Madeline Miller | Portland Arts & Lectures

PORTLAND ARTS & LECTURES 2020/21

MADELINE MILLER

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

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PORTLAND ARTS & LECTURES 2020/2021 THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:

EVENT UNDERWRITERS Helen Macdonald Tuesday, October 13, 2020 Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund

Joy Harjo Tuesday, April 20, 2021 Angeli Law Group

Madeline Miller Thursday, January 28, 2021 A to Z Wineworks

Yaa Gyasi Tuesday, May 18, 2021 The Eberwein Family

Ibram X. Kendi Thursday, February 18, 2021 ZGF Architects

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Madeline Miller image © Nina Subin

MADELINE MILLER

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adeline Miller was born in Boston and spent her early years in New York City, where her mother would regularly take her to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the Egyptian, Ancient Greek, and Roman exhibits.

When Miller was in high school, her family moved to Philadelphia, where she began to learn both Latin and Homeric Greek. Miller attended Brown University, where she studied Classics and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Miller was five years old when her mother, who was a librarian, first read to her from the Iliad. She was instantly hooked, remembering: “I thought, ‘Wow, this is what real life is like.’ That might sound funny, given that the story is full of gods.

But the emotions, the striving, the grief.

It was so engaging.”

Though her early interest in reading and studying Classics cannot be understated, Miller also knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. As early as her teenage years, she says, “I knew I wanted to write—though I would never have dared to hope I could actually be a writer.” She credits her love of writing and books to

her mother, who would spend hours reading aloud to her and supporting her writing practice.

Her first novel, The Song of Achilles, was awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and was a New York Times best seller.

A new rendering of the Trojan War, this homage to the Iliad follows Patroclus, a young exiled prince, living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles.

Joanna Trollope, chair of the Orange Prize judges, commented, “This is a more than worthy winner—original, passionate, inventive, and uplifting. Homer would be proud of her.”

Her 2018 novel, Circe, was also critically acclaimed and a fixture on the New York Times best seller list that year. A retelling of the Odyssey, Circe tells the story of minor goddess Circe, who was banished from her Titan father’s home to a deserted island where she unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods. NPR’s Here & Now celebrates the work as “so vivid, so layered, you could get lost in it… Whether or not you think you like Greek mythology, this is just great storytelling.”

Omar El Akkad image © Michael Lionstar

Prior to this novel, Circe was a minor character depicted in only a handful of legends; Miller expands her story into a fully-fleshed view of a powerful woman

Omar El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt and grew up in Doha, Qatar until he moved to Canada with his family. An award-winning journalist and author, he has traveled the world to cover many of the most important news stories of the last decade. His reporting includes dispatches from the NATO-led war in Afghanistan, the military trials at Guantánamo Bay, the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt, and the Black Lives

dealing with love and loss. Unearthing and telling these untold stories is key to Miller’s writing practice. She notes, “I think it’s important when reading a classic work to ask: whose stories are being told, and whose stories have been left out or suppressed? In the context of Homer, nearly all the major characters are male aristocrats, and anyone outside that category is largely ignored. Yet so often, these other stories are seething at the edges, every bit as gripping as the hero’s version, and just waiting to be told.”

Perhaps the best explanation of why Miller’s retellings have captured readers’ imaginations comes from the author herself, who has said, “With a retelling you get the best of both worlds—the chance to revisit beloved stories, while at the same time being surprised by them.”

At the time of writing this bio (midDecember), both The Song of Achilles and Circe are on the New York Times paperback best seller list. Miller’s novels have been translated into over 25 languages, and her essays have appeared in a number of publications, including the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Telegraph, Lapham’s Quarterly, and NPR. She currently lives outside Philadelphia.

Matter movement in Ferguson, Missouri.

He is a recipient of Canada’s National Newspaper Award for investigative reporting and the Goff Penny Memorial Prize for Young Canadian Journalists, as well as three National Magazine Award honorable mentions. His first novel is American War, a national bestseller, New York Times notable book, and winner of the Oregon Book Award. Publisher’s Weekly called it, “Terrifyingly plausible . . .

American War is a vivid narrative of a country collapsing in on itself.” His new novel is forthcoming in spring 2021.

El Akkad lives in Portland, Oregon.

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THIS IS OUR STORY There is a thread that ties this broad community together, connecting us all — urban and rural, stranger and friend, through history and hardship, shared goals and personal dreams. It’s our story, as Oregonians, all in it together. And we at The Oregonian/OregonLive are proud to help tell that story every minute of every day.

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ABOUT LITERARY ARTS Our mission is to engage readers, support writers, and inspire the next generation with great literature.

ENGAGE READERS: Portland Arts & Lectures brings the world’s most celebrated writers, artists, and thinkers to our community and connects readers and writers of all ages through classroom visits and workshops.

Portland Book Festival brings writers and readers of all ages together to celebrate a shared passion for books. This past year’s festival was all online and free for all, running from November 5–21, 2020. View recordings of the virtual events at PDXBookFest.org.

Delve Readers Seminars cultivates community around the shared experience of reading. By gathering around books, we engage in dialogues with authors we love and artists who show us new perspectives.

The Archive Project Radio Show and Podcast features the most sought-after recordings from our Portland Arts & Lectures series, the Portland Book Festival, and other community events. Each week, new lectures are available to stream for free. Listen on OPB Radio Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m., on our website at literary-arts.org/archive, or wherever you get your podcasts.

