by Morgan Mann
Readers and writers rejoice—Wordstock is back and better than before. This year, the festival will be on Saturday, November 7th, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Portland Art Museum. You won’t want to miss this great gathering of lit-minded locals.
Relaunched by Literary Arts, this will be the 30th anniversary year for Wordstock, Portland’s Book Festival. Wordstock is a celebration of the connections formed across the literary community. It is a gathering of readers, writers, publishers, and funders who see literature as a valuable element of Portland culture.
At this year’s Wordstock festival, there will be more than 90 authors, 40 events, 17 workshops, a book fair, pop-up performances, and food carts and a beer garden. Authors include those familiar to University of Portland like Brian Doyle, Sara Jaffe, and Michael McGregor, as well as bigger names like Ursula K. Le Guin, Jesse Eisenberg, and Mary Jo Bang. The book fair lets you buy books from local and national writers, publishers, and bookstores (like Powell’s), and provides plenty of free lit swag. The food carts are new this year, and will include Koi Fusion, Bunk Sandwiches, Ruby Jewel, and (for those 21+) Widmer Brothers Brewing and A to Z Wineworks. From what I’ve seen, this relaunch of Wordstock is going to bring the festival to a whole new level of attractions and encourage more interaction among attendants.
I went to the last Wordstock almost two years ago, and can say it’s a great experience. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, trying to navigate an entire hall of writers and publishers. I found that a lot of the vendors were geared toward writers, which I—a mere reader—found frustrating, but there’s still plenty for everyone. I bought a couple little books, and picked up plenty of free swag; my Wordstock “wanna faulkner” button still graces my bulletin board. The one thing I would recommend is getting your hands on a program and planning ahead, since I felt a little lost last time. I think many of the changes made by Literary Arts to the venue and infrastructure will remedy that feeling, but it’s best to be prepared. It was definitely worth going two years ago, and will be better this year with new and improved events, vendors, and activities.
Head over to www.literary-arts.org/what-we-do/wordstock for (confusing but comprehensive) information about Wordstock and to buy your ticket. Also, a complete program is available here: http://www.literary-arts.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015-Wordstock-On-Stage-Event-Schedule.pdf
Your Wordstock ticket is only $15, and gets you into all the festival’s events and has a $5 voucher for a book at the book fair. Too expensive for your college budget? I feel you. If you volunteer at the festival, your entrance is free—this is a great way to get involved and get in.
However you get there, Wordstock is definitely a literary festival you’ll want to “pull up a chair” for, assuming you can find a moment’s rest among all the attractions.