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Novelist Appears at Central Oregon Coast Event
Published 03/01/2010
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| Jon Raymond |
(Newport, Oregon) - Portland novelist Jon Raymond will be the featured author at the March 20 Nye Beach Writers' Series. The show begins at 7 pm in the second floor meeting room of the Newport Visual Arts Center, 777 NW Beach Drive, across from the Nye Beach Turnaround. Admission is $5 at the door, students admitted free. Light refreshments will be available. An open mic of original work closes the show.
Jon Raymond is the author of the novel "The Half-Life" and the recently published short-story collection "Livability," which received the 2009 Oregon Book Award in Fiction and was named a Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers" pick. He is also the co-writer of two films directed by Kelly Reichardt, "Old Joy " and "Wendy and Lucy," both adapted from stories in "Livability."
"I've always found the word 'livability' hilarious," says Raymond. "I mean, is that really what we're shooting for here? Mere livability?"
"Old Joy " was filmed in Portland, Bagby Hot Springs and other Oregon locations, and screened at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and Rotterdam International Film Festival. The film is available through the Newport Public Library. "Old Joy " is about two friends who try to connect again from different points in their lives. "Wendy and Lucy" is about a young woman who loses her dog and finds herself one step short of where she wants to be.
"Both movies are small and smart and deeply felt, and both are as Oregon as the rings in the stump of a Douglas fir," wrote Douglas Perry in the Oregonian.
Jon Raymond grew up in Lake Grove, graduated from Lake Oswego High School, received a BA in Art History from Swarthmore College, and an MFA in writing from The New School in New York City. He served as contributing editor at Tin House magazine and continues as editor/interviewer at Plazm. His writings appear regularly in Artforum, Bookforum, American Painters, Tin House magazine and The Village Voice. He has made movies, including an elaborate homage to the comic strip "Crock," and wrote a book of essays titled "Facing Grobnik," about a fictional artist. For a while Raymond called himself "Slats Grobnik," the character created by Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, and used that name when he worked as Todd Haynes' assistant on "Far From Heaven." A sharp-eyed Roger Ebert noticed it deep in the credits and wrote about it in his "Movie Yearbook 2004."
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| Jump-Off Joe in Newport |
The Writers' Series open mic takes place following intermission. Audience members are encouraged to read original work for up to five minutes. Open mic slots are available to the first 10 writers who sign up. No pre-registration required. Open mic readers are welcome to bring their books to sell at the book sales table.
Future Nye Beach Writers' Series events will feature novelists Willy Vlautin, and Naseem Rakha; poets Peter Sears, Shaindel Beers, Claudia Handler and Laurel Ann Bogen; memoirist Debra Gwartney; humorist Bart King; and Leslie What, a writer of fantasy, literary fiction and nonfiction. For event dates and details go to http://www.writersontheedge.org/.
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| Newport's Nye Beach district |
Writers On The Edge is supported by admission dollars, individual donations, and a grant from the Lincoln County Cultural Trust, investing in Oregon's arts, humanities and heritage, and the Lincoln County Cultural Coalition. Events held at the Newport Visual Arts Center are supported in part by the OCCA and the City of Newport. LazerQuick of Newport provides invaluable help. Books by featured authors are provided for autographing and sales by Nye Beach Books. Two night's lodging for Jon Raymond has been generously donated. All donations to Writers On The Edge are gratefully appreciated and fully tax-deductible.
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