It is a cool, autumn Saturday at the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland. However, it is no normal weekend for Portlanders. The South Park Blocks are bustling with people walking from building to building, tents and booths are set up and lines are forming behind food trucks. Everyone there has one thing in common—all are carrying books. Welcome to the Portland Book Festival.
The Portland Book Festival (PBF), held on Nov. 4, 2023, is a day-long celebration of literature and art that brings people of all ages together. Throughout the day, there are over 100 presenters in onstage author events, pop-up readings, writing workshops, and story times for kids. The PBF also features a book fair, where more than 80 national and local authors, publishers, and vendors can share their work with the public. Not to mention, there are also a variety of local food trucks throughout the grounds of the festival, giving visibility to many local businesses. Pip’s Original Donuts, The Whole Bowl, Tamale Boy and many more food trucks were featured at this year’s festival.
This festival holds a special place in many hearts for various reasons. For readers, it is a chance to indulge in one of their passions and discover new authors and artists or support old favorites. Lorena Angell, author of The Unaltered Series, said, “This festival brings together many different types of books and genres, but also indie authors, indie presses and provides this opportunity to see so many things under one roof.”
Not only does the PBF allow authors like Angell to promote their work, but it also provides a special opportunity for readers or supporters to connect with authors and artists. “For me, it’s when I have people that came last year, or in the other year that I was here, and they are back to find more books. So repeat customers, fans of the series that I don’t normally see, being mostly online, to see them come here to visit me, that is so rewarding,” said Angell.
The PBF also gives a chance to publishers and booksellers to show off their books. Jennifer Butler-Brown, owner of an online bookstore, called “Jennifer Butler-Brown, Bookseller”, came to the book festival for an opportunity to sell some of her books. “I work with educators to find specific resources in their program. I’m really finding that the greater diversity I have, the better. We are in a diverse world, and in my books, I’m trying to represent that, so that every child can find themselves in a book.” This was her 12th year at the PBF, and although she goes to other book festivals, she loves coming to the PBF because of the book-loving, engaging people that she meets, and connecting with them through a “wonderful celebration of literacy and reading.”
Additionally, the PBF volunteers share a love for literature and art with attendees, authors and publishers. “I love seeing people of all ages [that are] super excited about books, super excited about reading, and also that we have a lot of local publishers being able to share things that probably wouldn’t be published if they had to go to a big publishing company,” said Ali Grimshaw, a volunteer at the PBF. “People being able to have a voice and get their art and their stories, their poetry out there is so awesome.”
The impacts of the PBF go far and wide. The diverse community creates a safe, compelling place for people to connect. The extensive spread of books provides a wide range of authors, booksellers and publishers. Books ranged from adult novels to children’s books, photo albums to editing and design manuals. There were people of all ages and backgrounds, but everyone was able to connect to a place in the book festival, both uplifting experienced readers and fostering a new generation of book lovers.
While the festival gives an opportunity to authors and artists to share their work, the festival also works to inspire and encourage countless kids and teens to get involved in literary works through the many youth activities that are provided. Throughout the day at The Judy Kafoury Center for Youth Arts, there were storytimes, illustration draw-offs, and panels of children’s authors. There were also young adult adult author panels throughout the day at the Portland Parks Foundation tent. The big spectacle, however, was the writing workshops that were offered during the festival. This year the PBF provided three workshops: Ekphrastic Wordbuilding (Fiction), Writing From Art (Poetry), and Narrative and Social Justice Storytelling (Journalism), for high school students, all for free.
In all, the PBF is an exciting event that celebrates the community of written works and art. It is an opportunity for local writers to share their work, and publicists to promote their businesses. Most importantly, however, it inspires the next generation of readers and writers. Check out the tenth PBF next year on Nov. 2, 2024, or literary-arts.org to see the other programs Literary Arts provides.
