The Live Wire Speakeasy Series continues on November 9th at 12pm inside the historic Heathman Hotel Library with our hosts Luke Burbank and Elena Passarello. This event is brought to you in partnership with Literary Arts and this year’s Portland Book Festival!
Join us for an exclusive live recording featuring bestselling author and acclaimed New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean. Enjoy mimosas, artisanal coffee, and housemade brunch appetizers before gathering in the library for an in-depth conversation about Orlean's compelling new work, Joyride.
This rare opportunity to engage with one of America's most celebrated literary voices promises to be unforgettable.
ABOUT SUSAN ORLEAN
Susan Orlean has been a New Yorker staff writer since 1992. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including The Library Book, Rin Tin Tin, Saturday Night, and The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award–winning film Adaptation. She lives with her family and her animals in Los Angeles.
Her newest and most personal book to date, Joyride, is a masterful memoir of finding her creative calling and purpose that invites us to approach life with wonder, curiosity, and an irrepressible sense of delight.
“The story of my life is the story of my stories,” writes Orlean. Throughout her storied career, her curiosity draws her to explore the most ordinary and extraordinary of places, from going deep inside the head of a regular ten-year-old boy for a legendary profile (“The American Man Age Ten”) to reporting on a woman who owns twenty-seven tigers, from capturing the routine magic of Saturday night to climbing Mt. Fuji.
Not only does Orlean’s account of a writing life offer a trove of indispensable gleanings for writers, it’s also an essential and practical guide to embracing any creative path. She takes us through her process of dreaming up ideas, managing deadlines, connecting with sources, chasing every possible lead, confronting writer’s block and self-doubt, and crafting the perfect lede—a Susan specialty.
Seating is very limited. Get your tickets today.