Thu, Feb 20, 2020 at 7:30pm

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Lidia Yuknavitch writes with urgent empathy. In her new book, “Verge,” she turns her eye to life on the margins, in all its beauty and brutality, as she pens the stories of the marginalized and outcast among us. Yuknavitch is the author of the novels “The Book of Joan,” “The Small Backs of Children, “Dora: A Headcase,” and a critical book on war and narrative, “Allegories of Violence.” Her widely acclaimed memoir “The Chronology of Water “was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of the Oregon Book Award Reader's Choice. “The Misfit's Manifesto,” a book based on her recent TED Talk, was published by TED Books. She founded the workshop series Corporeal Writing, where she teaches both in person and online. If you want your reading to open your mind and inspire your heart, Lidia Yuknavitch is the contemporary writer you’ve been waiting for.

Danez Smith is a Black, Queer, Poz writer & performer from St. Paul, MN. Danez is the author of "Don’t Call Us Dead" (Graywolf Press, 2017), winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, and a finalist for the National Book Award, and "[insert] boy" (YesYes Books, 2014), winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. They are the recipient of fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Montalvo Arts Center, Cave Canem, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Danez's work has been featured widely including on Buzzfeed, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Best American Poetry, Poetry Magazine, and on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Danez has been featured as part of Forbes’ annual 30 Under 30 list and is the winner of a Pushcart Prize. They are a member of the Dark Noise Collective and is the co-host of VS with Franny Choi, a podcast sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and Postloudness. Danez’s third collection, “Homie”, will be published by Graywolf in Spring 2020. 

Amythyst Kiah’s raw and powerful vocals seem to travel across time. Born in Chattanooga and based in Johnson City, her commanding stage presence is matched only by a hypnotic sound that invokes a distant and restless past. Accompanied with banjo, acoustic guitar, or a full band, her eclectic influences span decades, finding inspiration in old time music, alternative rock, folk, country, and blues. Her latest full-length album, “Songs of Our Native Daughters,” a collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell (Birds of Chicago), contains the song “Black Myself” – written by Amythyst, and nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song. She tours the world and has performed at Celtic Connections, Cambridge Folk Festival, the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, and the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Art. She’s opened for artists such as the Indigo Girls, Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Tim O’Brien. With her next full-length album expected this year, Amythyst is creating music that stirs echoes of the past and makes us eager for the future.

Alberta Rose Theatre

3000 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR 97211