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Nonfiction

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Hilary Kearney

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

At the heart of every beehive is a queen bee. Since her well-being is linked to the well-being of the entire colony, the ability to find her among the residents of the hive is an essential beekeeping skill. In QueenSpotting (Storey), experienced beekeeper and professional “swarm catcher” Hilary Kearney challenges readers to “spot the queen” with 48 fold-out visual puzzles — vivid up-close photos of the queen hidden among her many subjects. QueenSpotting celebrates the unique, fascinating life of the queen bee and chronicles royal hive happenings such as The Virgin Death Match, The Nuptual Flight — when the queen mates with a cloud of male drones high in the air — and the dramatic Exodus of the Swarm from the hive.

Free

Jay Wexler, Our Non-Christian Nation

Rose City Book Pub 1329 NE Fremont, Portland, OR, United States

Join me as I talk about my new book, Our Non-Christian Nation. Free, open to all, and no RSVP required. I will sign books and also draw a picture of your favorite fruit or vegetable saying something idiotic, if you want. Less and less Christian demographically, America is now home to an ever-larger number of people who say they identify with no religion at all. These non-Christians have increasingly been demanding their full participation in public life, bringing their arguments all the way to the Supreme Court. The law is on their side, but that doesn't mean that their attempts are not met with suspicion or outright hostility. In Our Non-Christian Nation, Jay Wexler travels the country to engage the non-Christians who have called on…

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Free

Anthony McCann in Conversation With Leah Sottile

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

In 2016, a group of armed, divinely inspired right-wing protestors led by Ammon Bundy occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the high desert of eastern Oregon. Encamped in the shadowlands of the republic, insisting that the federal government had no right to own public land, the occupiers were seen by a divided country as either dangerous extremists dressed up as cowboys, or as heroes insisting on restoring the rule of the Constitution. From the occupation’s beginnings, to the trials of the occupiers in federal court and their tumultuous aftermaths, Anthony McCann’s Shadowlands (Bloomsbury) is a clarifying, exhilarating story of a nation facing an uncertain future and a murky past in a time of great collective reckoning. Gathering into its vortex the realities of social…

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Free

Back Fence PDX: Summer 2019: Intro to Storytelling

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

Master the art of live true personal storytelling, to get in on the fun on stage at The Moth, Back Fence PDX, or any of the storytelling shows in town. In this three week intro course, you will learn the basics of story construction using the five-part story arc, and how to use themes to choose your details and hone the right tone. You will also get the goods on how to deliver your best performance onstage. This class culminates in a live storytelling show, where you’ll tell your story before a live audience and have your story recorded as an audio file for you to keep. Mindy Nettifee, MA is one of the producers of Back Fence PDX and host for the Moth. She…

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$175

Voices of a People’s History: A Movement of Movements

Revolution Hall 1300 SE Stark St, Portland, OR, United States

Voices of a People’s History celebrates diverse movement leaders by sharing their stories, in their own words. Leaders of today perform readings of notable speeches and essays from inspiring figures past and present. It's a radically-empowering opportunity to hear the echoes of history in the modern day. Voices is the biggest night of the year for OPAL, and brings us closer together while strengthening our resolve to fight for racial, social and economic justice. Featuring Performances By Portland City Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty Gresham City Councilor Eddy Morales, Founder, East County Rising Paul Lumley, Executive Director, Native American Youth and Family Center Reyna Lopez, Executive Director, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) Ana del Rocio, Executive Director, Oregon Futures Lab and ColorPAC Nakisha Nathan, Executive…

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$25 – $50

An Environmental History of the Willamette Valley

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

Western Oregon's Willamette Basin, once a vast wilderness, became a thriving community almost overnight. When Oregon territory was opened for homesteading in the early 1800s, most of the intrepid pioneers settled in the valley, spurring rapid changes in the landscape. Heralded as fertile with a mild climate and an abundance of natural resources, the valley enticed farmers, miners, and loggers, who were quickly followed by the construction of rail lines and roads. Dams were built to harness the once free-flowing Willamette River and provide power to the growing population. As cities rose, people like Portland architect Edward Bennett and conservationist governor Tom McCall worked to contain urban sprawl. In An Environmental History of the Willamette Valley (History Press), authors Elizabeth and William Orr bring to…

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Free

Writing Your Life Story with Christopher Luna

Angst Gallery 1015 Main St, Vancouver, WA, United States

Christopher Luna is now offering a new eight-week workshop/writers group called Writing Your Life Story at Angst Gallery on Thursdays from 10:30am – 1:00pm. Document your memories for your family or for possible future publication. Complete short timed writings as well as weekly take-home assignments. Give and receive feedback in a safe, informal environment. Christopher will introduce the participants to the techniques of creative nonfiction storytelling which uses the content of one’s life as the foundation for narrative. He will introduce current examples in popular nonfiction and memoir to assist the process. Participants will be encouraged to share their writing in a safe environment (no one will be required to share their stories) with the option of receiving feedback from the facilitator and other students.…

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$225

Lisa Taddeo

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

It thrills us and torments us. It controls our thoughts, destroys our lives, and it's all we live for. Yet we almost never speak of it. And as a buried force in our lives, desire remains largely unexplored — until now. Over the past eight years, journalist Lisa Taddeo has driven across the country six times to embed herself with ordinary women from different regions and backgrounds. The result, Three Women (Avid Reader/Simon & Schuster), is the deepest nonfiction portrait of desire ever written and one of the most anticipated books of the year. Based on years of immersive reporting, and told with astonishing frankness and immediacy, Three Women is a groundbreaking portrait of erotic longing in today's America, exposing the fragility, complexity, and inequality…

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Free

Book Launch: “Prospects of Life After Birth” by David Hedges

Mother Foucault's Bookshop 523 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR, United States

Lifelong Oregon resident, David Hedges, poet & activist, invites you to the launch of his first full-length book, Prospects of Life After Birth Birth: Memoir in Poetry and Prose. In the words of celebrated poet, X.J. Kennedy, “David Hedges has given us a major work of literature—an account of his early life, in vivid, masterfully crafted verse.” Join David as he recounts the many (mis-)adventures of his youth, growing up in Northeast Portland in the 1940s and ’50s. You can read more about Prospects and David’s other work at https://david.hedges.name/books/ Prospects of Life After Birth: Memoir in Poetry and Prose chronicles the first 17 years in the life of Oregon poet David Hedges, from the high drama of his birth through one lively adventure after another.…

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Free

Rob Bell – An Introduction To Joy

Revolution Hall 1300 SE Stark St, Portland, OR, United States

Rob Bell is the New York Times best selling author of Love Wins, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, The Zimzum of Love, How To Be Here and What is the Bible?. His podcast, called the RobCast, is the #1 spirituality podcast and iTunes named it Best of 2015. He’s been profiled in the New Yorker, toured with Oprah, and in 2011 Time Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. He has a regular show at Largo, the legendary comedy and music club in Los Angeles, where he lives with wife Kristen and their three children.

$25 – $75
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