Literary Arts at 30

Salmon Rushdie refers to Literary Arts as "one of the indispensable literary centers in the country." With programs as varied as Poetry Downtown, which returns this year to bring poetry to busses throughout the city, to Portland Arts & Lectures, which beckons writers throughout the world to visit our city, Literary Arts coaxes out and encourages the literary lover in each of us.

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Needmore is embarking our second year in our supporting partnership with Literary Arts as their web agency of record. For us, this means working side by side with an incredibly determined and creative team to keep their online presence fresh by bringing programs to their website (such as their recent announcement that they are folding Wordstock into their already diverse programming). This also means we know a thing or two about what is in store for this year and can say, categorically, Literary Arts is going to blow you away. This year has already started out with a bang. Earlier in the month, Literary Arts hosted their 30th birthday celebration extravaganza featuring a rousing call to action by Elizabeth Gilbert (who's TED talk will have you inspired to just start creating already), wry satire courtesy of Calvin Trillin (PAL's very first speaker back in 1984), and sweet tunes by Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, to name a few.

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I have since devoured Elizabeth's novel The Signature of All Things, breathing it in one hectic weekend in the moments in between. We've additionally challenged ourselves to read each author's book this year, which should be an easy feat given this year's lineup. Calvin Trillin's Forty Years of Funny Stuff is up next.

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As they head into kicking-off their 30th anniversary season and we'll be there for each show and will be reading our hearts out. Would love to see you there.