indomitable Spirit” by Yo-Yo Ma, is selected as the fourth member of Germany’s Artemis Quartet, it is the culmination of decades of dedication. In Crescendo, her enchanting and deeply personal memoir, Kreston writes about growing up in a well-to-do but difficult family in Chicago, leaving home at age sixteen, studying at the ultracompetitive Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (Hilary Hahn was a classmate), then burning out and leaving it all behind for a commune in Oregon.

November 4, 2026

Special Concerts

The Philip Glass Ensemble returns to Portland for Powaqqatsi, an artful cinematic experience that speaks to the impact of modernization and industrialization on traditional ways of living. Seen through the lens of communities across the globe, the narrative is amplified by compositions from Philip Glass that feature native, classical, and electronic instruments. Enjoyed alone or as the second in The Qatsi Trilogy, you won’t want to miss this thought-provoking performance from The Philip Glass Ensemble and conductor Michael Riesman.

po.waq.qa.tsi (from the Hopi language, powaq sorcerer + qatsi life) n., an entity, a way of life, that consumes the life forces of other beings in order to further its own life.

• Michael Riesman Conductor
• Members of Portland State University Chamber Choir Ethan Sperry, Conductor
• The Philip Glass Ensemble
• Oregon Symphony

This concert is part of the Special Concerts series, and is eligible for the Choose Your Own Series (Portland only). Concert length is approximately 1 hour 40 minutes. No intermission.

Concert begins promptly at the time listed.

Embark on a spooky voyage aboard the Explorer Jetboat to the famous Spirit of Halloweentown in St. Helens. Skip the hassle of driving, with the dock less than a block from the festivities. Along the way, a guide will share chilling tales of St. Helens and Portland's seedy past. Once ashore, you'll have about 4 hours to explore, including access to the paid attractions. Whether you're a fan of the iconic Disney movie “Halloweentown" or seeking Halloween family fun, this cruise has something for everyone.

Alexis Nikole Nelson, best known to millions of fans as Black Forager, invites you on an adventure to discover the delicious and wild foods hiding in plain sight. Alexis captivates people with her joyful enthusiasm and deep knowledge of foraging and inspires them to explore the bounty of their own backyards, parks, and trails, and now she does the same in her eagerly awaited first book.

Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! is a one-of-a-kind collection of recipes and foraging wisdom that teaches you how to turn common plants, flowers, and fungi into yummy, plant-based meals. This unique work is almost like two books in one—foraging plant guide and vegan cookbook—organized by season to guide you through a year of appetizing discoveries. In spring, you’ll learn to pickle Magnolia flowers and turn Japanese Knotweed into a refreshing granita. Summer is for frying up Milkweed Buds, making Juneberry Hand Pies, and crafting Rosewater Baklava. When fall arrives, you’ll be making savory mushroom dishes (a.k.a. chicken of the woods) like Maitake steak and bacon. And in winter, cozy up with Pine Shortbread Cookies and Oyster Mushroom Chowdah.

Unleash your child's talents while sharing quality time & craft activities. Develop concepts of shape, color & texture as together you create a variety of projects sure to please you both.

Ages: At least 2 but less than 6

Openings: 0

Join Erath and The Malarkey for a special evening that brings together two Oregon Originals. Hosted at chef Brian Malarkey’s downtown Portland restaurant, this winemaker dinner pairs seasonal cuisine with Erath wines for a one-night-only experience celebrating Oregon's flavors and spirit.

Throughout the evening, guests will enjoy a multi-course menu created by The Malarkey culinary team, thoughtfully paired with Erath wines selected to highlight the flavors, stories, and sense of place that define Oregon. Along the way, you’ll hear from Erath’s Head Winemaker Leah Adint and discover how a shared passion for hospitality, craftsmanship, and creativity continues to inspire both brands.

With limited seating, this is a rare opportunity to gather around the table for an unforgettable evening of food, wine, and Oregon tradition.

Join an essential lecture by the acclaimed Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath. Jared Cooney Horvath (PhD, MEd) is a neuroscientist, educator, best-selling author and expert in the field of human learning. His new book, The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kid's Learning - And How to Help Them Thrive Again, pulls back the EdTech curtain and explains the research showing how digital tools in the classroom consistently undermine learning. It also explains how parents, teachers and schools can push back with purpose.

As a leading expert in learning and technology, Jared testified before the US Senate on EdTech and is an internationally sought-after speaker.

Sponsored by the Institute for Families and Technology and OR Unplugged.

