Author

During the last year of the first Trump presidency, M. Gessen wrote a book about what lessons Americans could learn from countries like Russia and Hungary. The book, called “Surviving Autocracy,” draws on Gessen’s own experiences growing up in Russia and the scholarship of European philosophers who have written about modern day authoritarianism. We talk to Gessen in front of a student audience at Grant High School.

Author Jaysea Lynn share details about her new novel about a Pacific Northwest woman who finds family and romance in the afterlife.

Carrie Newell studies the seasonal residents of Depoe Bay and her book shares the story of how she trained her dogs to sniff out whales.

Portland author David F. Walker and illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson have worked together before - on a 2021 graphic novel about the Black Panther Party. This time they’ve teamed up on something a little different: an update of the classic American novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” In their version, “Big Jim and the White Boy,” the escaped slave Jim is more than just Huck’s companion; he’s a fully imagined character. Walker joins us to talk about the work of updating an American classic.

Amy Tan might be best known for her fiction, including “The Joy Luck Club” and “The Kitchen God’s Wife,” but her latest book takes its drama from her backyard bird feeder. In 2019, Tan began drawing birds she saw in nature, particularly the ones who visited her tree-filled backyard in Northern California. The result is a book of reflections, observations, detailed drawings and cartoon sketches called “The Backyard Bird Chronicles.” Tan talks to us in front of an audience of students at Franklin High School.

Shore was incarcerated in a predominantly white prison in the Pacific Northwest. In his memoir, he explores learning to meditate and create a safe space internally to heal.

The award winning poet, writer and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s genius lies in making connections between the astonishments of the natural world and the particular wonders of her own — and all of our — lives. Nezhukumatathil is the author of four collections of poems, including “Oceanic," and her latest book, a bestselling collection of essays, is called “World of Wonders.” Nezhukumatathil is a professor of English at the University of Mississippi, and joins us in front of an audience of students at McDaniel High School.

Author Sasha LaPointe's book 'Thunder Song' examines the intersection of Indigenous ancestry, Coast Salish history, queerdom and punk.

Bobbie Scopa talks about her experience as a transgender woman in the macho world of wildland firefighting in a new memoir.

Eugene author Bob Welch discusses his book “Seven Summers (and a few Bummers): My Adventures on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail.”