Arts & Culture

Theater

PETE’s A Seagull Caps Its Decade with Chekhov’s Major Plays

The series helped the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble define itself. Its final and wildest adaptation asks what’s next.

07/08/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Q&A

How the New Film Cora Bora Captures Portland’s Music World

Screenwriter Rhianon Jones revisits her decade in the local scene, including its tragedies.

07/03/2024 By Brooke Jackson-Glidden

Book Review

You’re Safe Here, A Sci-Fi Novel Set In 2060, Reads Eerily Current

Author of the popular Substack newsletter Morning Person, Leslie Stephens takes aim at the wellness industrial complex in her debut novel.

06/27/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Recipe

Singer-Songwriter Y La Bamba Is Never without This Salsa Verde

Luz Elena Mendoza Ramos shares their father’s recipe, a staple of their Mexican American pantry.

06/25/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Q&A

Ripping the City with Dontā Laneil

The DJ brings Portland’s Black community together around his beats.

06/24/2024 By Dalila Brent Illustrations by Betty Turbo

Q&A

Ex-Hasidic Queer Comedian Robby Hoffman Was ‘Totally Normal’ Growing Up

“But when you put me in regular society, suddenly it’s like, ‘Why would you say such a thing?’”

06/20/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Drinks for Thought

Jim Meehan’s Deep Dive into the Cocktail Kitchen

The award-winning mixologist’s third book, focused on culinary ingredients, shifted his sense of self.

06/11/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Reading Ahead

3 Upcoming Books by Portland Authors

Does your nightstand need a genre-bending food memoir, a wellness-obsessed sci-fi novel, and a first-person report of an adult autism diagnosis? Of course it does.

05/22/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Bookshelf

Riot Grrrl History in Kathleen Hanna’s Rebel Girl

The Portland-born musician’s memoir details ’90s Olympia, Bikini Kill, life on tour, and some serious trauma and healing.

05/17/2024 By Margaret Seiler

Life’s Fictions

Miranda July in Conversation with Portland Novelist Chelsea Bieker

“A feeling of recklessness is what made me write it down,” July says of her latest novel, All Fours. “I’m pointing at a thing and calling it out.”

05/15/2024 By Chelsea Bieker Illustrations by Becki Gill

Interview

‘Unlikable’ Narrators and the Impossible Expectations of Motherhood

Portland author Kimberly King Parsons unpacks her hotly anticipated debut novel, We Were the Universe.

05/10/2024 By Michelle Kicherer

Down the Aisles

11 Portland Authors’ Favorite Indie Bookstores

Where do Renée Watson, Dane Liu, Erica Berry, and Jon Raymond shop for books? Hint: it’s not Amazon.

05/06/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

As Told To

In ‘skin & bones,’ Renée Watson Writes for Her Devout Readers’ Parents

"I’m always writing for that little girl who needed to see herself and her ancestors represented in stories."

05/03/2024 By Matthew Trueherz Photography by Michael Raines

First-time Caller

Alison Roman Is in Her Advice Hotline Era. We Got Her Portland Tips.

Her podcast is called Solicited Advice, and that’s exactly what we did.

05/01/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Tradesies?

Soho House Deals in Social and Cultural Capital. But It Trades for Art.

With nearly 150 works from Portland’s biggest artists, the social club’s art collection paints a picture of the current art scene.

04/30/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Self Portrait

Y La Bamba Calls In from Mexico City

“Leaving the US has been the biggest blessing for me,” they say. “It’s like I’m in a different portal.”

04/19/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

For Kicks

Back to the Future and into the Metaverse: 100-Plus Years of Sneakers at PAM

Marty McFly’s Nikes, those Big Red Boots, and a few pairs that literally don’t exist have plenty to tell us about ourselves.

04/12/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Awards Season

Erica Berry and Patrick deWitt Are among the 2024 Oregon Book Awards Winners

Kwame Alexander presented seven Oregon authors with new badges to add to their book covers at Monday’s ceremony.

04/10/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Our TED Talk

The Most Anticipated Talks and Performances of TEDxPortland 2024

A Jordan executive, Y La Bamba, and two James Beard Award winners are billed for the annual event.

04/03/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Slow Burn

How Writing Romance Helped Alison Cochrun Embrace Her Queerness

The former high school English teacher, raised and based in Vancouver, is now a full-time author of love stories.

03/29/2024 By Rebecca Jacobson

Portland Monthly