Location: Sunblossom Farm in Portland, OR
Cost: $5-15 suggested donation
Join us for our September Literary Salon at Sunblossom Farm. Step into a centuries-old tradition of gathering for books, ideas, and conversation.
Let’s talk about obsessive page turners. Text your friend in the middle of the night reactions to plot twists. Divine escapism.
This month, we are diving into the complex mechanics of literary taste. Why do we feel the urge to perform intellectualism on our Goodreads pages? And why do the fast-paced, plot-heavy stories that bring us pure joy get dismissed with the patronizing label of "guilty pleasures"?
Genres like romance, thrillers, and beach reads are enjoying a massive cultural moment. We will celebrate these delicious page-turners, while opening up a bigger debate: Is reading meant to be a self-improvement regimen, or can ‘pop’ commercial reads and challenging literature coexist in a symbiotic, balanced lit diet?
Some questions we plan to unpack:
Who decided reading has to be dense, intellectual, or difficult to be considered valuable or "legitimate"? Why do we attach shame to commercial, plot-driven books?
Have you ever lied about liking a dense, critically acclaimed book to seem smart, or hidden a book cover on public transit? How do books serve as a status symbol?
Do you read differently when you alternate between fast-paced comfort reads and denser literature? Can pure escapism and heavy intellectual fiction complement each other, or do you lean strictly into one camp?
Is treating books like a "balanced diet" (where commercial fiction is dessert and dense classics are vegetables) just another way of turning reading into a moral duty?
What happens if we stop viewing literature through the lens of self-improvement?
Bring your favorite “guilty” read to share, and join us for the discussion.
What to know:
No pre-reading required. Simply bring a book, essay, poem, or even a song lyric that resonates with this theme. Or come to listen. We’ll read, reflect, and discuss together.
Optional: We’ll help weed and tend to the land at the Sunblossom garden after the event in the spirit of reciprocity and thanks for use of the space. Anyone interested can stay, chat, and help.
Register below.