Katherine Dunn is one of Portland’s literary giants. Her highly praised and widely read novel Geek Love was a finalist for the 1989 National Book Award and was named one of The Atlantic’s “Great American Novels”. Katherine was an inspiration and mentor to many writers here in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Dunn died in 2016, but her legacy continues. Including here at KBOO where she hosted the show Gremlin Time under the alias of Red Ryder.
On today’s In Depth, we celebrate the publication of Dunn’s new book Near Flesh, which collects 19 of her short stories, and comes out tomorrow, October 7th. In the words of another Portland literary giant, Karen Russell: “Nobody’s sentences heave and breathe like Dunn’s do. Her language scintillates and sheds its scales, revealing truth that nobody else dares to utter, or can.”
To help us celebrate, we’re honored to have two of the people who were instrumental in bringing these stories to us – Dunn’s son Eli Dapolonia and Jim Redden of Oregon ArtsWatch.
There will be an in-person launch for the new book, featuring Portland-based authors Omar El Akkad and Jeff VanderMeer, and Crystal Willer, archivist of Lewis & Clark College’s Katherine Dunn Collection, October 7th 6:30PM at Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand in Portland.
- KBOO