5 Portland Lectures You Don't Want to Miss

The Portland area boasts a long list of lecturers who consistently deliver speeches and engage in important discussions throughout the Fall. The lineup is diverse, from an exploration of the Portland Johnson Creek to a discussion with a National Book award winner. Below are 5 lectures, some free and some not, that you will not want to miss.

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1. Louise Eldrich, Portland Arts and Lecture Series

When: October 20 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Where: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall 1037 SW Broadway Portland, OR 97205

Cost: $75 - $330

Louise is the author of over 15 novels, as well as short stories, children's books and works of poetry. She won a National Book Award for The Round House and was a semi-finalist for the Pulitzer Prize with her first novel, Love Medicine. The 32nd season of Portland Arts & Lectures features some of the most influential writers at work today. They are novelists, essayists, screenwriters, and poets who have won the most prestigious awards in their profession. Check out the complete schedule of the Portland Arts and Lecture Series here.

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2. Don Delillo in Conversation with Noah Hawley

When: Thursday, November 17th at 7:30 PM

Where: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall 1037 SW Broadway Portland, OR 97205

Cost: Free

Don Delillo, a renown and innovative post-modernist writer, will talk with Noah Hawley about the evolution of the Modern Novel, and discuss the ways in which Portland-specific authors have influenced the narrative development of books today.

He has won the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize for his complete body of work, and the William Dean Howells Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2010, he was awarded the PEN/Saul Bellow Prize. His story collection The Angel Esmeralda was a finalist for the 2011 Story Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Portland Arts and Lecture Series Schedule

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3. "The Campaign Revolution Will Not Be Televised": Nathan Persily, Public Policy Lecture

When: Tuesday, September 27th @ 7pm

Where: Reed College, Vollum Lecture Hall

Cost: Free

Nathan Persily is a Professor of Law at Stanford and delivers lectures across the United States. His primary focus is the elimination of hate speech, impersonation and incitement. The aim of his studies and writing are to ensure that commercial advertising adjusts to the unique political climate that exists in America, as it evolves.

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4. Leach Garden Lecture: The Amazing Story of Portland's Johnson Creek , with Steve Johnson, PhD

When: Thursday, October 13th @ 7pm

Where: Leah Botanical Garden

Cost: Free

The Leach Botanical Garden opened in 1983 to the public, and partnered with Portland Parks and Recreation to provide the people of Portland with a place to gather and escape from the stresses of urban living. The lecture will focus on the origins of the garden: its pioneer roots, the thoughts behind its design plan and practical gardening instruction as well.

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5. "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: Gender and the Colonization of North Atlantic Worlds”

When: Thursday, September 22nd at 7:30 PM

Where: Willamette University, College of Law

Cost: Free

Focused on exploring the demography of different colonized people in the North Atlantic, this lecture has a specific central message: gendered identities and their bodies in a North American space. It will explore the origins of Aboriginal landscapes and the process of eventually creating a new hybrid European identity.

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Text via Portland Arts and Lecture Series; Photo via Willamette Universtiy