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Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo: The Powells.com Interview
By Chris Faatz July 14, 2011
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo is a remarkable human being. One of the first western women to be ordained into a Tibetan Buddhist monastic lineage (in the early 1960s), she's been a dedicated and inspiring practitioner ever since, even going so far as to spend 13 years in retreat in a cave in the...
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Alice LaPlante: The Powells.com Interview
By Jill Owens July 12, 2011
Alice LaPlante has been teaching writing for 20 years and is the editor of the popular creative-writing textbook Method and Madness, But it wasn't until this year, at age 52, that her first novel was published (by the wonderful independent press Grove/Atlantic). It was worth the wait. Turn of...
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Josh Ritter: The Powells.com Interview
By Jill Owens June 28, 2011
Josh Ritter is best known for his music — in 2006, he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine, and his 2010 album, So Runs the World Away, was chosen as one of the top 10 albums of the year by NPR's Bob Boilen. Now, his first novel, Bright's Passage, is...
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Amy Bryant Aiello: The Powells.com Interview
By Megan June 13, 2011
When I discovered Artemisia, a treasure of a shop in Southeast Portland which primarily features terrariums, I remembered how mind-blowing terrariums seemed as a kid. The ability to build a tiny world felt so powerful and important — you could create a climate! In Artemisia, I felt that same...
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Susan Beal: The Powells.com Interview
By Rachel C. June 2, 2011
Super crafter Susan Beal is everywhere. With five craft books to her name, contributions in Bust, ReadyMade, Venus, and Craft, as well as many appearances at craft fairs and conventions, Susan has become one of the major craft forces in the Pacific Northwest. From jewelry and beading to quilting...
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Ann Patchett: The Powells.com Interview
By Jill Owens May 31, 2011
Ann Patchett is a beloved author among Powell's employees. Her 2001 novel Bel Canto, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award, might be the most popular, but her earlier novels The Magician's Assistant and The Patron Saint of Liars also have their fervent fans. Her dazzling and heartbreaking memoir about...
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Heidi Swanson: The Powells.com Interview
By Megan May 14, 2011
Heidi Swanson, creator of the beloved blog 101 Cookbooks, offers nearly 100 of her go-to recipes in Super Natural Every Day, the follow-up to her James Beard Award-nominated cookbook Super Natural Cooking. With a focus on whole grains, minimally processed sweeteners, and fresh produce, Swanson's...
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Siri Hustvedt: The Powells.com Interview
By Jill Owens May 4, 2011
Siri Hustvedt spans two worlds in her writing, with her gorgeous, lyrical, often dreamlike fiction, including What I Loved, The Blindfold, and The Sorrows of an American, and her nonfiction writing on science, art, and culture, which include A Plea for Eros, The Shaking Woman or a History of My...
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Christopher McDougall: The Powells.com Interview
By Shawn Donley April 19, 2011
Sometimes the simplest of questions can send us on the most complicated quests. For Christopher McDougall, the question was, "Why does my foot hurt?" The story of his search for an answer is the entertaining and inspiring bestseller Born to Run, which has something for everyone — travel,...
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Katie Arnold-Ratliff: The Powells.com Interview
By Jill Owens April 4, 2011
Katie Arnold-Ratliff's Bright before Us is an exquisitely written, masterfully haunting story of a life unraveling. Francis is a 25-year-old second-grade teacher in San Francisco, living in the poverty of young adulthood with his wife and a baby on the way. During a moment of inattention on a...
