Wordstock in Portland, Oregon

Wordstock is a book festival held in Portland, Oregon each year in November. It is one of the largest literary events on the West Coast, and well worth a visit if you’re in the area at the time. This year, Wordstock will be held from November 9th to the 11th. The festival “welcomes poets, novelists and journalists of all genres to share their love of storytelling.” I really would like to go to this, as I’m a big fat lit geek. Workshops, lectures and readings from more than 150 authors fill the weekend, and you can hear from authors such as Melissa Fay Greene, winner of the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for Praying for Sheetrock, Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and Carl Hiaasen, author of Skinny Dip.

If you have wee ones at home, there are lots of activities for them too.

If you’re looking for a package deal to attend the event, A Weekend of Words from the Benson Hotel includes admission to Wordstock and a $50 credit toward ticketed events, a $20 Borders gift card, two nights at the Benson Hotel in downtown Portland, complementary parking and a $40 dining credit. You can book this deal by visiting www.wordstockfestival.com or www.bensonhotel.com. If you’re a literary groupie or a stalker, you’ll be happy to know many of the authors stay at the Benson, including “Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander; Charles Baxter, author of The Feast of Love and Alexandra Fuller, author of Scribbling the Cat.” Seriously, I can’t believe they put that in the press release. Do they give out room numbers too?

Know what else is in Portland? The fabulous BootsnAll Travel Network, who has, in addition to the Business Travel Logue, a writer’s resource called the Written Road for travel writers.