SUPPORT WRITERS: Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships supports, promotes, and celebrates Oregon’s writers and publishers. In addition to awards and fellowships for emerging and established writers, the program also offers writing classes and literary events at our downtown center and produces the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour, which connects writers and readers throughout the state. In 2020 we awarded 150 Oregon writers who were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic emergency funds of $1,000 each, with priority given to BIPOC writers.

INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION: Youth Programs inspires public high school students to write, publish, and perform their own creative writing. Writers in the Schools residencies bring working writers into classrooms.

Students to the Schnitz gives young people access to great books and influential authors.

The College Essay Mentoring Project pairs mentors with college applicants. And the annual Verselandia! and East Side Slam poetry slams showcases high school spoken word artists.

For more information, or to make a gift in support of our programs, visit our website at literary-arts.org.

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WHO WE ARE Literary Arts Staff Andrew Proctor, Executive Director Sophie Albanis Maggie Allen Amanda Bullock Lydah DeBin Alanna Faelan Jennifer Gurney Hunt Holman Olivia Jones-Hall Brandon Lenzi Allegra Lopez Jessica MezaTorres Susan Moore Jules Ohman Liz Olufson Emilly Prado Valeria I. Ramirez Jyoti Roy Literary Arts Board of Directors Amy Prosenjak, Chair Jill Abere David Angeli Joan Cirillo Ginnie Cooper Amy Donohue Ann Edlen Sarah Gibbon Betsy Henning Jonathan Hill Mitchell S. Jackson Maurice King Deidra Miner Anis Mojgani Justice Adrienne Nelson Corrine Oishi Katherine O’Neil Ramon Pagan Bob Speltz Dennis Steinman Jeoffrey Tichenor Chabre Vickers Amy Wayson

Strunk & White Society An honorary society of distinguished advisors Gwyneth Gamble Booth Nancy Bragdon Larry Colton Theo Downes-Le Guin Bart Eberwein Brian Gard Molly Gloss Carrie Hoops Jodi DelahuntHubbell Cecelia Huntington Susheela Jayapal Julie Mancini Brenda Meltebeke Jessica Mozeico Diane Ponti Michael Powell Amy Prosenjak Per Ramfjord Halle Sadle Steven Taylor Jacqueline Willingham Thomas Wood Steve Wynne Development Council Bob Speltz, Chair Jill Abere Ann Barden Joan Cirillo Ginnie Cooper Amy Donohue Ann Edlen Sara Guest Jan Oliva Andrew Proctor Amy Prosenjak Jon Raymond Chabre Vickers Jacqueline Willingham

Carl Wilson Thomas Wood Patron Advisory Council Katherine O’Neil, Chair Jill Abere Seth Alley Kim Bissell Marian Creamer Kieran Curley Rebecca DeCesaro Marilyn Epstein Sarah Gibbon Susan HathawayMarxer Earl Hines Kristi Wallace Knight Phillip M. Margolin Katherine McCoy Carolyn McKinney Vanessa McLaughlin Lora Meyer Nancy Ponzi Anna Raman Jim Reinhart Barbara Sepenuk Roslyn Sutherland Kate Tuominen Kim Weyler Marcia Wood Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships Advisory Council Anis Mojgani, Chair Tom Booth Nancy Boutin Julie Dixon Abbey Gaterud Betsy Henning Rhonda Hughes Cecelia Huntington Linda Leslie

Meghan Moran Jyothi Natarajan Corrine Oishi Dennis Steinman Armin Tolentino Youth Programs Advisory Council Jonathan Hill, Chair Carmen Bernier-Grand Sandra Childs Jacque Dixon Bob Geddes Andre Goodlow Mary Hirsch Briana Linden Andre Middleton Deidra Miner Anis Mojgani Joanna Rose Karena Salmond Claudia Savage Nancy Sullivan Catherine Theriault Amy Wayson Tracey Wyatt Sharon Wynde Portland Book Festival Advisory Council Joan Cirillo, Chair Edward Ash-Milby Kathi Inman Berens Katie Boland Julie Bunker Liz Crain Sarah Gibbon Elina Lim Josha Nathan Justice Adrienne Nelson Olivia Olivia Katherine O’Neil Steph Opitz Craig Popelars Jon Raymond

Sarah Rothenfluch Heidi Schulz Rob Spillman Alicia Tate Sage Van Wing Lidia Yuknavitch Gail Zuro Brian Booth Writers’ Fund Endowment Campaign Task Force Gwyneth Gamble Booth Tom Booth Bart Eberwein Barnes Ellis Sr. Jim Faville Brian Gard Judy Hummelt Cecelia Huntington Susheela Jayapal Sen. Betsy Johnson Theodore Downes-Le Guin Julie Mancini Jim Meyer Suzanne Storms Millis Carole Morse Corrine Oishi Tom Palmer John Russell Bob Scanlan Gary White Jacqueline Willingham

Literary Arts: 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR 97205 Phone: 503-227-2583 Online: literary-arts.org You can also like us on Facebook.com/literaryarts or follow us on Twitter or Instagram @literaryarts.

Literary Arts is supported in part by:

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To the writers, we...

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We’re grateful for your powerful writing and our wondrous reading.

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