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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2019)
Page 6 The Skanner Portland & Seattle March 20, 2019 Arts & Entertainment By Saundra Sorensen For The Skanner News roadway Books co-owners Sally McPherson and Kim Bissell want Portland to focus on nov- elist, poet, essayist, and activist James Baldwin in the coming year. Though Baldwin died in 1987, his reflections on race, sexuality, and iden- tity have only garnered more attention in recent years. A film adaptation of his novel, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” was recognized at the most recent Academy awards. “Remember This House,” B his unfinished memoir about his friend- ships with Civil Rights Move- ment leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., was adapted into the 2016 docu- mentary “I Am Not Your Ne- gro.” But Baldwin Author James Baldwin, shown here in also wrote po- London in 1968, is the subject of a yearlong etry, publish- promotion and celebration by Northeast ing Jimmy’s Portland bookstore Broadway Books. Blues in 1983, he often used entertain- and his essays documented his life as a ment as an entry point young, gay, Black man so for his own exploration alienated by early 20th of race and politics — his century American cul- book-length “The Devil ture that he spent much Finds Work” is part crit- of his life living and icism of and part nostal- working in France. Born gia for the films of his in New York City during youth and early adult- the Harlem Renaissance, hood, as well as a with- PHOTO BY ALLAN WARREN (CC BY-SA 3.0) VIA WIKIPEDIA Store will also discount Baldwin’s books this year PHOTO BY SAUNDRA SORENSEN Broadway Books Kicks Off Year of Reading James Baldwin ering criticism of Holly- wood’s politics. Standing in front of a shelf full of Baldwin’s books, McPherson and Bissell point out that the “ There real- ly is some- thing for everyone, which is another reason this really ap- pealed to us prolific author’s ability to switch between fic- tion, memoir, essays, plays, and poetry make him especially accessi- ble. “There really is some- thing for everyone, which is another reason this really appealed to us,” McPherson said. “Be- cause it’s not just for one kind of reader.” They find his work also complements more recent fiction offerings, which inspired the pro- gram’s first event of the year, a Book Club meet- ing on April 7 to com- pare If Beale Street Could Talk with Tayari Jones’ An American Marriage. Published 44 years apart, both novels depict the impact of incarcera- tion on Black families. In June the bookstore will host an open mic where attendees will be invited to read their fa- vorite Baldwin passages, and in the fall they plan to highlight Baldwin’s nonfiction work. But the calendar of events is very much evolving, and since Baldwin wrote at length about music and the arts, McPherson and Bissell are brainstorming the potential for multimedia programming. They told The Skanner they wel- come suggestions from the community. Ultimately, the pro- gram is about nurturing readers’ relationships with Baldwin. While he occupies a prominent space in the cultural zeit- geist, McPherson and Bissell want to encour- age the community to go beyond the reading more commonly assigned in school. McPherson noted that she is reading Going to Meet the Man, a collec- tion of his short stories, for the first time — and finds herself blown away by the language. “We were so inspired by how timely the words were when he wrote them, and how timely they still are,” Bissell said. She added that while she tends to prefer essays, in revisiting Baldwin she is “falling into fiction.” For that reason, the bookstore is offering 20 See BALDWIN on page 7 ALLEN TEMPLE CME CHURCH 70TH CHURCH ANNIVERSARY FAMILY AND FRIENDS WORSHIP SERVICE Theme: “Built and empowered by Jesus to witness and serve” —Matthew 16:18-19 Colors: Navy Blue & Silver Speaker: Rev. Dr. Johnny Pack IV, Pastor Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church When: Sunday, March 24, 2019, 4:00 p.m. Where: Maranatha Church 4222 NE 12th Ave., Portland, OR