Young adult authors, Maggie Stiefvater (The Dream Thieves) and Isabel Cañas (The House of Gardenias) come together for a conversation on the hauntingly enchanted worlds in their latest releases. In the newest installment of the graphic novel iteration of The Raven Cycle, Stiefvater and adapter Sas Milledge bring the original text to life with rich illustrations and suspenseful panels. Like Stiefvater, Cañas expertly constructs a gothic world threatened by an unimaginable ancient power. Moderated by Alicia Tate, these authors discuss the mythical worlds they built and the characters that try to understand them.

The second book in Maggie Stiefvater‘s #1 NYT bestselling series The Raven Cycle, now gorgeously illustrated as a graphic novel!

Ronan Lynch is made of secrets. His longest kept one? He can pull impossible things out of dreams. It’s a secret that’s nearly killed him more than once. Waking the corpse road should have led Blue and the Raven Boys straight to Glendower, the Whelsh king rumored to be sleeping beneath the mountains of Henrietta. But instead, the forest of Cabeswater has disappeared, energy hums and sputters beneath the town, and the Raven Boys’ search is at a dead end.

Ronan’s dreams may be the key to finding Glendower, but none of the Raven Boys are prepared for what will be unleashed in Ronan’s desperate attempt to finally control his power. Reimagined as a stunning full-color graphic novel adapted and illustrated by Sas Milledge, Dream Thieves blurs the line between reality and nightmare until they are one and the same.

A debut gothic YA from the USA Today bestselling author of The Hacienda and The Possession of Alba Díaz Sixteen-year-old Minerva has endured hunger, violence, and unrest in a capital city inspired by colonial Mexico.

Determined to escape her father’s cruelty, she reinvents herself in a wealthy loyalist enclave, becoming lady’s maid to the formidable widow Encarnación del Valle.

For the first time, Minerva knows stability with regular meals, warm light powered by magical chispa, and a measure of protection. When a ruthless regime rises to power, the household withdraws to the del Valle family’s secluded estate, Casa de las Gardenias. There, amid resentful heirs and rigid social hierarchies, something far older than the nation’s turmoil waits in the shadows.

It’s a haunting, timely gothic novel that weaves Mexican history, class tension, and supernatural dread.

Portland Art Museum invites the community to join a Free First Thursday event, offering free admission to the museum for all, plus a Live Wire event as part of the Literary Arts Portland Book Festival. Visitors can take in the afternoon gallery pop-ups, the evening show, or both!

4:30 – 6 p.m. — Free, pre-show, pop-up performances will take place throughout the Museum’s galleries. Performers are poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle.

Free First Thursday tickets can be reserved online one week in advance and are also available at the door.

7 p.m. — Enjoy a fully seated, ticketed Live Wire taping hosted by Luke Burbank with announcer Elena Passarello, featuring a blend of interviews, comedy, and music performed live for the audience, then edited into an episode for broadcast to over 200 public radio stations nationwide. Performers are poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle. Doors will open at 6:30pm.

GA Tickets are $15. Preferred Seating is $40. Discounts available to Portland Book Festival passholders.

Dessa is a singer, rapper, and writer who fell in love with language as a toddler—and just never got over it. Now, she works in fields that traffic in words: she’s recorded rap bangers as part of the fiercely independent Doomtree collective, released a live album with the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra; contributed to The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler; delivered a TED Talk on the intersection of romance and neuroscience that’s notched more than 4 million views; hosted 2 seasons of behavioral science podcast Deeply Human (BBC/American Public Media); and published a memoir recounting most of the above called My Own Devices (Penguin Random House).

Mac Barnett, the 2025–2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is a New York Times bestselling author of stories for children. Mac’s books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book Awards, three E. B. White Read Aloud Awards and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, as well as several international prizes. He lives in Oakland, California. His latest book, illustrated by X. Fang, is Tom Nancy: The Sheep Who Swapped Brains with a Boy. From two of the most exciting picture book makers today comes a hilarious trickster tale and Freaky Friday switcheroo story: a sneaky, cheeky sheep named Tom Nancy has a brain swap proposal for an innocent farm boy named Felix that will change both of their lives forever. Laugh-out-loud, subversive, and totally unexpected.

Ed Park is the author of the novels Personal Days and Same Bed Different Dreams. He is a founding editor of The Believer, and has worked in newspapers, book publishing, and academia. His writing appears in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Profound, wily, and beautifully wrought, his new book Three Tenses: A Transmission from the Nineties is a meeting of memory and myth, confession and obfuscation, coalescing to offer a singular picture of creativity in action.

