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General Admission Festival Pass
Umbrella All-Access Pass
Readers Night Passes
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Events
Newmark Theatre Events
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Ticket Groups
General Admission Festival Pass
Umbrella All-Access Pass
Readers Night Passes
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Events
Newmark Theatre Events
View All Tickets
General Admission Festival Pass
1 Option
General Admission Festival Pass
+ show details
General Admission Festival Pass includes:
- General Admission wristband for all Saturday Portland Book Festival events from 10am - 6pm.
- $5 Book Fair voucher
- Day-of entry into venues and events
- Portland Art Museum admission
Individual add-on tickets to events at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, and premiere book + reserved seating at the Newmark will be required & available for purchase later this summer.
NOTE: $5 Book Fair voucher is not included with Arts for All, Youth, Veterans/Active Military, or any free/ discounted passes. Full price will be charged if you are unable to produce your Oregon Trail/ SNAP card, student ID, or Military ID when claiming your discounted Festival Pass.
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General Admission
$20.00
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Arts For All - w/Oregon Trail Card/SNAP ID
$5.00
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Youth (Under 17, or 18 w/ High School ID)
$0.00
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Veterans / Active Military - ID REQUIRED
$0.00
Umbrella All-Access Pass
1 Option
Umbrella All-Access Pass
$195.00
+ show details
Make the absolute most of our Saturday, November 7 experience and get an Umbrella All-Access Pass in 2026. Your Umbrella All-Access Pass includes:
- General Admission wristband for all Saturday Portland Book Festival events from 10am - 6pm.
- Access to Reserved Premium Section plus book for both Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall events with headlining authors on Saturday, November 7
- Access to Reserved Premium Section plus book for two events (out of six total events available) with authors at the Newmark on Saturday, November 7
- Early Entry to Readers Night and tote + PBF swap at the Exhibitor Fair on Friday, November 6
- $5 Book Fair voucher
- Portland Art Museum admission
NOTE: Umbrella All-Access Passes must be purchased prior to Oct. 15. Once purchased, passholders will receive direct communication from our service team to confirm event selections at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the Newmark. We will help create and confirm your day-of schedule for Saturday, November 7 in advance, in order to ensure reserved seating and that your selected events don’t overlap!
Food, music, and other added events taking place at the Portland Book Festival require individual tickets. See more information about additional ticketed events at pdxbookfest.org/plan-your-visit.
Readers Night Passes
2 Options
Readers Night Early Entry at 6 p.m.
$40.00
+ show details
Support Portland Book Festival at Readers Night
Friday, November 6 | 6–9:00 p.m. | VIP entry 6:00 p.m.
Portland Art Museum's Mark Building | $25 GA
Join us on the evening of Friday, November 6, for a preview of the exhibitor fair before the festival crowds arrive. Enjoy a drink from the cash bar while you browse the exhibitor booths, get a PBF–exclusive flash tattoo, and spin the prize wheel for the chance to win. Readers Night is an opportunity to show your love for Portland Book Festival, meet other dedicated book lovers, and extend your festival weekend! All ages welcome. VIP tickets include early entry, a drink ticket, and a tote bag.
NOTE: Readers Night tickets do not include entry into Portland Book Festival on Saturday, November 7.
Friday, November 6 | 6–9:00 p.m. | VIP entry 6:00 p.m.
Portland Art Museum's Mark Building | $25 GA
Join us on the evening of Friday, November 6, for a preview of the exhibitor fair before the festival crowds arrive. Enjoy a drink from the cash bar while you browse the exhibitor booths, get a PBF–exclusive flash tattoo, and spin the prize wheel for the chance to win. Readers Night is an opportunity to show your love for Portland Book Festival, meet other dedicated book lovers, and extend your festival weekend! All ages welcome. VIP tickets include early entry, a drink ticket, and a tote bag.
NOTE: Readers Night tickets do not include entry into Portland Book Festival on Saturday, November 7.
Readers Night
$25.00
+ show details
Support Portland Book Festival at Readers Night
Friday, November 6 | 6–9:00 p.m. | GA entry 7:00 p.m.
Portland Art Museum's Mark Building | $25 GA
Join us on the evening of Friday, November 6, for a preview of the exhibitor fair before the festival crowds arrive. Enjoy a drink from the cash bar while you browse the exhibitor booths, get a PBF–exclusive flash tattoo, and spin the prize wheel for the chance to win. Readers Night is an opportunity to show your love for Portland Book Festival, meet other dedicated book lovers, and extend your festival weekend! All ages welcome. VIP tickets include early entry, a drink ticket, and a tote bag.
