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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 2015)
November 4, 2015 Page 15 Stoked for Wordstock C OnTinued frOm f rOnT the only women of color at the event either. Nearly a fifth of the presenters will be people of color, and just over half of them will be women. The festival will be split in half between local/regional authors and out-of-state ones, meaning that it while it will give Portland- ers and visitors alike a chance to familiarize themselves with local writers, it will also allow them to learn more about the literary world at large. “The goal from the beginning was to build a festival with some- thing for everyone,” said Bullock. “I hope that Portland will find that is true at Wordstock this year.” Literary Arts also stepped for- ward this year with its first ever Writers of Color Fellowship, which received nearly 50 ap- plicants in June and will be an- nounced along with their seven other award winners this Janu- ary. A visiting African-American poet Claudia Rankine will serve as Literary Arts’ February artist in residence, and the Multnomah Portland Observer about their in- teraction with Wordstock and their latest books. “I’m so excited to be coming back to my home town like this,” said Watson. “I started writing This Side of Home back when I was junior at Jefferson. I didn’t even have words yet for things like ‘gentrification.’ I remember the Fred Meyer’s on MLK being transformed into a police precinct. I remember feeling the city chang- ing. And I just started writing. And to be able to come home and be honored for my writing and help bring diversity and show kids that black women can be authors, and that is so much for me.” Sandra Cisneros admitted that this being her first time at Word- stock, she didn’t know much about it going in, but that she’s ex- cited to be a part of it this year, and to share work from her new book, A House of My Own and to host the festival’s film night. “Portland is such a literary city,” said Cisneros. “Like Buen- oes Aires or Rome, you feel liv- ened up being there. It’s a city where people love to read.” And as it turns out, it’s also a city that loves to write. This year’s Wordstock will also feature a number of writing workshops, in- cluding an opportunity to work in small classroom setting with Wat- son herself. Her workshop will focus on the places we call home, and how we critique and celebrate those places. The workshop itself costs $45 and participants must World-acclaimed Chicana author Sandra Cisneros makes her first register ahead of time. visit to the Portland literary festival ‘Wordstock’ Saturday to share Watson and Cisneros won’t be work from her new book, ‘A House of My Own.’ Renée Watson, author of ‘This Side of Home,’ returns to her Portland roots to participle in ‘Wordstock,’ Portland’s annual book festival. County Library plans to give away up to 7,000 copies of The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez for this year’s Every- body Reads. Wordstock will be held on Sat- urday, Nov. 7 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Portland Art Museum. Entry is $15 and includes admis- sion to the museum for the entire day, events and readings through- out the festival, and a $5 voucher to spend at an extensive book fair, where visitors can discover a new poetry press, pick up information about studying creative writing academically, get recommenda- tions from the library workers and pick up festival authors books from Powell’s.Private workshops are additionally priced, but all reg- istration fees include admission to the festival. All attendees 17 and under and anyone with a valid high school student ID can attend the festival for free. For more in- formation, visit literary-arts.org/ what-we-do/wordstock. This page is sponsored by Oregon Lottery R 2015 C alendar November SUNDAY 1 Daylight Savings Time Ends National Author’s Day All Saint’s Day National Family Literacy Day MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 2 Daniel Boone born, 1734 International Space Station Opened in 2000 3 National Sandwich Day 4 Gail Haley born, 1939 First Wagon Train Reached CA (1841) King Tut’s Tomb Discovered (1922) FRIDAY 5 Guy Fawkes Day 6 National Nachos Day SATURDAY 7 Hug-a-Bear Day Scientist Marie Curie born in 1867