Portland Book Festival

The 2023 Portland Book Festival, hosted by Literary Arts, was held on November 4 at seven partner venues in Portland’s South Park Blocks. The festival’s second annual Cover to Cover program was held from October 30 to November 5 in multiple locations throughout the Portland area and included programming such as interactive book presentations, literature-inspired comedy shows, and storytelling events. The November 4 festival featured pop-up readings with local writers and author discussions, taking place across eleven stages and with over eighty authors, as well as a book fair. Participating authors included poets Elisa M. Gonzalez and Charif Shanahan; fiction writers Edan Lepucki and Jonathan Lethem; and nonfiction writers Sabrina Imbler, Mitchell S. Jackson, and Roger Reeves. A pass for the festival day was $15 with advance purchase or $25 at the door. 800 special-access tickets to preview the festival book fair on November 3 were available for $40, which included a festival pass. The two headline events featuring fiction and nonfiction writer Viet Thanh Nguyen and nonfiction writer Michael Lewis were $45 each, which included a main festival pass and a copy of the writer’s book (general seating could be reserved for $5 above the festival pass rate). An Umbrella Pass, which included the main festival events, the book fair preview on Friday night, and the headlining events, cost $100. Tickets were distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. All events in the Cover to Cover program were free and open to the public. Visit the website for more information.

Accessibility accommodations for festival events at the Portland Art Museum, Portland’5 theaters, and the Judy children’s theatre included public transportation near the venues; elevators in all multilevel event spaces; accessible sidewalks, pathways, and doorways; accessible restrooms and event spaces; accessible parking; available assistive listening devices; closed captioning on prerecorded media; venue signage in Braille; and ASL interpretation with advance request. Contact the director of public programs via phone or e-mail with requests or accessibility questions.