NOTE: Readers Night tickets do not include entry into Portland Book Festival on Saturday, November 7.
Friday, November 6 | 6–9:00 p.m. | GA entry 7:00 p.m.
Portland Art Museum's Mark Building | $25 GA
Join us on the evening of Friday, November 6, for a preview of the exhibitor fair before the festival crowds arrive. Enjoy a drink from the cash bar while you browse the exhibitor booths, get a PBF–exclusive flash tattoo, and spin the prize wheel for the chance to win. Readers Night is an opportunity to show your love for Portland Book Festival, meet other dedicated book lovers, and extend your festival weekend! All ages welcome. VIP tickets include early entry, a drink ticket, and a tote bag.
NOTE: Readers Night tickets do not include entry into Portland Book Festival on Saturday, November 7.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Events
6 Options
10 a.m.: WILDWOOD - Premium Section AND Book
$25.00
+ show details
Your ticket provides you a reserved seat in a premium seating section of the concert hall as well as the book Wildwood!
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Wildwood: Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis join Portland Book Festival to talk about their book Wildwood in a discussion moderated by Literary Arts’ Executive Director, Andrew Proctor.
Wildwood is the first book in the New York Times best-selling fantasy series full of magic, wonder, and danger from Colin Meloy, lead singer of the highly celebrated band, The Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, the award-winning illustrator of Du Iz Tak and Home.
About Wildwood
Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where it rains a lot. She has a mother and a father and a baby brother. Ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a flock of crows. And then things get really weird.
You see, on every map of Portland there is a big splotch of green in the center of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in — or at least returned to tell of it.
And this is where the crows take her brother.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.
A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Wildwood: Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis join Portland Book Festival to talk about their book Wildwood in a discussion moderated by Literary Arts’ Executive Director, Andrew Proctor.
Wildwood is the first book in the New York Times best-selling fantasy series full of magic, wonder, and danger from Colin Meloy, lead singer of the highly celebrated band, The Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, the award-winning illustrator of Du Iz Tak and Home.
About Wildwood
Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where it rains a lot. She has a mother and a father and a baby brother. Ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a flock of crows. And then things get really weird.
You see, on every map of Portland there is a big splotch of green in the center of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in — or at least returned to tell of it.
And this is where the crows take her brother.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.
A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
10 a.m.: WILDWOOD - Premium Section, NO BOOK
$15.00
+ show details
Your ticket provides you a reserved seat in a premium seating section of the concert hall!
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Wildwood: Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis join Portland Book Festival to talk about their book Wildwood in a discussion moderated by Literary Arts’ Executive Director, Andrew Proctor.
Wildwood is the first book in the New York Times best-selling fantasy series full of magic, wonder, and danger from Colin Meloy, lead singer of the highly celebrated band, The Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, the award-winning illustrator of Du Iz Tak and Home.
About Wildwood
Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where it rains a lot. She has a mother and a father and a baby brother. Ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a flock of crows. And then things get really weird.
You see, on every map of Portland there is a big splotch of green in the center of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in — or at least returned to tell of it.
And this is where the crows take her brother.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.
A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Wildwood: Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis join Portland Book Festival to talk about their book Wildwood in a discussion moderated by Literary Arts’ Executive Director, Andrew Proctor.
Wildwood is the first book in the New York Times best-selling fantasy series full of magic, wonder, and danger from Colin Meloy, lead singer of the highly celebrated band, The Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, the award-winning illustrator of Du Iz Tak and Home.
About Wildwood
Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where it rains a lot. She has a mother and a father and a baby brother. Ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a flock of crows. And then things get really weird.
You see, on every map of Portland there is a big splotch of green in the center of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in — or at least returned to tell of it.
And this is where the crows take her brother.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.
A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
10 a.m.: WILDWOOD - Seated, NO BOOK
$5.00
+ show details
Your ticket provides you a general admission seat in the concert hall!
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Wildwood: Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis join Portland Book Festival to talk about their book Wildwood in a discussion moderated by Literary Arts’ Executive Director, Andrew Proctor.
Wildwood is the first book in the New York Times best-selling fantasy series full of magic, wonder, and danger from Colin Meloy, lead singer of the highly celebrated band, The Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, the award-winning illustrator of Du Iz Tak and Home.
About Wildwood
Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where it rains a lot. She has a mother and a father and a baby brother. Ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a flock of crows. And then things get really weird.
