2026/27 Portland Arts & Lectures: Ayad Akhtar

Ayad Akhtar will be at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Wednesday, October 21, for a lecture presented by Literary Arts. It's part of the 42nd Portland Arts & Lectures season, so if you've been following the series this year, this is one of the stops on the calendar.

Akhtar works in two worlds: he's a novelist and a playwright, and his work has been published and performed in more than thirty languages. On the novel side, there's American Dervish, which Kirkus Reviews named one of the best books of the year, and Homeland Elegies, which made The New York Times' list of the ten best books of 2020. His latest, The Radiance, was expected this fall, so if you're coming to the talk with the new book fresh in your mind, you're in good company.

He's just as known for his plays, too. Disgraced is the big one there—it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Between the novels and the stage, he's built a career around writing for both the page and the theater, and this lecture is a chance to hear him talk about that work in person.

The talk runs from 7:30 to 9:00 PM at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway. One thing to keep in mind: this is part of the full 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures series, and a subscription to the whole season is required to attend.