An American Master returns: Tim O'Brien delivers his first new novel in two decades, a brilliant and rollicking odyssey, in which a bank robbery sparks “a satirical romp through a country plagued by deceit." Interviewed by Steph Opitz.
Stephanie Adams-Santos's incantatory long poem draws the reader into a dreamworld where the barrier between life and death grows porous, populated by ancestors and spirits. Megan Kamalei Kakimoto's debut story collection is a blazing, bodily, raucous journey through contemporary Hawaiian identity and womanhood. Moderated by Kayla Kumari Upadhyahya.
Cutis Sittenfeld, author of the New York Times bestseller Romantic Comedy, in which a comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamy pop star flips the script on all her assumptions, interviewed by Eden Dawn.
The new book by Debra Magpie Earling is a devastatingly beautiful novel that challenges prevailing historical narratives of Sacajewea. In his new novel, Justin Torres mines lost histories—personal and collective. Moderated by Stacy D. Flood.
Taking as inspiration his mother’s own Red Cross service, Luis Alberto Urrea's new novel is an overlooked story of women’s heroism in World War II. Alice Winn has written a haunting, virtuosic debut novel about two young men who fall in love during World War I. Moderated by OPB's Geoff Norcross.
When a father goes missing, his family’s desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another a thrilling page-turner, a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from Angie Kim. From Edan Lepucki comes an enthralling saga about family secrets that grow more powerful with time, set against the magical, dangerous landscape of California. Moderated by Neal Thompson.
A debut novel of female friendship and coming-of-age from Mexico City to London and Paris from Jazmina Barrera. Michelle Wildgen's novel is an intoxicating escape into the cutthroat world of wine and the complicated terrain of women’s friendship. Moderated by Fiona McCann.
Join 2023 National Book Award–honored authors Paul Harding and Paisley Rekdal in a cross-genre conversation on how to bring historical voices to life, and how to translate US history for a contemporary literary landscape. Moderated by Anis Mojgani, Oregon’s current Poet Laureate. Presented in partnership with the National Book Foundation.
Omar El Akkad interviews Naomi Alderman about her new novel, a dazzling tour de force where a handful of friends plot a daring heist to save the world from the tech giants whose greed threatens life as we know it.
From South Korea to the American South, two multi-generational novels explore inheritance, grief, and family. E. J. Koh's debut novel is an elegantly wrought family saga of memory, trauma, and empathy, and a stunning testament to the consequences and fortunes of inheritance. From the best-selling author Ayana Mathis, a searing multi-generational new novel—set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama—about a mother fighting for her sanity and survival. Moderated by Chelsea Bieker.
Two thrilling new story collections from Kathleen Alcott and Vauhini Vara. Moderated by Kimberly King Parsons (Black Light).
Dave Miller interviews Jonathan Lethem, about his new novel, a sweeping story of community, crime, and gentrification, tracing more than fifty years of life in one Brooklyn neighborhood.
A study of character studies. From Patrick deWitt comes the story of Bob Comet, a man who has lived his life through and for literature, unaware that his own experience is a poignant and affecting narrative in itself. Lydia Kiesling's new novel is a propulsive and challenging story about class, power, politics, and desire told through the life of one woman—her social milieu, her romances, her unarticulated wants. Moderated by Daniel Nieh.
Celebrate the tenth and final installment of the boundary-pushing literary journal, which explores all the ways of coming to an end. Featuring editor John Freeman and contributors Omar El Akkad, Debra Gwartney, and Sasha LaPointe.
Co-author Andrew Child is joined by moderator Dave Miller to discuss his most recent thrilling addition to the Jack Reacher series.
Artists Carson Ellis and Walter Scott discuss the contemporary art scene with Portland Monthly associate editor Matthew Trueherz.
Mysterious creatures appear and disrupt life, on a Puget Sound island and in the high desert of Nevada, in new novels from Julia Phillips and Willy Vlautin. Moderated by Stacy D. Flood.
Casey McQuiston discusses about their most recent romance, a story as full of delicious food and beautiful scenery as it is of love and bisexual longing, with Kristen Arnett.
