If you appreciate the Mercury‘s interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. You can also subscribe and have our papers delivered! [In an extremely Charge Nurse Dana Evans voice] Good Morning, Portland! We’re looking at rain. A little less today and on Saturday, but rain […]
Suzette Smith
Suzette Smith is the arts & culture editor of the Portland Mercury. Go ahead and tell her about all your food, art, and culture gripes: suzette@portlandmercury.com. Follow her on Twitter, Bluesky, and Letterboxd.
Posted inGood Morning, News!
Good Morning, News: ICE Officer in Portland Threatened to Shoot Motorized Bike Pursuer, Central City Roundtable or Best Friends Club, and Big Pink Owner Buys Another Downtown Building
If you appreciate the Mercury‘s interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. You can also subscribe and have our papers delivered! [In an extremely Nurse Dana Evans voice] Good Morning, Portland! Cold this mornin! Looks like we can have cold and bright or rainy […]
Posted inArt Snack
Art Snack: Feed the Mass Opens Old Town Offices, Portland Frog Brigade in Washington DC
Also, there are AT LEAST two World Naked Bike Rides in Portland for 2026, and the TedxPortland line-up is here.
We’re a little over two weeks out from the Mercury‘s Spring Arts Issue—look for it starting March 11—and folks the art is arting. I want to put it on your radar that the Mercury moved back to monthly in 2026, and you’ll now be able to find new print issues every second Wednesday. Or you can […]
Posted inGood Morning, News!
Good Morning, News: Prince Andrew Arrested, Dog at the Olympics, and Feds Investigate PPS for Caring About Black Students
If you appreciate the Mercury‘s interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. You can also subscribe and have our papers delivered! Good Morning, Portland! It’s been cold this week, dripping down to freezing temperatures most nights. Did you see some snow? Did you run […]
Posted inArt Snack
Art Snack: In a Shocking Twist, Mother Foucault’s Nonprofit Will Buy That Building After All
The date for the 2026 World Naked Bike Ride is here! But Sheridan Fruit Company is gone.
Reports from the arts, culture, and food worlds have been ROUGH lately. January through March are lean times for everyone. So if you don’t want to make dinner, and you still have enough self esteem to refrain from eating canned tomatoes over the sink (🙋guilty), spend some takeout dollars on your favs. If you’re cold, […]
Posted inGood Morning, News!
Good Morning, News: US Border Czar Announces Minnesota Surge Wind Down, Washington DC Guard Troops to Stay Another Year, and Republican Lawmakers Want to Increase Voter Paperwork
If you appreciate the Mercury‘s interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. You can also subscribe and have our papers delivered! Good Morning, Portland! February fakeout is fading, and today will be the last sunny, warm day for the foreseeable future.We’ve already been dipping back […]
Posted inBooks
For Human Use Isn’t Really About Dating Corpses
The irreverent speculative horror debut by Sarah G. Pierce puts the gore in allegory.
For Human Use is about dating, with a side of social norm collapse.
Posted inBooks
Literary Arts Announces 2026 Oregon Book Award Finalists
It’s no surpise to see Lidia Yuknavitch, Leah Sottile, Breena Bard, and David F. Walker among the nominees.
Literary Arts announced the finalists for its coveted 2026 Oregon Book Awards this morning, selecting via juries of out-of-state judges just 35 works from 200 submissions. This list always largely dictates our spring reading plans, as we fill in what we may have missed before the ceremony night on Monday, April 20. This is a […]
Posted inGood Morning, News!
Good Morning, News: Trump-Loving Suspect Indicted for Police Shooting, 2026 Winter Olympics Begin Friday, and Is Oregon Ready for Waymos?
If you appreciate the Mercury‘s interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. You can also subscribe and have our papers delivered! Good Morning, Portland! WEATHER NICE? WHAT IS THIS. 😧 LADDERS AND LADLES WE ARE IN THE FEBRUARY FAKEOUT. IN LOCAL NEWS:• The man […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Revered Portland Restaurant República Has Announced It Will Close
Considered the flagship of its restaurant group, República represents a devotion to “Mexico-forward” cuisine and multi-course cultural storytelling.
By way of his newsletter Between Courses, Angel Medina has announced plans to close Portland’s revered fine-dining restaurant República in February. Considered the flagship of the local mini-empire República & Co., República also represented an idea—”Mexico-forward’”cuisine, tasting menus with culinary storytelling—that laid the groundwork for a conversation the food world should have had long ago […]
Posted inArt Snack
Art Snack: Portland’s Weapons Connection, Newbery Award Winner, and 2026 James Beard Semifinalists
Republica stans rise up. Todos Media asks for community help to tell the story of a Minneapolis chef.
It’s a peculiarity of mine; I don’t even try to rationalize it anymore.