Did you miss Wordstock this year? Here’s a piece written by UP English Professor and Wordstock volunteer Dr. Brassard to tell you what you missed and why you should attend next fall.
Wordstock is one of my favorite things about living in Portland. Like Powell’s, it showcases our city’s love of the written word, and I visit the festival every year to hear some favorite authors read from their work and respond to audience questions, as well as discover new writers by pure chance. In recent years, I have been thrilled to hear writers like Jennifer Egan, Mona Simpson, Ethan Canin, and Anne Enright discuss their new books, work habits, and favorite authors (because as we all know, the best writers are first of all voracious and discriminating readers). One writer I knew nothing about before attending Wordstock in 2009 was David Rakoff, a wonderfully dark, funny, smart, and perceptive author of essays (including his ‘classic’ Half-Empty, for those among us who are not ‘happy all the time’ people), who recently died of cancer at age 47. A perennial local favorite at the festival is Chelsea Cain, a witty and self-deprecating author of thrillers set in Portland, starring a vicious serial killer named Gretchen Lowell who looks like Storm Large, and the obsessed detective who pursues her (her books have been bought by FX, who will produced a television series adaptation). Sadly, I have also heard authors at Wordstock who completely turn me off and left me determined to never pick up their work (usually because they were pompous, self-important, egotistical, and sometimes downright rude). You’ve heard of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’? In this case, I fully admit to judging books by their authors’ personality.
This year, I decided to volunteer for a few hours, instead of attending as a customer, and I certainly recommend the experience to anyone who wants to save the reasonable entrance fee and who hopes to interact with other book nerds and perhaps see authors up close and personal. My particular post, to assist the stage manager in one of the smaller rooms, was not especially eventful, although I got to meet and escort a young graphic novel author, Brendan Hay, who used to work for Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, and mentioned that he conceived his angry animated hero while being stuck in Los Angeles traffic. After my shift, I was able to wander around the festival and attend a few sessions. The best one featured four women writers, including Lois Leveen (a visiting author this coming Spring to our Readings & Lectures Series), who discussed the different ways they researched real women’s lives and turned this research into fictionalized narratives. Bottom line: each year at Wordstock is different, depending on the author line up. Regardless of the ‘star wattage,’ however, Wordstock remains a wonderful opportunity to discover new authors or books, and signing up as a volunteer is an affordable way to get your ‘lit fix.’ If you prefer complete freedom to attend as many readings as possible without responsibilities, it can be yours for a mere $7.00. See you there next year.