For the first time, Centrum’s 39th annual Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, led by Artistic Director Erin Belieu, takes place over the course of two weeks—happening this year July 8-21.
As part of the Conference, a Readings and Lectures series is offered at 4 pm and 7:30 pm each day, in which the faculty of poets, fiction writers, essayists and cross-genre writers read from their work and discuss their craft, their work, and the literary life.
The Readings and Lectures Series is presented at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater in Fort Worden State Park free of charge. A Discover Pass is not required for park entry for Centrum summer events.
This year, the series features such writers as Cheryl Strayed, whose new memoir Wild was selected by Oprah to re-start her book selections; Dorothy Allison, the author of Bastard Out of Carolina; and western writer Pam Houston, whose most recent book of fiction is Contents May Have Shifted. Other presenters include young adult novelist Chris Crutcher, whose often-banned books deal with the harsh difficulties faced by many teenagers; Copper Canyon Press poets Dana Levin, Benjamin Alire Saénz, and Gary Copeland Lilley; Miami-based fiction writer Jennine Capò Crucet; and many others, including Kim Addonizio, Sam Ligon, Diane Roberts, James Hannaham, and the Alaska Writer Laureate, Peggy Shumaker.