I've never been to Portland, never to Oregon, never to the Great Northwest in general (but you can see, I do love coffee, so I'm sure I'll fit right in) (and I also love Twin Peaks and use it to shape all my preconceptions for the entire upper West Coast area, so I think everything will work out just fine) so what else to do but go tackle the state in a big bear hug and wrestle it into submission, just like the Bookhouse Boys would do.
I'll be at Oregon State leading a workshop for their MFA program and then reading that evening on Tuesday October 1st.
Wednesday I'll be in Portland for LitHop PDX at Common Grounds Coffee.
LitHop has a great setup- a string of presses and venues, each having a 45 minute reading starting at the top of hour, with 15 minutes to mix,mingle, buy books, and move on to another venue if you so desire. Tin House, YesYes, Sister Spit and others are going to tear into this night like it was a piece of Norma's cherry pie at the Double R. A map and more available here- http://lithoppdx.com/info
Thursday I'm reading at Portland Community College and Friday I'll be enjoying all Portland has to offer. By then I should also understand Twin Peaks has nothing to do with Portland and will have come to love and cherish the city for its own charms.
Saturday is an offsite WordStock reading with Keith Leonard and Ocean Vuong at a place called Uchu Sushi and Fried Chicken, so I'm pretty sure you're gonna have to shut your currently agape mouth. See this whole lineup and more at Boyishly's YesYes page http://yesyesbooks.com/store/book/0000017/
