Of all the events that make Portland summers ecstatic and overwhelming, Tin House’s outdoor reading series at Reed College—with its mix of casual ease and unrestrained literary glee—sits close to the top of my list. The free, open-to-the-public part of the local publisher’s annual Summer Writers’ Workshop, the reading series features consistently stunning lineups of visiting faculty combined in perfectly unlikely ways. Did I mention the series is free? They’re some of the best readings to happen in Portland all year long and cost nothing. Here are a just a few of this year’s must-see writers.
Joy Williams
Joy Williams’ short fiction is beguiling, bleak, and absolutely hilarious. Her stories break all the rules and leave you wondering how she does it with such grace. Last year’s The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories brought some much-deserved attention and a new audience to this long-prized oddball of American literature. Her latest, 99 Stories of God (out this week from Tin House), is a collection of micro-fiction pieces that serve as odd parables or koans. As a whole, it’s not great. But the book’s series about the Lord doing various activities (driving in a demolition derby, getting a shingles shot at the pharmacy, hanging out in a wolf den) is pure gold and should be heard aloud. Fri July 15; w/Dana Spiotta, Kiese Laymon