Episodes

In this episode of The Archive Project, Donald Barthelme begins his lecture with a series of readings, including a story about his family’s quest for a dog, his reflections on being a father, a study of angels, and a conversation with Goethe in which he compares music, art, and nationalities to everyday objects. Barthelme previews a selection of excerpts from his forthcoming novel The King—a retelling of Le Morte D’Arthur through the lens of World War II—which at the time he not yet named and wh...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Don DeLillo and Noah Hawley begin at the end, discussing DeLillo’s writing process for each segment of his novels from finish to start. Throughout this conversation, DeLillo delves into some of the research related to several of the books he has written throughout his career. He and Hawley also compare the process of writing a novel to the process of writing for television or film. I go sentence by sentence, word by word, and the sentences seem to extend ...

The Far East. Western Europe. America’s East Coast. The West Coast. Eastern Oregon. The Willamette Valley. Northeast Portland. Southwest Portland. Each of these brings to mind a distinct idea about lifestyles, political views, fashion trends, reading habits, pet preference, means of transportation—any and all elements of how we live, work, play, think and feel. But can all of that be summed up by a simple directional bearing? And does it create a defining line or a dividing line? Do we automatic...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Doris Lessing discusses “the machinery of the literary scene,” going beyond the romanticization of publishing to the nuts and bolts of how it all works. She delves into the shift from small, family-owned publishers to gigantic corporations; the intense, almost indescribable partnership between an author and an editor; and the various adaptations to the lifestyle of a writer that have led to the state of publishing today. “One has to remind [publishers] th...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Malcolm Gladwell examines the idea of the underdog (namely, why the underdog persists in their quest despite the odds) through the story of Alva Belmont, also known as Alva Vanderbilt, a prominent multi-millionaire American socialite and major figure of the suffragette movement in the early 20th century. “Why do underdogs fight? We have all of these cases, in all sorts of contexts, where the weaker party in a conflict continues to rebel long after we feel...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Annie Proulx shares her life’s journey, including her life-long love of reading, history, and the great outdoors; her reflections on being a woman in a culture where women are “denied time for reflection and meditation”; her perchance for falling in love with places; and her travels across the world in search “some half-wild place.” Probably the most important thing you should know about me is that I am a reader, I have always been a reader, and it’ll pro...

In this episode of The Archive Project, we’ll listen to compositions from several students who participated in the 2016 Verselandia! Poetry Slam Competition, the grand slam of the individual school slams held throughout the year. Touching on such topics as race, gender, loss, and love, these students confront issues that are core to the human experience. The top five winners for the night were: 1st Place: Tea Johnson from Grant High School 2nd Place: Lily Lamadrid from Franklin High School 3r...

Julia Alvarez reflects on her dual childhood in the Dominican Republic and in the United States: living in a world under the hand of a dictator; her poor performance in school but robust and diverse education at home; her difficult time adjusting to immigrant life and the prejudice she faced; the sixth grade teacher who showed her the world that existed within books; and her realization that 1) intelligence comes in many forms and 2) imagination can save you. One thing that hasn’t changed is my...

In this episode of The Archive Project, award-winning novelist, poet, and author of The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros, discusses her new book, A House of My Own: Stories from My Life, at the 2015 Wordstock Festival. A House of My Own is a richly illustrated compilation of true stories and nonfiction pieces that, taken together, form a jigsaw autobiography—an intimate album of a beloved literary legend. Cisneros is in conversation with Elena Passarello, author of the essay collection Let...

This episode of The Archive Project features a conversation between Academy Award-nominated actor Jesse Eisenberg and Portland novelist and screenwriter Jon Raymond, recorded at Wordstock: Portland’s Book Festival in 2015. Eisenberg is known for his iconic film roles, as well as regular pieces in The New Yorker and three critically acclaimed plays. During this conversation, he presents his fiction debut, the whip-smart Bream Gives Me Hiccups: And Other Stories. The National Post called the colle...

In this episode of The Archive Project, author Mohsin Hamid discusses his childhood transitions from Pakistan to the United States and back again, citing Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons as two of his earliest storytelling influences. He goes on to highlight moments on his journey as a writer, including how Moth Smoke, his debut book, began as his Harvard Law thesis; how he convinced a supervisor to let him have three months off each year to work on his writing; and the most basic human trait th...

