Karen Pate

Karen Pate worked 29 years as an editor at The Oregonian, most of that time overseeing community news and features in Washington and Clackamas counties. She’s written about storytellers and banjo players, English-language bookstores in Paris and horses who starred in movies. Her work has appeared in The Oregonian, Oregon Magazine, Reed Magazine and various equestrian publications. She wandered into journalism after studying creative writing at Reed College. Karen lives in Portland and has a job that lets her travel around the state, tagging along after racehorses.

13 arts and culture groups in line for $8.275 million in funding as Oregon Legislature’s 2025 session ends

July 3, 2025Andrew Beauchamp and Karen Pate

The bill, awaiting the governor's signature, allocates money around the state. A measure that would have merged the Oregon Arts Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust did not pass.

Oregon author Willy Vlautin is a finalist for the $50,000 Joyce Carol Oates Prize from the New Literary Project

March 13, 2025Karen Pate

The award, to be given in mid-April, recognizes a mid-career fiction writer of “national consequence.” Vlautin calls the nomination a lucky break.

Literary Arts announces 2025 Oregon Book Award finalists

January 28, 2025Karen Pate

The awards, to be given April 28, will recognize authors in seven categories, as well as two Portlanders who have improved the state's literary landscape.

Literary Arts opens a new chapter

December 7, 2024Karen Pate

Portland's 40-year-old nonprofit hub of all things literary celebrates the opening of its new eastside headquarters and bookstore.

Ani DiFranco and Richard Powers to headline 2024 Portland Book Festival

September 11, 2024Karen Pate

Other authors scheduled to appear at the Nov. 2 event include Robert Samuels, R.O. Kwon, Rachel Kushner, Willy Vlautin, Carson Ellis, and many, many more.

Literary Arts announces 2024 Oregon Book Awards finalists

January 23, 2024Karen Pate

Winners in seven categories will be announced April 8 during a ceremony in Portland. In addition, Ellen Waterston of Bend will be recognized for her contributions to the state's literary scene.

Portland Book Festival: One venue’s reading list

November 6, 2022Karen Pate

An afternoon in the Winningstad Theatre yields an armload of recommended reading.

Portland Book Festival: Casey Parks’ memoir, ‘Diary of a Misfit,’ is an exercise in empathy

November 3, 2022Karen Pate

Through the story of Roy Hudgins, a woman who lived as a man in rural Louisiana, the Portland writer explores issues of identity, family, and life in the South.

Omar El Akkad’s ‘What Strange Paradise’ wins Oregon Book Award for fiction

April 25, 2022Karen Pate

Cynthia Whitcomb is honored for her literary legacy during the ceremony marked by thanks and a sense of wonder at the weirdness of the past two years.

Bala: Former Intel engineer composes a new life

January 3, 2022Karen Pate

The Indian immigrant turns a lifelong love of music into a career writing scores for the Tamil film industry.

Portland Book Festival: Oregon authors reflect on what it means to live and work here

November 8, 2021Karen Pate

If you're a writer, do things look different here? Dao Strom, J.C. Geiger, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., Amelia Díaz Ettinger, Laura Moulton, Ben Hodgson, Teresa K. Miller, and Rene Denfeld weigh in.