The princess of Portland comedy, best known for her breakout performance on the popular Netflix special Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda, Mx. Dahlia Belle has been compared to a Swiss Army knife—different tools to extract sharpness, softness, vulnerability, hope, and wicked wit. She’s been declared one of “11 Trans Comedians… Funnier Than Dave Chappelle” by Out Magazine, repeatedly featured on NPR, and has written for Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Guardian, The Stranger, and Portland Mercury. Her live performances have included NW Black Comedy Festival, Upper Left Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest, and an awkward conversation with John Waters and Piers Morgan. In the upcoming live taping of her comedy special Affirmed at Polaris Hall on November 22nd, Mx. Dahlia Belle delivers 60 new minutes of stand-up to celebrate and affirm being human in the modern world through a combination of the wholesome and mundane, anecdotes about house cats, liscivious foibles of the LGBT community, and an unapologetic account of her personal journey with gender-affirming care, all delivered with her trademark free form wit.

Free First Thursdays at the Museum and PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater aligns with the revitalization of the long-standing Portland art galleries’ tradition of opening their doors for openings, receptions, and events on the first Thursday of each month. In recent months art and culture organizations have joined to bring back this popular activity, including the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in the North Park Blocks.

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

The Portland Grief House invites you to join The Lost Table, a welcoming space to gather in community, remember those we’ve lost, and share in the traditions that help us keep them close. Bring a dish, pull up a chair, and make a place at the table for the dead. Grief can be hard to understand, and sometimes what we need most is community, ritual, conversation, and food.

Together, we’ll explore how different cultures and traditions call to, honor, and make offerings to those who have died. In the spirit of Día de Muertos, we’ll create a shared space where the living and the dead can gather around the same table.

We’ll begin with a creative activity led by Mario Mesquita, inviting us to reflect on memory, food, and our relationships with those we’ve lost. Participants will be introduced to the ritual elements that will carry us through the evening.

Laura Green will lead a community conversation about intercultural traditions of Día de Muertos and other ways communities call to and remember their dead. Participants will have an opportunity to share stories, traditions, and memories, and to dedicate an offering to someone they have lost.

Bea Yeh will introduce the tradition of Hungry Ghost and lead us in making an offering to the dead. We’ll set places at our table for those who are no longer with us and share food as an act of remembrance and connection.

Our community offerings and tributes will be gathered at Ximena Morales’s altar, creating a shared space of remembrance that connects the different traditions and offerings brought into the room.

Throughout the evening, we’ll create something together through words, offerings, and remembrance. We’ll dedicate a community poem to the dead and close our gathering with a collective ritual of words, sound, and stillness.

Please bring:

• A dish to share, plus any serving utensils it needs. Consider bringing something that reminds you of a loved one or connects you to a family or cultural tradition.
• Please label your food with a card identifying any allergens or dietary considerations.
• Your own dinnerware (plate, bowl, utensils, napkin).
• A beverage for yourself, if you’d like something other than water.
• A photograph, name, or other small tribute to a loved one for the community altar, if you’d like.
• Please do not bring chips, salsa, or guacamole—Milagro will provide these.

The Portland Grief House is honored to continue this tradition, originally started by Side Yard Farm. El Centro Milagro is excited to partner with Portland Grief House to create a space for English- and Spanish-speaking community members to gather, remember, share traditions, and honor the dead together.

Schedule
4:00–4:30 PM — Opening Ritual & Activity
4:30–5:45 PM — Community Conversation & Offerings
5:45 PM — Dedication & Closing

Estimated Running Time: 3 hours
Age Recommendation: Ages 10+

Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills. Interviewed by Lucy Feldman (TIME).

An aspiring archivist determined to begin a “serious” life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.

Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.

Choreographer Lai Hung-Chung makes dances of striking beauty and intention. “Birdy,” his captivating signature work for Hung Dance, moves between suspense and explosive energy, between the weight of tradition and the pull toward something new. Hung Dance blends traditional Chinese arts, including tai chi, Peking Opera, and classical Chinese music, with contemporary dance technique and driving electronic music, creating work that is poetic and rhythmic at once. What audiences see on stage is a world in constant transformation, where bodies bend and resist, images linger, and the tension between holding on and letting go becomes the dance itself.

TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN

Birdy

“…a dreamy sensibility with astonishing athleticism in culturally sensitive modern dance performance.” —Charlie Smith, Pancouver

Sponsored by George & Nancy Thorn. White Bird’s Uncaged Series Sponsor: Ronni Lacroute

The Friday and Saturday performances will have pre-show talks. Come early to hear from the dancers from 6:15–6:45 PM. No ticket needed.

