As of today, there are 100 days until Wordstock. One hundred days!
We’re very happy to let you know that things are shaping up nicely for this year’s festival. We have already confirmed an eclectic and wide-ranging roster of authors for 2010, with many more to come over the next few months. We’re also working with several other organizations — some old friends, some new — to stage a new series of literary events throughout the week of the festival. I think it’s safe to say we’re all excited about the progress and possibilities!
Stay tuned for more updates. We’re going to be sending a lot of them over the next 100 days….
The Regional Arts and Culture Council just announced$1.6 million in general support grants to local arts organizations, including, for the first time, Wordstock! “These organizations represent the foundation of our arts community,” said Eloise Damrosch, Executive Director of RACC. The publicly-funded Council recognizes organizations demonstrating artistic excellence, fiscal responsibility and community service through a competitive grant application process. To view the full list of funded organizations, visit the RACC website.
Calling all romantics with wanderlust: On Thursday, June 10, best-selling writer Laura Fraser will be reading from her new memoir All Over the Map at Powell’s Books main store on W Burnside in Portland. We heard about Fraser’s new book from friends recently, and think it’s going to be a big hit. How can it not be, with monster blurbs from gold-plated superstars Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love fame) and Mary Roach (Stiff, Spook, and Bonk)?
Can you believe we’ve been away so long? Sheesh — what gives? Why the radio silence?
Believe it or not, we’ve been a bit busy. First of all, we moved into a new office a few months ago, and if you’ve ever had to uproot your business and move it somewhere else, you know what a disorienting process that can be. We now share an office with the fine folks from Orlo, publishers of The Bear Deluxe, and are enjoying our new SE Portland neighborhood. All things considered, we’re settling in.
We’re also working feverishly on the plans for the 2010 festival! We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve for this year’s event, which we’ll be rolling out over the summer, so please stay tuned to this blog, our Facebook page, and our Twitter feed. In all, we think you’ll be pleased. So far, we’ve booked writers who have won the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Edgar Award, a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant, and an Oscar. And we’re just getting started!