Literary Politics

Flipping through the publishing catalogs, there's clear evidence that 2003 became, necessarily by war, a political year. For Portland readers and literati, however, it was also a year that saw a slew of new books from local writers, a new literary forum courtesy of Tin House, and a handful of new periodicals.

1. The Anti-Bush League. The trauma of Sept. 11, and the traumatizing braying of "traitor" from the right-wing toward anyone critical of the junta, subsided enough for authors to try to gauge the state of the union. Among the year's notable and needed tonics against the toxic Texan were Jim Hightower's Thieves in High Places, David Corn's The Lies of George W. Bush, Al Franken's more thorough title, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, and Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose's Bushwhacked.

2. Flowering of Power. Not surprisingly, a renewed interest in the radical '60s emerged to lend encouragement to modern-day rebels. Here's a short list of evidence for the trend: Ann Charters' comprehensive The Portable Sixties Reader, Bill Ayers' Fugitive Days, and Mark Kurlansky's just-released 1968: The Year that Rocked the World.

3. Historic Volumes. Speaking of Kurlansky's 1968, the author has also husbanded books of "mono-history," works that take on one subject and examine how it influenced history. This year, several books took their cue from Kurlansky's seminal Cod: Pierre Laszlo's Salt (Kurlansky had already written his own sodic tome), Barbara Freese's Coal, Pierre Boisard's charming Camembert, and Mary Roach's disappointing Stiff, which was a skeleton needing flesh.

4. News from the Front. Picking up from the 2002 publication of Gabe Hudson's Dear Mr. President, publishers started taking the Gulf War (a.k.a. Oil War I) seriously with a number of accounts both fictive and factual. Most notable were Joel Turnipseed's Baghdad Express and former Portlander Anthony Swofford's Jarhead. With the publication of his first book, Swofford was transformed from a guy who couldn't get hired by Powell's to a respected new voice in American letters. And along the way, he pocketed a sizable check from Hollywood, as well.

5. Writing School. Swofford was also one of the writers featured in Tin House's successful first Summer Writers Workshop at Reed College in July. He was joined by the mordant Lorrie Moore, Denis Johnson, Dorothy Allison, filmmaker Todd Haynes and more. Writers--and readers--should kill to enroll in the 2004 workshop.

6. Church of Chuck. Portland author Chuck Palahniuk was much in the news this year, not always for his writing. The hoopla, most recently, included the December release of a documentary focusing on the cult writer's growing congregation of cultists. Palahniuk released Diary, perhaps his strongest novel since Fight Club, and a slapped-together travelogue of Portland, Fugitives and Refugees, which, apart from some marvelous diaristic passages, seemed mercenary.

7. City of Books. A number of other new titles from local writers filled the shops: Karen Karbo's The Stuff of Life, Ursula K. Le Guin's The Other Wind, Diana Abu-Jaber's Crescent, Richard Meltzer's Autumn Rhythm, and Sandra Scofield's just-released Occasions of Sin. New York publishers also picked up Zoe Trope's Please Don't Kill the Freshman and Sarah Grace McCandless' Grosse Pointe Girl.

8. Local Rags. Portland was bursting with news this year on the local periodical front. Portland Magazine attempted to beat a 20-year trend away from city magazines but died a quiet death, while its newest competitor, Portland Monthly, is just two issues into its own run. Unfortunately, March Magazine never made it to a second issue, but young publisher Adam Van Loon joined the Portland Monthly stable. And with our town's two well-regarded lit mags, Tin House and Glimmer Train, you wouldn't think that there'd be much shelf space for another. But R.V. Branham's Gobshite Quarterly has found a definite niche with its en face translations. The arts broadsheet The Organ also marked its first anniversary.

9. Lecture Me This. The Oregon Historical Society and the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission joined up to present a strong year of lectures on some of the region's great writers. Most memorable were the James Beard presentation in April and the Frederick Homer Balch lecture in June.

10. In Memoriam. At the time, we didn't realize how fortunate we were. When Portland Arts and Lectures brought the ever-witty George Plimpton to town in January, we were anxious for his return stop in November with his friend Norman Mailer. Sadly, death unkindly stopped for him. 2003 has also seen the passing of Edward Said, novelists Carol Shields and Howard Fast; children's book authors and illustrators Robert McCloskey and William Steig; historian Roy Jenkins; and playwrights Jean Kerr, Paul Zindel and the wonderful Herb Gardner. R.I.P.

WWeek 2015