LITERARY MIXTAPE is a new reading series that invites Portlanders of interest to read not their own writing, but the work of authors they're passionate about. The hope is for a reading that unfolds like a well-curated mixtape, as people with good taste introduce you to writers you may not be familiar with. The Mercury's complete interview with organizers Matthew Korfhage and Erik Bader is online on Blogtown; in the meantime, here's a CliffsNotes version of their comments, conveniently abridged and bullet-pointed for print.

"Literary Mixtape is a much different deal from a regular author reading. We're pretty much asking people to DJ books. (We avoid the term BJ for this.)"

"We curate the people, and the people curate the books. That's all there is to it."

"We're tapping the city's taste, not its writing talent. People love to share the stuff they love, and that kind of enthusiasm is contagious."

"This is all for love, not money, so we want everybody to be having a good time, us included."

"In general, we're trying to invite people whom other people might want to hear from, people who are publicly or privately interesting. Mixtape-making was always sort of a romance, as it goes, so it matters who sends you one."