Join us November 3rd for the Hung Dance Lecture Demonstration, FREE with RSVP here .

Make life a little easier on our Oregon winter birds with some crafty edible artistry for all ages.

Sign up for the poster session here!

The 2026 Pauling Medal will be presented to Professor Wooley at the 2026 Pauling Medal Symposium on November 7, 2026, at Portland State University in Portland, OR, in recognition of her pioneering studies.

Information about the symposium is posted at the Pauling Medal web page. The symposium includes lectures by eminent scientists and the awardee, a student poster session, a reception, and an evening banquet with presentation of the Pauling Medal to Professor Wooley.

The symposium is free and open to the public. The Awards Dinner is open to the public but requires advance purchase of a banquet ticket. Please visit the Pauling Medal web page for event details and banquet tickets.

Schedule:

• 11:00am - 1:00pm: Poster Set-up Time
• 1:00 - 5:30pm: Symposium in Hoffman Hall
  Symposium speakers
  • Prof. Geoff Coates, Cornell University
  • Prof. Craig Hawker, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Prof. Doug Keszler (emeritus), Oregon State University
  • Pauling Awardee, Prof. Karen Wooley, Texas A&M University
• 5:30 - 7:00pm: Reception and poster session in SRTC lobby
• 7:00 - 10:00pm: Banquet and award lecture in Hoffman Hall

Join an afternoon with Grammy Award-winning soprano Audrey Luna. Audrey will give a masterclass with L&C and PSU students and present a lecture titled "The Business of Singing."

Parallel Worlds Bookshop and the Hollywood Theatre present a special author conversation with Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu, celebrating the release of Jane’s debut novel, Public Access Afterworld, followed by a screening of Schoenbrun’s acclaimed film I Saw the TV Glow.

When: November 5, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Where: Hollywood Theatre 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97212
Tickets: $18 sold via Hollywood Theatre
Ticket price does not include a copy of the book. Preorder Here!

A mysterious realm waits on the other side of our screens. A dark force draws victims into its static. An unlikely hero must save them, and herself, from an electric hell.

Spanning decades and realities, Public Access Afterworld follows an unforgettable ensemble of outcasts and obsessive television viewers whose lives become entangled with a surreal pirate network. At the center is Bethany Peters, a trans content moderator working the night shift at a sprawling tech corporation. When a young streamer begins appearing in her feed and calling out to Public Access Afterworld, Bethany is pulled into a conspiracy stretching across screens, timelines, and realities.

A mesmerizing collision of speculative fiction, horror, conspiracy, and queer transformation, Public Access Afterworld marks the literary debut of the celebrated filmmaker behind I Saw the TV Glow and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.

Jane Schoenbrun is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Their films include I Saw the TV Glow and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Their newest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder, releases in 2026. Public Access Afterworld is their first novel.

Tickets for the screening and conversation are sold through the Hollywood Theatre. Copies of Public Access Afterworld will be available for purchase onsite from Parallel Worlds Bookshop.

Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu will not be signing books. Pre-ordered books or books purchased at event will be pre-signed.

Still photography is permitted. Audio and video recording are not permitted unless approved in advance.

1. Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun - Signed Edition
   (Pub Date: October 27, 2026)
   A mysterious realm on the other side of our screens. A dark force that draws victims into its static. The unlikely hero called to save them and herself from this electric hell. Public Access Afterworld is the profound, binge-all-night, headrush of a novel by the celebrated filmmaker of I Saw the TV Glow and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

2. Alchemised by Senlinyu Signed Edition (Out Now)

3. Alchemised by Senlinyu 3 Volume Deluxe Boxset(Pub Date: October 13)
   In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.

Portland Book Festival welcomes Molly and Meherwan Irani, the husband-and-wife team behind Asheville’s nationally celebrated Chai Pani Restaurant Group. Their flagship restaurant, Chai Pani, was named Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation in 2022.

This year, Molly and Meherwan each bring a new book to the table. Meherwan has written No. 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World: At-Home Recipes from the Streets, Truck Stops, Villages, and Palaces of India. Molly’s Service Ready: A Story of Love, Restaurants, and the Power of Hospitality was published earlier this year. Together, the books offer two very different—and deeply connected—perspectives on food, restaurants, and hospitality.

In celebration of Diwali—the Hindu festival of lights, marked by food, gathering, and celebration—Molly and Meherwan will join their longtime friend Chef Troy MacLarty at Bollywood Theater on Alberta Street for a collaboration. Bollywood Theater will serve a special menu inspired by recipes from Meherwan’s book alongside its own Diwali-inspired menu. It’s a gathering of longtime friends, great food, and two books that reflect different sides of a shared life in restaurants.

