When my eyes are weeds,
And my lips are petals, spinning
Down the wind that has beginning
Where the crumpled beeches start
In a fringe of salty reeds;
When my arms are elder-bushes,
And the rangy lilac pushes
Upward, upward through my heart;
Summer, do your worst!
Light your tinsel moon, and call on
Your performing stars to fall on
Headlong through your paper sky;
Nevermore shall I be cursed
By a flushed and amorous slattern,
With her dusty laces’ pattern
Trailing, as she straggles by.
— August by Dorothy Parker
Lola Milholland was no stranger to living in a home where people came and went. As a child of iconoclastic hippies, she grew up in the ’90s at the Holman House in Portland, a place open to travelers and guests needing a safe space to rest their heads. Milholland went away to college and upon her return, decided to join her brother in an experiment with communal living for the current generation.
In her memoir, Group Living and Other Recipes, she looks back at the heyday of the Holman House and the parties, meals, and characters that made their way into her home’s history. Through an exploration of “group living as a way of life,” Milholland chronicles her stay at her aunt and uncle’s intentional community in Washington, her time cooking as a student in Japan, and mushroom hunting in the Pacific Northwest. In the process, she offers a “vibrant re-evaluation of the structures at the very center of our lives.” Milholland will read from her book at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5 at Powell’s City of Books, joined by Margarett Waterbury, editor-in-chief of Distiller Magazine.
Week 1: Aug. 1-7
Author event: From Chicken to Eagle: Seven Women Paddling Whitewater and Navigating Life
Presented by Tsunami Books
2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3
Tsunami Books
2585 Willamette St., Eugene
Free
Sponsor
Kamala Bremer and Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, editors of From Chicken to Eagle: Seven Women Paddling Whitewater and Navigating Life, will be at Tsunami Books for a book talk, meet and greet, and book signing. Their new release tells the story of seven women who embark on a whitewater adventure in 1979. After obtaining sponsorships from Canoe magazine and REI, they received Eugene media coverage of their challenging trip on Alaska’s Fortymile River. At their 40-year reunion, the women decided to compose this book as a record of their success in Alaska at a time when many women were beginning to challenge the status quo.
Shane Burley and Ben Lorber in conversation with Eric K. Ward & CJ Alicandro
Presented by Powell’s Books
7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7
Powell’s City of Books
1005 W. Burnside St., Portland
Free
Shane Burley and Ben Lorber will read from their book, Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism. The book explores how, from synagogue shootings to conspiracy theories, antisemitism is on the rise. Through personal stories, historical research, interviews, and front-line reporting, Burley and Lorber help readers understand the root of antisemitism and how to “build true safety through solidarity, for Jews and all people.” The authors will be joined by Eric K. Ward, executive vice president of Race Forward, and CJ Alicandro, board member of Congregation Shir Tikvah.
Week 2: Aug. 8-14
Author event: Lee Boutell, We Can Change the World: An Intimate Journey through the Early 1970s
Presented by Tsunami Books
1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10
Tsunami Books
2585 Willamette St., Eugene
Free
Lee Boutell will read from and sign copies of We Can Change the World: An Intimate Journey through the Early 1970s, which chronicles the rise from 1971 to 1976 of Eggsnatchur Natural Foods Restaurant, the first organic vegetarian restaurant in Eugene. The restaurant workers became an idealistic group that served the community and supported social change — from protesting the Vietnam War and ending the military draft to challenging environmental destruction.
First Matter Press Book Launch Party
Presented by Literary Arts
6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10
Literary Arts
925 S.W. Washington St., Portland
Free
Sponsor
First Matter Press, receipient of an Oregon Literary Publishing Fellowship from Literary Arts, will host a party to celebrate the launch of two books of poetry: greenhouse by Sophie Hall and Suspended in My Insecticide Jar by Clara McAuley. Cover artist Alexandra Strenfel, a Seattle-based painter, collage artist, and ceramicist, will also be in attendance.
