Our fair Jessica has just received a glowing review in the LA Times for her latest, a collaboration with designer Rodrigo Corral, titled Chopsticks. And those Times aren't the only ones saying big things about this multimedia novel's place in the evolving digital landscape. Read the Wall Street Journal article here. We at the Accord are stretching out before we start the marathon celebrations!

Paul will be showing his painting BodyWeb 3 and a selection of prints in Beaverton’s 29th annual juried competition through early November. Click here to see photos of the accepted work by 77 painters, sculptors, and photographers from the Portland area and beyond.

With an opening gala Saturday, 5 November (7 to 9 pm), the show runs through 13 November. It includes musical performances and other events at Beaverton's huge and swank city library: 12375 SW 5th St., Beaverton, Ore.

Beginning August 19th, Paul will show seven paintings at the Vitae Springs tasting room in Salem, Oregon. For directions, tasting appointments, and more at this picturesque family-owned vineyard, go to their home page: www.vitaesprings.com. While you're there, try the Grüner Veltliner, a rare white wine from the oldest vines in the region. And don't miss their Pinot Noirs, a Willamette Valley staple.

The show, featuring portraits of dancers and actors who trained at Purdue University, will be up through October.

Poet Denise Duhamel has chosen Brian Brodeur's poetry manuscript, "Natural Causes," as the winner of the 2011 Autumn House Press Poetry Prize. The book will be released in April or May of 2012. Every day Brian's like Cinco de Mayo, cause he busts the most rhymes in the state of Ohio.

Goals for the Fourth Portland Accord:

Jess must finish the first draft of one (1) short novel by the end of year four, which has been defined by the delegates as the end of July 2012.

Brian must do his best. Because he'll be starting a PhD in English this fall and has no idea how busy he'll be, Brian will write (or try to write) one viable poem per month, keeping in mind the distant possibility of a third poetry manuscript. He shall also aim to submit as many poems as he can.

Ben must write a novel of 200 pages, at the rate of approximately one chapter (15 pages) per month, while continuing his litero-comic efforts to market Barbarians.

Paul must complete one viable painting per week, for a total of fifty-two (52) by the end of year four. The majority of these works shall be in oil. Fully one third of this set (17.33 paintings) should be made from live people.

Max must complete twelve (12) new pieces this year. Of these pieces, four (4) shall be a second MechAnimals series; one (1) piece shall measure three by four feet (3'X4') and weigh over ten (10) pounds; and at least one (1) piece shall employ resins. In addition, he must complete two (2) nonfiction essays.

The penalty for failure to complete these goals in full will be a $50 fee to be spent by the entire Accord on booze.

ACCORDED BY THE UNDERSIGNED DIGITAL DELEGATES

Jessica Anthony

Brian Sugar Bear Brodeur

Benjamin Plainview Barbarian Chadwick

Dr. Paul Xavier Rutz, PhD

J. Maximilian Stinson

To see the previous accords click below:

Click the left button of your mouse, with your mouse pointer situated within this sentence, to read the 2010-2011 Portland Accord

Click here to read the 2009-2010 Portland Accord

Click here to read the original 2008-2009 Portland Accord

Shown here, authors Grute Skullbasher and Dr. Byron Clavicle do what they do best: bash and scholarize. Their book Barbarians: A Handbook for Aspiring Savages is forthcoming later this year from Insight Editions, and sources tell us it involves Ben Chadwick at its highest levels. The two authors say they've never heard of our favorite writerly giant, but few things Sirs Skullbasher and Clavicle say should be believed. You heard it here first!

Jessica Anthony's multimedia novel Chopsticks will be published by Penguin/Razorbill in February 2012. She is now teaching in the MFA program at Southern New Hampshire University, to boot!

Max Stinson was among some of the artists at MilePost 5 to have his work chosen to hang in Mayor Sam Adams's office in Portland, Ore. The three pieces hanging can be seen in his Portland Accord Gallery. They are titled: "Just Get Us There," "Mama Zuma's Revenge," and "Red Shards." His work is proudly hanging in the employee break room, between the OSHA posters and the angry post-it notes about eating fellow employees' food from the fridge when it is clearly labeled. We say well done, good man! And hands off my spaghetti!

Brian and Paul are both getting educated. Paul just finished a PhD in Theory and Cultural Studies at Purdue University, and Brian is starting his own new phase of hefty coursework. This fall, Brian will enroll in the PhD program at the University of Cincinnati as the Elliston Fellow in Poetry. We say a hearty congrats to these institutionalized fellows.