You see, on every map of Portland there is a big splotch of green in the center of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in — or at least returned to tell of it.
And this is where the crows take her brother.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.
A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Wildwood: Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis join Portland Book Festival to talk about their book Wildwood in a discussion moderated by Literary Arts’ Executive Director, Andrew Proctor.
Wildwood is the first book in the New York Times best-selling fantasy series full of magic, wonder, and danger from Colin Meloy, lead singer of the highly celebrated band, The Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, the award-winning illustrator of Du Iz Tak and Home.
About Wildwood
Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where it rains a lot. She has a mother and a father and a baby brother. Ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a flock of crows. And then things get really weird.
You see, on every map of Portland there is a big splotch of green in the center of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in — or at least returned to tell of it.
And this is where the crows take her brother.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.
A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
12 p.m.: NEVER SAY DIE - Premium Section AND Book
$45.00
+ show details
Your ticket provides you a reserved seat in a premium seating section of the concert hall as well as the book Never Say Die!
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Never Say Die: Ke Huy Quan | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Ke Huy Quan joins Portland Book festival in conversation with OPB’s Dave Miller to discuss his book, Never Say Die. In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star Ke Huy Quan tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history.
About Never Say Die
Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking.
A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up, and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. Decades later, at 49 years old, he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.
In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight to his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never give up on your dreams.
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Never Say Die: Ke Huy Quan | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Ke Huy Quan joins Portland Book festival in conversation with OPB’s Dave Miller to discuss his book, Never Say Die. In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star Ke Huy Quan tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history.
About Never Say Die
Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking.
A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up, and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. Decades later, at 49 years old, he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.
In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight to his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never give up on your dreams.
12 p.m.: NEVER SAY DIE - Premium Section, NO BOOK
$15.00
+ show details
Your ticket provides you a reserved seat in a premium seating section of the concert hall!
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Never Say Die: Ke Huy Quan | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Ke Huy Quan joins Portland Book festival in conversation with OPB’s Dave Miller to discuss his book, Never Say Die. In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star Ke Huy Quan tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history.
About Never Say Die
Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking.
A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up, and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. Decades later, at 49 years old, he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.
In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight to his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never give up on your dreams.
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Never Say Die: Ke Huy Quan | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Ke Huy Quan joins Portland Book festival in conversation with OPB’s Dave Miller to discuss his book, Never Say Die. In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star Ke Huy Quan tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history.
About Never Say Die
Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking.
A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up, and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. Decades later, at 49 years old, he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.
In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight to his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never give up on your dreams.
12 p.m.: NEVER SAY DIE - Seated, NO BOOK
$5.00
+ show details
Your ticket provides you a general admission seat in the concert hall!
12:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Never Say Die: Ke Huy Quan | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Ke Huy Quan joins Portland Book festival in conversation with OPB’s Dave Miller to discuss his book, Never Say Die. In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star Ke Huy Quan tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history.
About Never Say Die
Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking.
A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up, and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. Decades later, at 49 years old, he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.
In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight to his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never give up on your dreams.
12:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Never Say Die: Ke Huy Quan | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Ke Huy Quan joins Portland Book festival in conversation with OPB’s Dave Miller to discuss his book, Never Say Die. In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star Ke Huy Quan tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history.
About Never Say Die
Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking.
A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up, and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. Decades later, at 49 years old, he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.
In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight to his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never give up on your dreams.
Newmark Theatre Events
10 Options
10 a.m.: Villa Coco, Andrew Sean Greer
$35.00
+ show details
10 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Villa Coco: Andrew Sean Greer | Newmark Theatre
Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Less, joins Portland Book Festival in conversation wit Lucy Feldman (TIME) to talk about his book, Villa Coco.
Greer showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills.
About Villa Coco
An aspiring archivist determined to begin a “serious” life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.
Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.
Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Less, joins Portland Book Festival in conversation wit Lucy Feldman (TIME) to talk about his book, Villa Coco.
Greer showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills.
About Villa Coco
An aspiring archivist determined to begin a “serious” life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.
Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.
11:45 a.m.: The Children, Melissa Albert
$35.00
+ show details
11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. | The Children: Melissa Albert | Newmark Theatre
Melissa Albert joins Portland Book Festival at the Newmark Theater in conversation with OPB’s Jess Hazel to discuss her first book for adults, The Children.
Melissa Albert is a New York Times and indie bestselling author of The Bad Ones, Our Crooked Hearts, and the Hazel Wood series. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and included in the New York Times list of Notable Children’s Books.
