Prose, Poetry, and Art since 1956
The rewards of reading Conversations on Writing expand as the pages turn. Each interview is an invitation to delve into the complex, mysterious facets of writing and philosophy while spending more time within Le Guin’s enduring insight and compassion.
It has now been two weeks since the death of Ursula K. Le Guin, and Portland Review is coming to terms with the loss of one of the most beloved and impactful members of our community. Thank you, Ursula K. Le Guin, for teaching us, inspiring us, and sharing with us your stories.
A review of Inga Muscio’s Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil: My Life and Times in a Racist, Imperialist Society. Kathi Acker’s, \”I was unspeakable, so I ran into the language of others,\” takes on new meaning when I think about stealing, borrowing, and remaking into my own what this author has put forth. Now that Blue-Eyed Devil has been reprinted for us to pass down to our children and adolescents, who I believe to be the true target audience for her urgent and ironic voice, Inga is planning on taking our breath away by writing fiction.
A reprint of The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake was released in 2002 with an additional afterward by House of Sand and Fog author Andre Dubus III, who claims Pancake as a great influence. Additionally, the University of Tennessee Press put out A Room Forever: The Life, Work, Letters Of Breece D’J Pancake, by Thomas E. Douglas in 2004.
“A professor told me not to use that letter / as the subject of a poem. // I don’t remember her name.” This complete poem, entitled “I,” is a snide argument for the insistent confessionalism that goes on in much of Poetic Scientifica, a confessionalism that is unwavering and brimming with warped comedy. Out this year from University of Hell Press, Leah Noble Davidson’s first book is a bold declaration on the capacities of humor and raw storytelling as means for emotional resilience.