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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 2015)
Ain’t Misbehavin’ Focus on Diversity Portland Center Stage’s tribute to black musicians of Harlem QR code for Portland Observer Online TriMet hires executive to lead equity department See Metro, page 9 See story, page 5 ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLIV Number 47 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • November 4, 2015 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity for Stoked Wordstock Literary festival has new diversity focus O livia O livia T he P OrTland O bserver A beloved Portland literary festival will kick off Satur- day with an added focus on diverse authors and hopes of reaching out more than ever to communities of color and young people. After a one year hiatus and some negotiation, Word- stock returns under new leadership from Literary Arts, Oregon’s prominent literary non-profit organization and annual presenter of the Ore- gon Book Awards and pres- tigious Portland Arts & Lec- ture series. When building this year’s festival lineup, Literary Arts put diversity and inclusion at the forefront of their curato- rial thinking, both in who is represented in the festival Renée Watson and what stories are told in their work, subjects such as gender, sexuality, race, age, genre, geography, independent publishing, and more. The nonprofit pulled together an advisory board and spent months planning how to keep the event inclusive while making sure that this year, everyone 17 and under would get in for free. “A festival should reflect the many different kinds of stories that are being told in many different ways in our thriving literary cul- ture,” says Amanda Bullock, Wordstock’s new festival and events manager. “We’re off to a great start and I am proud that Wordstock 2015 features stories that will res- Sandra Cisneros onate with many different people.” And different voices is spot on – the organization has managed to land some of the most famous voices of col- or in the modern literary scene, including internationally acclaimed Chicana author Sandra Cisneros and Jefferson High School alumn-turned-celebrated writer Renée Wat- son. Both Watson and Cisneros took some time to talk to the by PhOTO by O livia O livia / The P OrTland O bserver ‘Wordstock,’ the annual Portland book festival, returns Saturday, Nov. 7 to the Portland Art Museum with a new emphasis on the diversity of the authors involved and the participation of communities of color and young people. Promoting the festival are Amanda Bullock, (second from left) Literary Arts new festival and events manager; J.S. May (far left) of the Portland Arts Museum; Andrew Proctor (second from right), Literary Arts’ executive director; and Brian Ferriso, Portland Art Museum director and chief curator. C OnTinued On P age 15