Amy Leona Havin

Amy Leona Havin is a poet, essayist, and arts journalist based in Portland, Oregon. She writes about language arts, dance, and film for Oregon ArtsWatch and is a staff writer with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Her work has been published in San Diego Poetry Annual, HereIn Arts Journal, Humana Obscura, The Chronicle, and others. She has been an artist-in-residence at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Archipelago Gallery, and Art/Lab, and was shortlisted for the Bridport International Creative Writing Prize in poetry. Havin holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts and is the Artistic Director of Portland-based dance performance company, The Holding Project.

Dance Review: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the triumph of modern dance

The Keller Auditorium audience was repeatedly brought to their feet as the Ailey company dancers dazzled with exhilarating performances of both contemporary choreography and Ailey’s own iconic "Revelations."

Dance Review: Shaun Keylock Company’s ‘The Age of Influence’

Presented at the 2024 Portland Jazz Festival, SKC’s latest world premiere promised to transcend artistic boundaries with innovations that take dance and sound in a new dimension, though delivered a more puzzling traditional concert dance experience.

LitWatch March: Poetry events, a history of the Village Voice, and a staged reading of Brian Doyle’s ‘Mink River’

Other literary events this month include readings by nine writers at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center in Newport and a celebration of small presses.

LitWatch February: Celebrating James Tate, a love-themed poetry slam, and a conversation with novelist Jason Mott

Other bookish events this month include jazz bassist Chuck Israels on his musical memoir, Doran Larson's look at prisons from the inside, and Hamilton Nolan on the labor movement.

LitWatch January: Winter Fishtrap, translation of a 6th-century poet, and the charm of backyard chickens

A new year brings a Fishtrap workshop, as well as authors talking about philanthropy, Higgs boson, and becoming a better cook. And chickens.

2023 in Review: Amy Leona Havin’s literary year

Our LitWatch columnist looks back on a year of good reading, writing, and talking about books.

Dance Review: Oregon Ballet Theatre’s iteration of ‘George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®’ shines with Dani Rowe at the helm

The recently appointed artistic director brings a new sense of energy and magic to the familiar holiday classic.

Gift guide: Oregon authors recommend favorite books for holiday giving and reading

Suggestions range from Brian Doyle's "Mink River" and a collection of speeches by former Gov. Barbara Roberts to picture books and poetry.

LitWatch December: Celebrate Oregon authors at Oregon Historical Society, plus The Moth returns

Settle into winter with a holiday book fair, a new cookbook from a Northwest Jewish kitchen, an author appearance by Henry Winkler, and a solstice story time.

Dance Review: Shaun Keylock Company’s Fall Fête 

Amy Leona Havin sits down afterwards with the company’s founder and artistic director to discuss SKC’s merger with Conduit and what’s next for the contemporary dance company.

Dance Review: Abby Z and the New Utility displays the ecstasy of effort-based dance

Performed in the round, ‘Radioactive Practice’ draws on street dance, contemporary African forms, and martial arts to upend expectations of established dance forms.

Portland Book Festival: Jonathan Lethem, Cat Bohannon among highlights of well-attended festival

Many venues were near or at capacity as book-lovers flooded the South Park Blocks to listen to more than 100 speakers. And to buy books.

Portland Book Festival: Jane Hirshfield, Elisa Gonzalez, and Victoria Adukwei Bulley

The three poets reflect on their relationship to poetry, offer reading lists, and advise fellow poets to persist, revise, and follow their curiosities.

Review: Oregon Ballet Theatre’s ‘Swan Lake’ delivers depth and distinction

The timeless Tchaikovsky tale of Odette, Odile, and Siegfried springs to life under the direction of Christopher Stowell, complemented by the magical stage sets of Filipo Sanjust and the costumes of Sandra Woodall with Mark Zappone.

LitWatch November: Portland Book Festival, Walt Curtis tribute, ‘LaMoosh’ children’s book

The Nov. 4 festival lineup includes Viet Thanh Nguyen, Michael Lewis, Roz Chast, Gregory Gourdet, Mitchell S. Jackson, Luis Alberto Urrea, Alice Winn, Jonathan Lethem, Patrick deWitt, Lydia Kiesling, and so much more.

Dance Review: Pilobolus and the joy of re-creation

During their single night performance at White Bird, the celebrated dance company presented new collaborations and revisited classic works stretching back to its founding in 1971.

Dance review: Linda Austin’s ‘3 miles of possible (mile 3)’ closes her series with performances of all three ‘miles’

In this long-form performance, the Performance Works NW artistic director explores what is possible in a world of fluctuating personal, material, political, and artistic contingencies, as she wanders through a variety of movement scores, choreographies, tasks, guest artists, texts, songs, and sound compositions.

LitWatch October: Bob Welch on the PCT, Mary Beard on ancient Rome, and fighting fire with fire

Warm up with M.R. O'Connor on the science of wildfires, poetry readings, and Halloween story time.

Viet Thanh Nguyen and Michael Lewis to headline 2023 Portland Book Festival

The Nov. 4 festival, presented by Literary Arts, is slated to feature events with more than 100 Oregon and national authors.

LitWatch September: Climate chaos and plenty of author readings

Authors appearing around the state include Ann Patchett, Chuck Palahniuk, Casey Parks, Paulann Petersen, and others with names not beginning with P.

Walt Curtis, unofficial poet laureate of Portland, dies at 82

The poet, painter, and writer, whose novel "Mala Noche" was turned into a film by Gus Van Sant, was a fixture of Portland's poetry-reciting club scene in the 1970s and '80s.

LitWatch August: Cheryl Strayed to speak at Willamette Writers Conference

Readings in August include the authors of books about a 2,500-mile bike ride, Portland's Forest Park, and comedian Ernie Kovacs.

LitWatch July: Connecting with the Coast in Cannon Beach — and Bend

Everlasting summer brings readings by surfing legend Gerry Lopez and the authors of a new book celebrating Steely Dan.

Review: Danielle Ross presents ‘Lineage’

Utilizing choreographic iterations and iconography from different dance lineage backgrounds, the choreographer and performer offered a uniquely abstract look at the spiraling chain of Portland dance connectivity.

LitWatch June: A field guide discovers Cascadia through art, ecology, and poetry

Other readings this month feature Portland poet Carlos Reyes, Ken Jennings of "Jeopardy!" fame, and photographer Jamie Beck's exploration of Provence.

Review: MOMIX goes through the looking glass

A colorful rendition of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking Glass’ and ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ brings illusion to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Review: Oregon Ballet Theatre’s ‘Firebird’ takes flight

Yuri Possokhov’s highly acclaimed rendition of the Russian folktale was accompanied by "Indigo," Stanton Welch’s one-act contemporary octet, and the world premiere of "Eco" by Paul Taylor Company resident choreographer, Lauren Lovette.

LitWatch May: Thich Nhat Hanh disciple Cuong Lu visits Broadway Books

Tom Hanks comes to Portland to talk about his first novel, poet Jessica Mehta heads to Cannon Beach, and Oregon Book Award recipients go on tour.

Review: Jamuna Chiarini presents an electric evening of Odissi dance

The performance, "Arpan: An Offering," included an introduction to the history and the intricacies of this ancient classical dance form from India.

Sindya Bhanoo’s ‘Seeking Fortune Elsewhere’ wins Oregon Book Award for Fiction

Dawn Babb Prochovnic receives the Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award, and Gary Miranda the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award, during the Literary Arts event.