Join us for a reading from Liz Scott’s new memoir, This Never Happened.

This Never Happened is a genre-bending memoir, told in a non-linear way using photographs, letters, and lists. This is a spare work…alternatively heartbreaking and darkly comic. Like an archeological dig, Scott’s memoir goes in search of the answers to the mysteries of her family. In her relentless quest to uncover the truth, she leaves no one, including herself, unexamined. In the end, it is about the challenge of making peace with questions that will never be answered and the struggle to forgive.

Liz Scott has been a practicing psychologist for 40 years, helping clients to identify life themes and make sense of the puzzle of their lives. She has brought this focus to her writing in the last fifteen years, first as a short story writer and most recently in her memoir, This Never Happened. She has been published in numerous literary journals and served two terms on the board of Oregon Literary Arts. Originally from New York City, she currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Liz Scott, Jackie Shannon Hollis, and Laura Stanfill will be reading from their memoirs.

Liz Scott reads at Lilla Lit, a Portland reading series. Lilla Lit is a quarterly literary reading series at SE Portland’s Leach Botanical Garden featuring poetry, fiction, and nonfiction on the evening’s theme. Every Lilla event celebrates, supports, and promotes authors. Our goal is to create and deepen literary community in Portland. Learn more at www.lillalit.com.

Join memoirists Liz Scott (This Never Happened) and Tory Bilski (Wild Horses of the Summer Sun: A Memoir of Iceland) for a conversation about their memoirs and the writing process. Memoirist and writing teacher Mary-Lou Weisman will moderate the discussion.

Liz Scott in Conversation with Rene Denfeld

We are thrilled to welcome Liz Scott and Rene Denefeld to the store at 7 pm on Monday, April 29th.

In her memoir This Never Happened, Liz Scott goes in search of the answers to the mysteries of her family. She mines photographs and letters, leaving no one, including herself, unexamined.“This is where I live -- somewhere smack between pity and rage, between empathy and indictment. And as hard as I look, I still can’t find a place between mercy and pain.” Scott has creatively assembled the text, including bulleted and numbered lists, correspondence, and photographs, which together tell Scott’s family history from as many angles as possible. In the end, the book is about the struggle to clear away pain to make room for compassion, and the challenge of making peace with questions that will never be answered.

Liz Scott

Liz Scott's memoir, This Never Happened (University of Hell), goes in search of the answers to the mysteries of her family. In her relentless quest to uncover the truth, she mines photographs and letters, leaving no one, including herself, unexamined. This is a spare work, alternately heartbreaking and darkly comic. In the end, it’s about the struggle to clear away pain to make room for compassion, and the challenge of making peace with questions that will never be answered.