Bookshelf

Why Can’t a 5-Year-Old Write a Memoir?

Kevin Sampsell’s novel Baby in the Night is as sweetly hilarious and poignant as baby talk gets.

03/13/2026 By Matthew Trueherz

from the archive

The Wet: Brian Doyle’s Rain Journal

From 2007, the celebrated Oregon author’s “Waterlogged notes from rainy seasons present and past.”

03/10/2026 By Brian Doyle

seeing things

The Best Shows and Events in Portland This Week, February 2026

A word from Sister Corita Kent, a Spanish-language play, and a breakdancing benefit.

02/26/2026 By Matthew Trueherz

“America’s Game”

Chuck Klosterman’s Football Journeys into America’s Media-Addled Soul

The Portland author’s latest book unpacks football’s unique perch atop the flaming pyre of a dying monoculture.

02/06/2026 By Jordan Michelman

seeing things

An Exhibition Rehumanizing Portland’s Unhoused Population

Dance company Urban Bush Women, and other events in town.

02/05/2026 By Matthew Trueherz

seeing things

Things to Do in Portland This Week, January 2026

Author Sara Jaffe chases guitar noise at PICA, and other events in town.

01/29/2026 By Matthew Trueherz

gimme five

5 Oregon-Made Comics to Know

Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts’ Michael Rosen shares his essential list of superheroes, war journalism, and redrawn American classics.

01/26/2026 By Alex Frane

Words with Friends

The Open Mic That Counts Amateurs and Award-Winning Authors as Regulars

One-Page Wednesdays, hosted by Portland novelist Emme Lund, feels like a public writers’ group.

01/22/2026 By Matthew Trueherz Illustrations by Stephan Dybus

seeing things

Mickalene Thomas’s Love Letter to Her Mother

4 Palestinian Poets, and other events in town this week.

01/08/2026 By Matthew Trueherz

Movies

Kristen Stewart’s Chronology of Water Captures the Book’s Emotional Force

The Twilight star’s directorial debut stays true to Oregon author Lidia Yuknavitch’s intimate portrait of reclaimed agency.

12/15/2025 By Chase Hutchinson

seeing things

A Holiday Market of Glossies and Art Books

The Portland Art Book Fair, Little Women, and other events in town.

12/11/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Bookshelf

Portland Monthly’s Best Books of 2025

Our favorite fiction and nonfiction, children’s books, cartoons, and comics of the year by Oregon authors.

12/08/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

seeing things

To Nutcracker or NOT-Cracker?

Two takes on the classic ballet, and other events in town.

12/04/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

seeing things

Portland Authors Present Norwegian Film Dreams at the Tomorrow Theater

Plus the history of Portland concert posters at Mint Gallery Records, and more.

11/13/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Seeing Things

Craig Thompson at the Portland Book Festival

Also: the Decemberists with the symphony, and other events in town this week.

11/06/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Bookshelf

Local Authors on the 2025 Portland Book Festival Lineup

Jonathan Hill, Emma Pattee, Leah Sottile, and Leni Zumas share who they’re looking forward to seeing at this year’s fest.

10/27/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Book Review

Romance on the Basketball Court in Play You for It

The debut novel from sports journalist turned romance author Samantha Saldivar hops between Portland and Eugene.

10/22/2025 By Margaret Seiler

Gimme Five

The 5 Ursula K. Le Guin Books You Need to Read, According to Her Son

While curating an exhibition of her life and work, Theo Downes-Le Guin shares his favorite books by Portland’s greatest author, a.k.a. his mom.

10/14/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Interview

Portland’s New Yorker Cartoonist on the Important Kind of Jokes

In a new book, Tom Toro collects 15 years of work for the magazine. Here, he talks about the role of cartoons in the present.

10/08/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Bookshelf

A Novel of an Anarchist Nursing Home Run by 1970s Punks

Leni Zumas’s Wolf Bells is a spirited, hilarious, and tender study of intergenerational living.

09/15/2025 By Matthew Trueherz