Each year at Pickathon, before noon on Sunday, we offer a compelling lineup of storytellers (our Imagine lineup) and poets (our Spoken lineup). Curated by local luminaries and featuring wordsmiths from across the region and beyond, it’s part of our celebration of language. This year, on our brand-new Windmill Stage (tucked into the forest at the top of the hill above the Galaxy Barn) we’ll feature readings and book signings from award winning authors as part of our Lit lineup. It’s all part of our Literary Sunday at Pickathon and brings more great minds and innovative thinkers to the festival and gives us all a chance to interact and learn from each other.
Introducing Our Very First Literary Lineup!
New to Pickathon, we’ve invited some great new authors to the festival for book readings and signings at the Windmill Stage. Curated by Amanda Bullock of Literary Arts, this selection of writers ranges from music journalist Santi Holley (who just wrote about Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads album) to gastro explorer Cecily Wong, memoirist Justin Taylor, fairytale aficianado Michelle Ruiz Keil, and more.
Check out the full Literary/Imagine/Spoken lineup here!
https://pickathon.com/lineup/literary/
Imagine: Storytelling Lineup
| Imagine is Pickathon’s storied storytelling program on the Woods Stage! Storytellers converge from the Portland area and beyond, many drawn from legendary storytelling non-profit The Moth, like curator Patricia Wheeler. Others come from the comedy world, and this year from the fashion world too. This year’s Imagine storytellers will give us hilarious and heart-breaking stories to bring home. Here’s a sample of our lineup: |
| Amir Baghdadchi – A two-time winner of the Moth GrandSLAM, Amir is a veteran of political campaigns, a coach for first time candidates, and an award-winning comedic short film writer/director Zakiya Minifee – A Detroit native, Zakiya now calls Chicago home (when she’s not jet setting around the world, that is). An avid lover of live music and dance circle enthusiast, Zakiya’s day job is in talent development, helping people navigate the murkiness of being human in corporate America Patricia Wheeler – Producer of Moth Michigan, Patricia’s stories have been published in Storytelling Magazine, The Great Lakes Review, and more. When she’s not curating awesome storytelling events, she’s busy helping individuals and businesses harness the power of storytelling in their work Eden Dawn – An award-winning writer, wardrobe stylist, and entrepreneur from Portland, Eden was style editor at Portland Monthly for 11 years, authored the Portland Book of Dates, and has styled music videos for bands like Portugal. The Man |
Check out the full Literary/Imagine/Spoken lineup here!
Spoken: Poetry Lineup
Oregon’s poet laureate, Anis Mojgani, returns this year to curate Spoken, our lineup of poetry at Pickathon’s Woods Stage Sunday morning. There’s something about this city that brings some of the best poets to our rainy streets and Mojgani has his finger on the pulse. From slam poetry to audiovisual hybrids, you’ll find something to amaze you and tickle the brain here.
Anis Mojgani – A two-time winner of the Moth GrandSLAM, Amir is a veteran of political campaigns, a coach for first time candidates, and an award-winning comedic short film writer/director
Dao Strom is an artist who works with three “voices”—written, sung, visual—to explore hybridity and the intersection of personal and collective histories. She has authored numerous poetry-art books including the award-winning Instrument collection
Mindy Nettiffee is a PHD, poet, artist educator, and somatic trauma therapist. Her doctoral research is on the sensory capacities of the voice and the role of voice and language in trauma healing. She has been teaching creative writing and performance for more than 15 years and has published three full-length poetry collections
Julia Gaskill (she/her) is a professional daydreamer hailing from Portland, Oregon. Her work has been published through Vagabond City Lit, Nailed Magazine, and more. she has run the poetry show Slamlandia since 2018, and she co-founded The Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam in 2019.
Check out the full Literary/Imagine/Spoken lineup here!
Volunteers Needed for Pickathon!
Volunteer applications are still open! We couldn’t make our festival the sustainable, transcendent experience it is without the help of our incredible volunteers each year. We’re actively reviewing and contacting folks, but we’ve still got open volunteer crew spots we need to fill!
17 DAYS UNTIL PICKATHON! 
