SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER
Time to get bookish in Portland and Vancouver BC!
Fall is a big time for author readings, new books on bookstore shelves, and other literary happenings. Here are a couple of events of note coming up in the Pacific Northwest:
Capilano Review launch party
The fall edition of the Capilano Review, one of Vancouver’s best literary journals, is now out and there’s a launch party and group reading at 7 pm, Thurs Nov. 8 at Vancouver’s SUM Gallery at 268 Keefer St. The evening will feature Fred Wah, Rita Wong, and Juliane Okot Bitek.
Portland Book Festival
Portland’s biggest annual literary event, the Portland Book Festival (formerly known as Wordstock) happens this weekend, Sat. Nov 10. It’s jam-packed with bookish wonders, including readings by more than 100 authors, a dozen different writing workshops, a huge bazaar with tons of book vendors, and — because it’s Portland — plenty of food trucks! Some highlights include Omar El Akkad, Laura Da’, Patrick deWitte, Eileen Myles, Terese Mailhot, Gregory Pardlo, Tommy Orange, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Leni Zumas. And if that’s making you feel overwhelmed, check out Oregon Arts Watch’s introvert’s guide to the Portland Book Festival!
US states in Cascadia vote today
We’ll have full coverage of US election results across Cascadia in tomorrow’s newsletter. If you’d like to follow along online this evening, check out our Twitter feed at @CascadiaDaily. Early reports are that turnout is high for a mid-term election, and part of that turnout is thanks to the fact the both Oregon and Washington have voting-by-mail, which eliminates long lines, weather issues, and voter intimidation.
Supreme Court to hear youth climate case
The case of young people suing the US government for failure to act on climate change is moving from a federal court in Eugene, Oregon now that the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. Eugene Weekly reports on how the Trump administration has been engaging in shenanigans to prevent the case from going to court.
How would prop-rep affect BC’s First Nations?
The Tyee looks at the example of New Zealand, which has adopted proportional representation (prop-rep), and how the change has increased representation for Indigenous Maori people. Would BC switching to prop-rep increase influence for First Nations? One political scientist says it would — “I think what we could expect would be an increase in Indigenous representation, but the form that would take is unpredictable.”
Is Mount Meager the next Cascadia volcano to blow?
It’s not exactly a household word, but British Columbia’s Mount Meager northwest of Whistler is a dormant volcano that’s showing evidence of waking up, according to a great, detailed report from CBC. Steam vents, melting glaciers, and crumbling rock all are making BC geologists pay attention.
Arson Nicki, Seattle’s radical drag queen
Amanda Manitach at City Arts has a great profile of drag queen Arson Nicki, whose unsettling performances are shaking up conventions of gender in ways that go beyond the usual drag conventions. “A whirling dervish stepped out of Weimar Berlin. A baby sprung from the collective loins of Leigh Bowery and Alexander McQueen. A face that Picasso or Cocteau might’ve drawn…”
“Refusal of Return,” poetry by Laura Da’
Over at Seattle Review of Books, Laura Da’ is this month’s poet-in-residence–and you can her poem “Refuasal of Return” online. Da’, who is East Shawnee, lives near Seattle.
“…dispossessed seedpods
tickle at the aural hum
of childhood sleep…”
Head over to Seattle Review of Books and read the full poem here.
That’s today’s selection of poetry, news, and environmental coverage from across the Pacific Northwest.
Follow our election coverage this evening at our Twitter feed at @CascadiaDaily.
Photo credit: Mount Meager complex in fall by Dave Steers via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0