Five or six authors sat together off to one corner in Powell’s Book’s Pearl Room, not far from where such noted individuals as President Jimmy Carter, Ursula K. LeGuin and Sherman Alexie had read. During their allotted fifteen minutes to present their work, some authors chose to simply read excerpts or poems while others allowed time for a question and answer period, answering about their families, or mutual acquaintances in the Portland author community. When author Ashley Tolliver went up to read from her book, she turned to the Powell’s employee who had introduced her to wish him a happy birthday. The crowd erupted in a song of happy birthday for Kevin, who stood quietly in the back, smiling, when the singing became a little sketchy when it came time to say his name.
A dozen authors in total presented their works, Monday, March 16, at Smallpressapalozza, an event put on by Powell’s to highlight lesser-known authors. Most of the works presented were short stories and poetry. This was the eighth year that Powell’s has hosted the event, which is a part of its push throughout March to promote small and local presses. The non-profit organization Write Around Portland also kicked off a ten-week writing workshop Monday night in conjunction with Powell’s.
The scale of the event visibly intimidated some of the authors. “I’m nervous because there’s this one word in the fist story I don’t know how to pronounce,” said Evelyn Hampton, whose short story book called “Discomfort” came out in February. When she made it to the word in question, audience members struggled to help her get through it, often nodding and clapping when a particular phrase or idea captured them. Authors seemed surprised when members of the audience came up to ask them to sign copies of their books.
Experimental short form books were on display near the seating area. Kelly Schirman and Tyler Brewington, two Portland authors, presented their book “Boyfriend Mountain” together. “Boyfriend Mountain” is a split book, which means that at the halfway point it is necessary to flip the book upside down to continue reading, as the two author’s portions are aligned to be the reverse of each other. “Ideal Machine,” another poetry book, has hand-sewn binding. Its author, Ashley Toliver, had to read off of her phone, as her printer was broken, and told the audience how “weird” and “nervous” it made her feel.
Poet Luke Bloomfield experimented with forms of poetry in his collection “Russian Novels.” Before reading a poem he had written about the moon, he explained that after having written it, he had decided to replace every instance of the word “moon” with the word “ham.”
Much of the poetry was based on intimate personal experiences. Schirman read a poem from “Boyfriend Mountain” that she had written while in a strained relationship: “When I am away from you, I am my true self,” Schirman read. Hampton read a short story about how she doesn’t enjoy sex, and how her friends try to talk her into liking it. She read an anecdote about a scientist friend who was having an affair with a coworker with whom she dissected bodies. “My friend says many long nights dissecting a body inevitably leads to sex,” Hampton read.
Kevin Sampsell, the Powell’s employee whose birthday was acknowledged, hosted the event. He introduced each author, often mentioning previous readings of theirs he had seen elsewhere in Portland. He discovered many of the authors in smaller venues, such as coffee shops, and he spoke of seeing them develop as writers. Before Evelyn Hampton’s presentation of “Discomfort,” Sampsell spoke of seeing her before she got an MFA from Brown, and welcomed her back to Portland. “There are a few new faces since Providence,” she observed as she walked up to the podium to read from her book.