Matt Love, Nestucca Spit Press
A few weeks ago, I drove out to interview the editor and publisher of Nestucca Spit Press for the New Oregon interview series I’m cooking up for the 2GQ web journal. I’d seen him read at an Oregon Literary Review reading at the Blackbird Wine Shop, which was a fun event, nice pours and a sweet space, and was struck by how he kept saying, “it don’t get any more Oregon than this.” And his knowledge of recent Oregon regionalism, of course.
So I drove out to the coast to find out more. I found him in an open-plan ranch house punctuated by skylights washing out a collection of Oregon-centric prints and memorabilia, planning the next great move in Nestucca Spit Press’ mission to preserve Oregon history. Citadel of the Spirit: Oregon’s Sesquicentennial Anthology will feature over 60 Oregon writers and 55 primary document excerpts, presenting a contemporary intersection of the literary and political in Oregon culture. Featured writers include Monica Drake, William and Kim Stafford, Matthew Stadler, Cheryl Strayed, to name just a few—and full disclosure, I also have a piece in the book. The title comes from that Ken Kesey quote about Oregon being a citadel of the spirit, a point of view I’d say is both captured and skewered by the book.
Matt was inspired by a small pamphlet published for Oregon’s centennial that had been put together by local contest, which incidentally featured a certain first place winner named William Stafford, but I think in my somewhat biased opinion that this version of a memorial anthology is going to live up to its title. It’s a true inventory of this moment in o
ur history. It’s gargantuan, it’s full of strong voices addressing crucial controversial issues affecting Oregon’s future, and it’s “no valentine”, as Matt said to me. Like a lot of Matt’s endeavors, it’s a bit of an outsider perspective: radically mixing the personal essay and original source material, not shying away from controversy, yet relentlessly pro-Oregon all the way through.
Check out the cool historical photograph, which is of Tom McCall signing the bicycle bill. He’s also known of course for being a preserver of local beaches and an advocate of the bottle bill. McCall helped to make Vortex happen, the country’s only state-sponsered outdoor rock festival, subject of Nestucca Spit Press’s first big book and a total 60’s hippie affair. Matt had tons of cool stuff actually. I only wish I’d photographed the viewmaster reels of Oregon’s World Fair, but they probably wouldn’t have come across on film too well anyway.
Tags: anthology, Blackbird Wine Shop, Cheryl Strayed, Citadel of the Spirit, hippie, history, Ken Kesey, Kim Stafford, Matt Love, Matthew Stadler, Monica Drake, Nestucca, Nestucca Spit, Nestucca Spit Press, Nora Robertson, Oregon, Oregon culture, Oregon history, Oregon literature, Oregon writing, Oregon's World Fair, Portland, regionalism, sesquicentennial, sesquicentennial anthology, small press, the bicycle bill, the bottle bill, Tom McCall, Vortex, William Stafford, writing