Both books will be featured at Portland Book Festival, and Molly and Meherwan will be on hand at Bollywood to meet guests and sign copies.

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World (2026) Directed by Sasha Waters Freyer. 1hr 31min. Not Rated.

If poetry had a pop icon, Mary Oliver would be it. Best-selling poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner, lover of dogs and long walks in the woods, queer and out but intensely private—Oliver’s poems inspire liberals and conservatives, atheists and believers, naturalists and urbanites. She was America’s unlikely, contemporary mystic, stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod for nearly fifty years in order to open herself—and us, her readers—to the known and unknowable world. Sasha Waters’ beguiling portrait features poems read by Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, Stephen Colbert, Lucy Dacus, Jesse Welles, and Oprah Winfrey.

This film is featured as part of Portland Book Festival’s Cover to Cover.

We do not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, and films exhibited don’t necessarily reflect the views of PAM CUT or the Portland Art Museum. In addition to the synopses, trailers, and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on sites like Common Sense Media, IMDb, and DoesTheDogDie.com.

In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan, tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history. Interviewed by OPB’s Dave Miller. Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, a mere five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking: learning to swim from Harrison Ford on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, receiving trucks full of toys from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for his birthday, meeting Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, and making lifelong friends on the set of The Goonies.

A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes for directors like Wong Kar Wai. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. It wasn’t until decades later, when he was 49 years old, that he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once, which surprised everyone with its incredible box-office and awards season success. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.

In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight, the resilience that kept him going through his darkest times, and his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never giving up on your dreams.

Join us for an evening of conversation, laughter, and stories of the human spirit featuring The Omnibus Project with John Roderick and Special Guest. Presented by Papertrees Creative in partnership with the 2026 Portland Book Festival and Literary Arts. This event will be recorded.

The Omnibus Project

The Omnibus Project is a podcast founded in 2017 by Ken Jennings and John Roderick as a repository for the lesser-known stories of our collected human experience that, in the event of a cataclysm, may not survive to be retold. It is an effort to save our own Library of Alexandria to disk, a project to preserve not just what made us great but what made us human.

The show has diligently researched and compiled the knowledge AROUND the knowledge, building a compendium not of obvious and commonly cited data—the Roman Empire and World War II are widely reported elsewhere—but of the esoteric and sublime wonders that might otherwise be lost.

The Omnibus Project weathered many upheavals: leaving iHeart Media to become an independent, listener-supported program; switching formats from biweekly to weekly; enduring storms, controversies and multiple breathless articles in the Hollywood Reporter. Both hosts were the subject of controversy, but in all the years never missed an episode. Throughout it all, the show grew into a thriving archive of wonder, with millions of annual listeners and a vast community of devoted fans who gather under the banner of “Futurelings.”

In 2025, due to his duties hosting Jeopardy!, Ken stepped back into an emeritus role as executive producer, occasional contributor, and spiritual lodestar, entrusting the continued production of The Omnibus Project to his colleague and partner, storyteller John Roderick. Unencumbered by fame or fortune, John carries on their good works with a weekly rotating cast of friends, authors, comedians and, most importantly, the Futurelings community.

As the show marches toward its first decade, the archive continues to expand, escaping the confines of the podcast feed for live appearances at such venerable institutions of knowledge as the Library of Congress and beyond. And with each new week, each new entry, each new show, we’re granted a blessed postponement of the apocalypse—one we hope will never come—as another overlooked, forgotten, or improbable tale is added to … the Omnibus.

John Roderick is a Seattle-based musician, writer, and podcaster celebrated for his sharp wit and distinctive voice. Beyond co-creating The Omnibus Project, he also co-hosts Roderick on the Line. His essays have appeared in Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Seattle Weekly, alongside his published book of short prose, Electric Aphorisms. Best known as the frontman of The Long Winters, Roderick will return with a highly anticipated new album soon.

Join Israeli-American storyteller and public historian Yuval Malchi for a look at the lesser-known Americans who helped shape and defend the State of Israel. Through personal stories of nurses, social workers, intelligence operatives, and military leaders, Malchi explores the contributions of figures such as Rose Kaplan, David “Mickey” Marcus, Al Schwimmer, and Hank Greenspun, and their lasting impact on the relationship between the United States and Israel. In partnership with Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.

*The talk is geared toward adults, but welcoming participants ages 13 and up. *

MUST RSVP.