Reading: Sherri Levine and Elisa Carlsen
Presented by Annie Bloom’s Books
7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13
Annie Bloom’s Books
7834 S.W. Capitol Hwy., Portland
Free
Sherri Levine, author of four poetry books, will read from her newest release, I Remember Not Sleeping. Portland poet Matthew Dickman calls the collection “good company for anyone who has struggled with mental health, for anyone who has felt alone, for anyone being bounced around in the sea of life.” Levine will be joined by Pushcart Prize nominee Elisa Carlsen, reading from Cormorant. Her new poetry collection considers human involvement in a controversial salmon recovery project in the Pacific Northwest.
Week 3: Aug. 15-21
Author event: The Explorers by Amanda Bellows
Presented by Roundabout Books
6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15
Roundabout Books & Cafe
900 N.W. Mt. Washington Drive, Suite #110, Bend
$5 admission; free with book purchase
Amanda Bellows, historian and author of The Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions, will read from her book about a diverse group of American pioneers who escaped lives of poverty, racism, and sexism. She will chronicle how little-known risk-takers, including James Beckwourth, Matthew Henson, and Harriet Chalmers Adams, set out to find unknown territory and achieve personal freedom. Bellows will be joined in conversation by author Glenn Voelz.
Graft Union Reading Series & Open Mic
Presented by Literary Arts
7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16
Literary Arts
925 S.W. Washington St., Portland
Free
Sponsor
Hear students and alumni from Portland State University, University of Portland, Portland Community College, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Lewis & Clark University, Reed College, and other local writers at the third monthly Graft Union Reading Series & Open Mic. Aimed at celebrating new voices, the event is a community-driven collective for students and will feature food and drink for guests. To sign up to read at the open mic, contact @graftunionreadingseries on Instagram.
Willy Vlautin in conversation with Patterson Hood
Presented by Powell’s Books
7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16
Powell’s City of Books
1005 W. Burnside St., Portland
Free
Willy Vlautin will read from his haunting new novel, The Horse, a story exploring loneliness, art, addiction, love, and empathy. When a journeyman musician is haunted by his past, it takes a blind and helpless horse showing up at his doorstep to change the course of his life. While he tries to figure out whether the horse is real or imagined, he heads down memory lane. Vlautin will be joined by Patterson Hood, frontman, songwriter, and guitar player for Drive-By Truckers. Read Oregon ArtsWatch writer Valarie Smith’s recent interview with Vlautin about his new novel here.
Deb Miller Landau in conversation with Kimberly A.C. Wilson
Presented by Powell’s Books
7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22
Powell’s City of Books
1005 W. Burnside St., Portland
Free
Deb Miller Landau explores the 1987 murder of Lita McClinton in her true crime release, A Devil Went Down to Georgia. McClinton, an accomplished Black woman from a respected Atlanta family, was married to millionaire Jim Sullivan for a decade before leaving him. Her subsequent in-cold-blood murder shocked her affluent neighborhood. Landau’s book not only lays out the details of the case, but also explores the lack of evidence, racial bias in the justice system, the manhunt for the killer, and her the victim’s familty’s dedication to getting justice. Landau will be joined in conversation by Kimberly A.C. Wilson, executive director of Hedgebrook, a literary nonprofit based on Whidbey Island.
Week 4: Aug. 22-31
Author event: Craig Rosebraugh, Burning Rage of a Dying Planet
Presented by Tsunami Books
5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24
Tsunami Books
2585 Willamette St., Eugene
Free
Sponsor
Craig Rosebraugh, author, lawyer, and environmental activist, will be at Tsunami Books to read from and sign copies of Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: The FBI vs. the Earth Liberation Front. The new edition of the book, with a foreword by Extinction Rebellion co-founder Tamsin Omond, lifts the veil on radical environmentalism and chronicles a firsthand history of the Earth Liberation Front — the organization that has inflicted more than $100 million in damage since 1997 to timber companies, ski resorts, and car dealerships alleged to contribute to environmental decline. Rosebraugh considers whether the violence and ideology are acceptable and justifiable, and offers a clarification on strategies of repression used to destroy activist movements by the United States government.