About The Children
The Children, is a haunting novel in which the estranged adult children of a legendary author, written into their dead mother’s beloved fantasy series, must contend with the vine-like creep of legacy, memory, and magic.
Melissa Albert joins Portland Book Festival at the Newmark Theater in conversation with OPB’s Jess Hazel to discuss her first book for adults, The Children.
Melissa Albert is a New York Times and indie bestselling author of The Bad Ones, Our Crooked Hearts, and the Hazel Wood series. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and included in the New York Times list of Notable Children’s Books.
About The Children
The Children, is a haunting novel in which the estranged adult children of a legendary author, written into their dead mother’s beloved fantasy series, must contend with the vine-like creep of legacy, memory, and magic.
1:30 p.m.: Signals Across Vast Distances
$35.00
+ show details
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Signals Across Vast Distances: Elizabeth Alexander | Newmark Theatre
Elizabeth Alexander joins Portland Book festival in conversation with author Mitchell S. Jackson to discuss her book, Signals Across Vast Distances.
About Signals Across Vast Distances
In this deeply personal book, Elizabeth Alexander gives us profound and galvanizing lessons from culture and life to move through challenging times. In close readings of visionary and beloved poets and writers—Muriel Rukeyser, Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and June Jordan, among others—Dr. Alexander meditates on how words and values can sustain and inspire us, interweaving her voice with revelatory works of art by some of our most extraordinary visual artists, richly reproduced in the book’s pages.
Her stories of connection—as a daughter, wife, widow, and mother of two sons; reflecting at midlife on her younger days as an aspiring dancer; as a poet at President Obama’s inauguration on the dais alongside her father, a civil rights pioneer; urging radical welcome in our families, communities, and country—engage and move us. Her reflections on the public project of acknowledging historical truths, a focus of her leadership at the Mellon Foundation, model courageous action.
Throughout the book, Alexander poses questions, encouraging readers to recognize the abundant resources we carry within or can access: language, history, art, community, family, our bodies, our stories, and love itself. In luminous and powerful prose, Signals Across Vast Distances calls us to imagine possibilities, take courage, and—in Alexander’s closing words—lead with love.
Elizabeth Alexander joins Portland Book festival in conversation with author Mitchell S. Jackson to discuss her book, Signals Across Vast Distances.
About Signals Across Vast Distances
In this deeply personal book, Elizabeth Alexander gives us profound and galvanizing lessons from culture and life to move through challenging times. In close readings of visionary and beloved poets and writers—Muriel Rukeyser, Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and June Jordan, among others—Dr. Alexander meditates on how words and values can sustain and inspire us, interweaving her voice with revelatory works of art by some of our most extraordinary visual artists, richly reproduced in the book’s pages.
Her stories of connection—as a daughter, wife, widow, and mother of two sons; reflecting at midlife on her younger days as an aspiring dancer; as a poet at President Obama’s inauguration on the dais alongside her father, a civil rights pioneer; urging radical welcome in our families, communities, and country—engage and move us. Her reflections on the public project of acknowledging historical truths, a focus of her leadership at the Mellon Foundation, model courageous action.
Throughout the book, Alexander poses questions, encouraging readers to recognize the abundant resources we carry within or can access: language, history, art, community, family, our bodies, our stories, and love itself. In luminous and powerful prose, Signals Across Vast Distances calls us to imagine possibilities, take courage, and—in Alexander’s closing words—lead with love.
3:15 p.m.: Happy Snacking, Don't Die!
$35.00
+ show details
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. | Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! Alexis Nikole Nelson | Newmark Theater
Alexis Nikole Nelson, the beloved social media sensation known as the Black Forager, discusses her long-awaited guide to foraging—sometimes even in your own backyard—and vegan cooking, in conversation with OPB's Crystal Ligori.
Alexis Nikole Nelson, best known to millions of fans as Black Forager, invites you on an adventure to discover the delicious and wild foods hiding in plain sight. Alexis captivates people with her joyful enthusiasm and deep knowledge of foraging and inspires them to explore the bounty of their own backyards, parks, and trails, and now she does the same in her eagerly awaited first book.
About Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!
Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! is a one-of-a-kind collection of recipes and foraging wisdom that teaches you how to turn common plants, flowers, and fungi into yummy, plant-based meals. This unique work is almost like two books in one—foraging plant guide and vegan cookbook—organized by season to guide you through a year of appetizing discoveries. In spring, you’ll learn to pickle Magnolia flowers and turn Japanese Knotweed into a refreshing granita. Summer is for frying up Milkweed Buds, making Juneberry Hand Pies, and crafting Rosewater Baklava. When fall arrives, you’ll be making savory mushroom dishes (a.k.a. chicken of the woods) like Maitake steak and bacon. And in winter, cozy up with Pine Shortbread Cookies and Oyster Mushroom Chowdah.
