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's dance background is rooted in classical ballet, Graham technique, and Gaga Movement language, and she is the Artistic Director of Portland-based dance performance company, The Holding Project.

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.

LitWatch April: Literary Arts’ Oregon Book Awards ceremony & Literary Fellowship reading

It's poetry month. It's Oregon Book Awards month. Authors talk about how to foster community and to preserve Black culture through a feminist lens. And Chewy the Beaver makes a special appearance in Bend.

NW Dance Project’s ‘Common Ground’

Review: The company presents new dances from Yin Yue, Caroline Finn, and NW Dance Project Artistic Director Sarah Slipper.

Poet Q&A: 2023 Soapstone Bread and Roses Award recipient Eleanor Berry

After losing her home in the Beachie Creek Fire, the Willamette Valley poet says she “felt compelled both to articulate it and to make something of value from it.”

Review: A.I.M by Kyle Abraham’s “An Untitled Love”

The intimate portrait choreographed by Princess Grace Statue Award recipient Kyle Abraham touches on love, friendship, family, unity, and the Black experience.

LitWatch March: 5th Annual Writers Read Celebration pays homage to Papa

March brings ambitious projects: Writers imagining themselves in Ernest Hemingway's shoes, a modern riff on "Finnegans Wake," and a browse of the typical Soviet Jewish bookshelf.

Poet Q&A: Willa Schneberg explores workings of the mind in ‘The Naked Room’

The Portland poet and psychotherapist will discuss her latest collection Monday evening at Broadway Books.

LitWatch February: Love poems, Cheryl Strayed, and a return to Waco, Texas

Love is in the literary air at several readings this month, and Literary Arts looks toward spring with its announcement of 2023 Oregon Book Award finalists.

LitWatch January: To the new year

2023 begins with readings by authors including Erika Bolstad, Nathan Slinker, Leanne Grabel, Bill Siverly, Curtis White, Dianne Stepp, and Josephine Woolington.

2022: A Literary Year in Review

Amy Leona Havin looks back at a year of book releases, events, interviews, and inspirations from Oregon’s literary bounty.

‘The Cadence’: A Tale of Paper and Cloth

Using paper, cloth, and found materials, film director Luca DiPierro brings a beautifully haunting world of folklore and magic to life in "The Cadence."

Review: Oregon Ballet Theatre brings Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® back to the stage with a sparkling rendition

Combining moments of dazzling dancing with whimsical costumes, vibrant sets, and Tchaikovsky’s iconic score, the ballet remains one of the most beloved holiday traditions.

Oregon booksellers recommend holiday gifts

Suggestions to delight book lovers include works by Charlie Mackesy, Madeline Miller, George Saunders, and Richard Powers.

Interview: Welcome to Maggie Rudy’s Mouseland

The Portland-area visual artist and children’s book author talks about her journey into the world of mouse-making and the importance of nature in her work.

LitWatch December: Have a very bookish holiday

This month features author readings, book release parties, a festive holiday storytime, the return of The Moth Mainstage, and Patti Smith at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Review: Through sound and movement, “Record Rewind replay record…” delivers a captivating exploration of time and memory 

Inspired by her father’s Alzheimer’s Disease and by the general theory of relativity, Marissa Rae Niederhauser’s new production at Performance Works Northwest takes us through both the beauty and the tragedy of time.

What Are You Reading? Peeking over shoulders at the Portland Book Festival

More than 5,000 people attended Portland's celebration of all things literary. Here’s what a handful of them were reading.

Portland Book Festival: Short stories, apocalyptic poets, and the art of going home

More than 70 authors attended the in-person event, which drew book-loving crowds to downtown Portland on Saturday.

Portland Book Festival: Graphic novels are for everyone

Aaron Durán, Gale Galligan, Kat Fajardo, and Christina Diaz Gonzalez talk about what drew them to create graphic novels, and who should read them (hint: not just kids).

Portland Book Festival: Our guide to four days of literary indulgence

Literary Arts' celebration of authors, writing, and books returns to downtown Portland in full force, with headliners Selma Blair and Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Katherine Dunn’s ‘Toad’ sees publication nearly 50 years after completion

Eli Dapolonia says his mother was a perfectionist who cared about the musicality of language and was reduced to tears by the novel’s early rejection.

LitWatch November: Here Comes the Portland Book Festival

Other events include author readings from the Coast to Eastern Oregon, Anthony Doerr at Portland Arts and Lectures, and the reopening of Multnomah County Central Library.

Leanne Grabel’s ‘Brontosaurus Illustrated’ tackles trauma with humor and honesty

The graphic memoir about the Portland writer's rape as a teenager is a pseudo-sequel to "Brontosauraus: Memoir of a Sex Life."

Preview: Portland Dance Film Fest ups the ante

This year's collection of 29 films features striking portraits of humanity from across the globe.

LitWatch October: Reading lists, author events, and a Fall Festival

Spooky books and sweet books to help set an autumn mood; a festival in Cannon Beach; readings to write home about.

George Saunders, Jess Walter among 2022 Portland Book Festival headliners

The Nov. 5 festival, presented by Literary Arts, is back to full in-person programming with 80 writers and presenters.

Interview: Shawn Levy discusses women in comedy and his book ‘In on the Joke’

The Portland author says he was surprised to find himself writing about Moms Mabley and Minnie Pearl as he chronicled influential women comedians.

Julie Mancini, lover of language and champion of the literary arts, dies at 73

Mancini, whose legacy includes work with Literary Arts, Writers in the Schools, Mercy Corps, and the Children's Institute, was known for her creativity and being "pretty much unstoppable."