In this episode of The Archive Project, former vice president and environmental activist Al Gore discusses the past, present, and future state of the world in the context of global warming. He supports his argument for the need for change with extensive scientific research and discusses the merits of various alternative energy resources. He focuses the latter half of his lecture on emphasizing the need to prepare and assist the next generation with the climate challenges ahead. It is possible t...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Andrei Codrescu shares an epic poem he wrote in honor of Portland’s Lovejoy Columns, which once supported the now demolished Lovejoy Ramp at the Pearl District entrance to the Broadway Bridge. The columns themselves were sparred from demolition by the efforts of the architectural group Rigga, who are introduced at the beginning of Codrescu’s lecture. Following his reading, Codrescu answers questions from the audience about his thoughts on the past and futu...

In this episode of The Archive Project, New Yorker columnist Brendan Gill examines city life in context of the writings of Lewis Mumford, an American historian, sociologist, philosopher, and critic best known for his studies of urban architecture. Gill reads from Mumford’s works, inserting his own concerns and humorous anecdotes along the way. He goes on to discuss urban influx, the integrity of cultural inheritance, and the importance of the survival of small cities. Over the past couple of ye...

On April 5, 2016, former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove was honored as Oregon State University’s Stone Award winner. The Stone Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement honors a major American author who has created a body of critically acclaimed work and been a dedicated mentor to succeeding generations of young writers. In her acceptance interview with OSU Associate Professor of English & Creative Writing Karen Holmberg, Dove addresses her writing process, adapting her work to the stage, and facin...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Literary Arts presents a rare public appearance by one of Oregon’s greatest entrepreneurs, Phil Knight, for the release of his 2016 memoir, Shoe Dog. In this candid and riveting memoir, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic and profitable brands. In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and cre...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Cristina Henríquez discusses the real-life inspirations behind the characters in her novel, The Book of Unknown Americans, namely her parents and the various communities she engaged with when moving to several different cities throughout her childhood. She goes on to discuss the power of imagination, fiction, and reading to help people build stronger connections to one another, stating, “That’s the power of stories. They deepen our empathy. They expand it....

In this episode of The Archive Project, Yann Martel reads selections from his novel Life of Pi, which received the Man Booker Prize in 2002 and was later adapted into a feature film. Between readings, Martel shares information about his writing process and his overarching philosophy behind the book. At the conclusion of the reading, he answers a series of questions from the audience, including the number one inquiry on everyone’s mind: Just how will reading this novel make a person believe in Go...

Click here to view the slideshow Lewis references during her lecture. In this episode of The Archive Project, poet, scholar, and National Book Award winner Robin Coste Lewis presents on “The Race Within Erasure.” Lewis first became widely known in 2015, when her debut poetry collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus won the National Book Award in poetry –– it was the first time a poetry debut by an African-American had ever won the prize, and the first time any debut had won the award since 1974. L...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Elmore Leonard shares stories, often humorous, about his correspondences with his readers—from teenagers who ask how he has perfected the portrayal of criminals in his writing to adults who sell his letters for hundreds of dollars. He also notes how the letters portray varying reactions to his writing, demonstrating how readers and writers often view the same material in contrasting ways. Leonard goes on to discuss the gap between novel writing and screenw...

In this episode of The Archive Project, we feature Adam Gopnik, who joined us for Portland Arts & Lectures in 2016. Gopnik is best known for his work at The New Yorker, where he has written on wide ranging topics such as Mark Twain, hockey, dogs, Icelandic coffee, Babar the Elephant, snowflakes, magicians, the New York Jets, spirituality, and aging among others. But perhaps where Gopnik is his most insightful, funny, and even tender is when he is writing about family life. It’s a subject that pr...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Orhan Pamuk discusses his published works and why he writes about Turkey so much: to him, this act is not only about portraying the city to outsiders, but also about retracing his memories of the city. He reads from Other Colors, a collection of articles and notes from his personal journals, which comprise ideas and segments of writing he wanted to include in some of his books but ultimately left out. Throughout his lecture, Pamuk shares personal stories, ...

On this episode of The Archive Project, Mark Bittman addresses the politics of food and the negative impact current food trends in America are having on the world. He defines food as something nutritious and contrasts this with the sugary junk food—or “nonfood”—that many Americans consume on a daily basis. According to Bittman, America needs a more sustainable, democratic food system in order to support an exponentially growing population. At the heart of his lecture is a push to start a movemen...

In this episode of The Archive Project, Bill Buford discusses his history working at Granta, including iconic magazine covers and experimentations with the magazine’s content. He goes on to talk about being an editor for Granta Books, stating that it is “the aim of every editor, at some point in his or her life, to get arrested.” Later, he discusses his research for Among the Thugs, a nonfiction piece on British soccer and crowd violence, including his experience at the World Cup in Italy in 199...