Author Events

Portland Book Festival Announces 2024 Lineup

Richard Powers, Renée Watson, Ani DiFranco, and Danez Smith are among this year’s 80+ authors.

09/12/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Picture Book

Carson Ellis Finds Her Past in an Old Portland Warehouse

New paintings illustrate a 20-year-old diary in the artist’s latest book, recounting her first week in town, falling in love, and reading Dylan Thomas aloud.

09/10/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

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

Required Reading

Must-Visit Portland Indie Bookstores

Our list of more than 20 shops spotlighting the African diaspora and children’s books, sci-fi and fantasy, artist monographs, comics, and…yarn?

04/24/2024 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

Birthday Etiquette

20 Classic Portland Gifts for Kids and Adults

Gift cards, cash, and high-fives are out of the question. Use our guide instead.

03/15/2024 By Portland Monthly Staff Photography by Michael Novak

Books

A Margaret Talks to Margarets about Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

We check in with legislator Margaret Carter, writer Margaret Malone, and others, in anticipation of the movie version of the Judy Blume classic.

04/19/2023 By Margaret Seiler

Long Story Short

Meet Portland’s Most Beloved Bookseller

Earl Dizon, of Green Bean Books, has gained a following for solid recommendations, a sunny attitude, and a worldview that’s committed to the written word.

03/24/2022 By Fiona McCann

Books

New Portland-Produced Book Teaches Kids and Parents about Anti-Asian Hate

A Kids Book About Anti-Asian Hate talks about what it means to be Asian American and how to use your voice to stand up to hatred.

04/20/2021 By Aurora Biggers

Footnotes

LISTEN: How Beverly Cleary Wrote about Motherhood, Parenting, and Portland

Portland Monthly’s news editor talks with Portland-based author Lydia Kiesling about the late writer's enduring legacy.

04/09/2021 By Gabriel Granillo

Pomo Picks

Pop Culture Worth Your Time: A Local Audiobook, an Apocalyptic Opus, and More

The content in our queues, from Jaime Schmidt's Supermaker to Lana Del Rey's Norman Fucking Rockwell!

04/08/2021 By Portland Monthly Staff

Essay

What Ramona Quimby Taught Me about Taking Up Space

YA author and Portlander Renée Watson on how meeting Ramona Quimby changed her life.

03/30/2021 By Renée Watson

News

Oregonians Remember Beverly Cleary

‘I’m just so sad. I think she becomes a little piece of you, and all of a sudden that little piece is gone, yet carries on, and I'm so grateful for what she's contributed. She brought a lot of joy to our family.’

03/27/2021 By Conner Reed

Books

10 Great (Recent) Books by Oregon Writers

From dystopian novels to nihilistic comedy to multi-continental short stories, we bring you our favorites from local authors from the past 5 years.

03/11/2021 By Fiona McCann

Feature

Middle-Grade Graphic Novels Are Storming the Best-Seller Lists

Portland creators are getting in on the boom.

12/13/2020 By Julia Silverman

Pomo Picks

Things We Love That Have Nothing to Do with Coronavirus: Week of April 1

The Portland Monthly team shares the non-pandemic content keeping us sane this week.

04/01/2020 By Portland Monthly Staff

Corona for kids

Portland Publisher's New Book Helps Kids Understand Coronavirus

A kids book about COVID-19 is available for download from the website—and it’s free.

03/19/2020 By Fiona McCann

Film

Portland Shines in Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

The Disney+ original, based on books by cartoonist Stephen Pastis, premieres Friday.

02/05/2020 By Daniel Bromfield

Madam Librarian

Meet the NoPo Librarian Who’s Watching Over an Entire School of Bookworms

James John Elementary doesn’t have a ton of wealthy parents. But the book-loving culture there runs deep.

01/21/2020 By Julia Silverman