First Draft Writers’ Series
Third Thursday of each month, always FREE
Ursula LeGuin reading at First Draft.
The First Draft Writers’ Series brings authors and poets of note to the Pendleton stage to share new work. On the third Thursday of each month people who love the written word gather at the PCA’s Pearson Auditorium to hear our featured authors as well as three to five minute open mic readings by local emerging writers.
“Truly, [First Draft] was one of the best adventures of my writing career, right up there with winning the PNBA awards and being interviewed by Studs Turkel.” – Craig Lesley
Our Open Mic readers add incredible life to First Draft. Whether you’re a professional, emerging literary artist, amateur or just get a burst of inspiration to write one thing, we’d love to have you read your original 3-5 minute piece for the audience. Up to ten people can sign up each month to share their work after the featured author and a quick Q&A. Just send us a note in the Zoom chat that you’d like to read.
NEXT: This Native American Life: Soul of the Dress
Thursday, November 20, 2025
7:00 p.m. Zoom AND in person!
Zoom link Here
(Having trouble with the link? Text or call Roberta at 541-310-7413 and she’ll send it to you directly.)
Join us for a very special hybrid First Draft, in person and also broadcasting it via Zoom. We’d love to see you here at PCA.
The Harris sisters, Katie Harris (Kap Kap Tsonmi), Anna Harris (Witskainit), and Mary Harris (Ipnawasatillup) will be here to talk about the book and the work that inspired it.
This Native American Life offers an intimate lens into the lives, histories, and traditional regalia of the Wallowa Band Nez Perce, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Karuk tribes of the Columbia Plateau, near what is presently called Pendleton, Oregon.
In 2010, co-authors and sisters Katie, Anna and Mary Harris began re-creating plateau-style, ceremonial buckskin dresses to preserve their tribal heritage. These hand-sewn, intricately beaded dresses, write the sisters, carry “beauty, connection, trauma, and love,” as well as “the souls of the women who lived in them.”
This Native American Life shares, in loving detail, the historical and ceremonial significance of over twenty traditional and contemporary dresses, alongside gorgeous portraits by art and fashion photographer Kyle La Mere, who has documented the sisters’ creative process since 2017.
The book shines a reverent light on tribal life. It explains the significance of ceremonial dances like the jingle, fancy shawl and swan dancing, and provides cultural context for symbols often seen in plateau-style tribal regalia. It subtly illuminates the internal conflict some Native Americans experience when deciding whether to strike out into the world or remain on the reservation to serve the people. The Harris sisters have managed to do both.
This Native American Life serves as both testament and tribute to plateau artistry, the strength of family, and the enduring spirit of Native culture.
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