After some soul searching on Saturday, I skipped readings by Jonathan Lethem (love him, seen him before) and Steve Almond (love him, seeing him tomorrow) in favor of the panel Literary Lives, featuring Monica Drake, Viva Las Vegas, and Willy Vlautin, and moderated by Kevin Sampsell. The biggest factor in my decision was how much I've been enjoying Wordstock's panels and conversations this year—as I've said a million times, I'm not a huge fan of readings, and the chance to hear authors talk off-the-cuff about their writing is one that doesn't come up very often. It was a good decision.
The packed, Portland-themed panel was about why these writers live in Oregon, and how the region has shaped their work. Sampsell, as a longtime resident/Powell's employee/small press publisher/author was an obvious choice to lead this one, and he kicked things off by noting that though he had no hand in choosing the panelists, he's a friend and fan of all of them.
What followed was funny and too brief. Recappiness after the jump!