With helpful plant identification photos throughout, in addition to beautiful food photography and photos of Alexis, of course, this book is an essential resource packed with practical tips on ethical foraging and crucial safety information (so you “don’t die”) for people across the northern hemisphere. With her signature humor and infectious spirit, Alexis proves that foraging isn’t just for survivalists—it’s for anyone who wants to connect with nature and add exciting new flavors to their table
Alexis Nikole Nelson, the beloved social media sensation known as the Black Forager, discusses her long-awaited guide to foraging—sometimes even in your own backyard—and vegan cooking, in conversation with OPB's Crystal Ligori.
Alexis Nikole Nelson, best known to millions of fans as Black Forager, invites you on an adventure to discover the delicious and wild foods hiding in plain sight. Alexis captivates people with her joyful enthusiasm and deep knowledge of foraging and inspires them to explore the bounty of their own backyards, parks, and trails, and now she does the same in her eagerly awaited first book.
About Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!
Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! is a one-of-a-kind collection of recipes and foraging wisdom that teaches you how to turn common plants, flowers, and fungi into yummy, plant-based meals. This unique work is almost like two books in one—foraging plant guide and vegan cookbook—organized by season to guide you through a year of appetizing discoveries. In spring, you’ll learn to pickle Magnolia flowers and turn Japanese Knotweed into a refreshing granita. Summer is for frying up Milkweed Buds, making Juneberry Hand Pies, and crafting Rosewater Baklava. When fall arrives, you’ll be making savory mushroom dishes (a.k.a. chicken of the woods) like Maitake steak and bacon. And in winter, cozy up with Pine Shortbread Cookies and Oyster Mushroom Chowdah.
With helpful plant identification photos throughout, in addition to beautiful food photography and photos of Alexis, of course, this book is an essential resource packed with practical tips on ethical foraging and crucial safety information (so you “don’t die”) for people across the northern hemisphere. With her signature humor and infectious spirit, Alexis proves that foraging isn’t just for survivalists—it’s for anyone who wants to connect with nature and add exciting new flavors to their table
5:00 p.m.: Mazywood, Tananarive Due
$35.00
+ show details
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. | Mazywood: Tananarive Due | Newmark Theater
Tananarive Due joins Portland Book Festival at the Newmark Theater in an interview with Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya about her newest book, Mazywood, releasing September 22, 2026.
Tananarive Due is an American Book Award and NAACP Image Award–winning author, who was an executive producer on Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror for Shudder and teaches Afrofuturism and Black Horror at UCLA. She and her husband, science fiction author Steven Barnes, cowrote the graphic novel The Keeper and an episode for Season 2 of The Twilight Zone for Paramount Plus and Monkeypaw Productions. Due is the author of several novels and two short story collections, Ghost Summer: Stories and The Wishing Pool and Other Stories. She is also coauthor of a civil rights memoir, Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights (with her late mother, Patricia Stephens Due). Learn more at TananariveDue.com.
About Mazywood
Mazywood follows the grandson of a famous Black actress from the 1920s to the 1940s, now a filmmaker himself, who returns to his grandmother’s cabin retreat in the California mountains only to encounter the legacy of her rage born in Old Hollywood.
Tananarive Due joins Portland Book Festival at the Newmark Theater in an interview with Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya about her newest book, Mazywood, releasing September 22, 2026.
Tananarive Due is an American Book Award and NAACP Image Award–winning author, who was an executive producer on Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror for Shudder and teaches Afrofuturism and Black Horror at UCLA. She and her husband, science fiction author Steven Barnes, cowrote the graphic novel The Keeper and an episode for Season 2 of The Twilight Zone for Paramount Plus and Monkeypaw Productions. Due is the author of several novels and two short story collections, Ghost Summer: Stories and The Wishing Pool and Other Stories. She is also coauthor of a civil rights memoir, Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights (with her late mother, Patricia Stephens Due). Learn more at TananariveDue.com.
About Mazywood
Mazywood follows the grandson of a famous Black actress from the 1920s to the 1940s, now a filmmaker himself, who returns to his grandmother’s cabin retreat in the California mountains only to encounter the legacy of her rage born in Old Hollywood.
