David Oates

We welcome David Oates to read from his new book The Mountains of Paris, published by Oregon State University Press.

Writing in the present tense about the seasons he spent living in Paris, waking each morning to a view of Notre Dame, Oates is led to revise his life story from one of trudging and occasional woe into one punctuated by nourishing and sometimes unsettling brilliance. It is a rare opportunity to consider what it means to be human, through time-stopping moments with music, art, and deep history. The book offers memories that intrude into the bustle of Paris life: a Billy Graham crusade at age thirteen, a mountain pass, a love, a loss. In long years of mountaineering, Oates fought the self-loathing which had infused him as the gay kid in the Baptist pew.

“Clearly and beautifully written, lyrical, poetic, and imaginative in style . . . I was drawn into how intensely particular and honest Oates was about his spiritual journey growing up and into adulthood. His range of knowledge about the natural world, art, music, literature, political history, philosophy, and religion makes the book unique in its reach.” –Gretel Van Wieren, author of Listening at Lookout Creek: Nature in Spiritual Practice

David Oates is the author of two books of poetry and four works of nonfiction, including Paradise Wild: Reimagining American Nature and City Limits: Walking Portland’s Boundary. His award-winning essays have appeared in Georgia Review, Creative Nonfiction, and Orion. He was Kittredge Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Montana and is founder and general editor of Kelson Books in Portland.