Gina María Balibrera's The Volcano Daughters is a searingly original debut about two sisters and their flight from genocide—which takes them from Hollywood to Paris to San Francisco’s Cannery Row—each […]
Facilitator: Damien Miles-Paulson (Grades 9-12) Write about your life ... as a zombie! In this workshop, you'll take a normal day and turn it into an imaginative story where you […]
Set in the world’s largest ocean, this awe-filled book explores that last wild place we have yet to colonize in a still-unfolding oceanic game, and interweaves beautiful writing, rich characterization, profound themes of technology and the environment, and a deep exploration of our shared humanity in a way only Richard Powers can.
Thrilling mysteries from two of today's best in the genre: Ramona Emerson and Marcie R. Rendon. Moderated by Rachel Black Elk.
Romance authors Lily Chu and Katelyn Doyle are joined by OPB’s “All Things Considered” host Crystal Ligori to discuss their latest novels.
Authors Brian Evenson and Stephen Graham Jones present their modern takes on uniquely American horror stories with moderator Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr.
Rachel Kushner and Danzy Senna discuss their novels of double-dealing and dark humor with moderator Mat Johnson.
From R. O. Kwon, an exhilarating, blazing-hot novel about a woman caught between her desires and her life. In the debut novel by Kimberly King Parsons, a young mother, in denial after the death of her sister, navigates the dizzying landscapes of desire, guilt, and grief in this darkly comic. Moderated by Genevieve Hudson.
Haunted houses, a mountain that sighs, ghosts and angels, monsters made of ink... it's spooky season at this haunting discussion. With Alisa Alering, Layla Martinez, and moderator Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya.
Bestselling author Ransom Riggs is back with a new series, Sunderworld. Interviewer Emily Suvada.
Stories of intergenerational kinship, families original and found, of loss and healing from Renée Watson and Joe Wilkins, with moderator Mitchell S. Jackson.
Join us for a very special event with Rebecca Yarros, the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over twenty novels including Fourth Wing and In the Likely Event. Yarros will be in conversation with Laini Taylor.
Cleyvis Natera and Leni Zumas join OPB's Allison Frost in a conversation on the ability of physical spaces to intervene in, or confirm, existing power structures. The cost of capitalism is higher than money exchanged; these novels examine bought vs built community care and the relationship between freedom and survival.
Patricia Lockwood and Katie Yee join Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya to discuss illness, heartbreak, reading Anna Karenina so hard you "almost died" and naming your cancerous tumor after your husband's mistress.
Emma Pattee and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. join Daniel Nieh in a single event about their books that take place within a single day.
Jess Walter and Kristen Arnett join Jess Hazel to discuss their wry comedic fiction. Each protagonist is a misfit in some way and, in true outcast fashion, assemble their own cast of eclectic characters to accompany them on their journey.
Jasmine Guillory and Adib Khorram join Anita Kelly for a panel on queer contemporary romance.
Join us for a very special event with Stacey Abrams, New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur and political leader, author of a twisty and prescient new thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Avery Keene series, that follows Avery down a dark rabbit hole into the breathtaking—and dangerous—use of AI in the medical industry. Abrams will be in conversation with OPB's Dave Miller.
Jon Raymond and Emily Adrian join Kimberly King Parsons in talking about about love in stories—not to be confused with Love Stories.
Embracing the supernatural, Quan Barry and Daniel H. Wilson share their new novels, joined by moderator Mat Johnson.
Join us for a special event with Emma Donoghue about her sweeping historical novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station, in conversation with OPB's Crystal Ligori.
Omar El Akkad and Karen Russell join Rachel Saslow in a conversation about the ongoing American reckoning. From the destruction and violence in Palestine to the unwillingness to address the climate emergency at home, the West is overdue for a wakeup call.
Multiple perspectives for an intertwining story; Anna North and Eliana Ramage are joined by moderator Genevieve Hudson to share their novels.
Olufunke Grace Bankole and Souvankham Thammavongsa join Cecily Wong to discuss their novels featuring young women confronting paths not taken, navigating displacement from home, and coming face to face with fate.
Join us for a special event with Angela Flournoy, National Book Award finalist, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize finalist, and the author of an era-defining novel about five Black women over the course of their twenty-year friendship, as they move through the dizzying and sometimes precarious period between young adulthood and midlife. Flournoy will be interviewed by Renée Watson.
Join us for an evening with two National Book Award authors: Megha Majumdar (longlist for fiction, 2025) and Jason De León (winner for nonfiction, 2024) in conversation with Ruth Dickey, the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation.
