SCOOP D.C. BE HATIN’: Last week, Washington Post writer Dan Zak slammed the Portlandia stage show in what turned out to be but a warning shot in the brewing D.C.-PDX rivalry. America’s Ottawa then dispa   More

Arts & Books A healthy debate is percolating in response to my profile of Tom Bissell, bandying whether he really is the finest writer in Portland. I contend he is. (Commenter Dan Felder sagely notes that Bissell is a Guggenheim Fellow; he's using the estimated $43,000 prize to finish his apostle-tomb book Bones That Shine Like Fire.) But there are lots of alternatives; as soon as I handed Bissell those laurels, ...   More

Cover Story I saw the best mind of my generation, and he asked me to watch a crappy movie. Tom Bissell is not a household name in Portland.   More

Headout New literary and music festival This! Fest debuts at the Woods in Sellwood this Friday and Saturday, with readings from more than two dozen prominent Portland writers, ranging from the established    More