Resource Guide
for Fat Ham
Multnomah County Library My Discovery Pass Reading List: FAT HAM
Enjoy a thoughtfully curated list of readings to complement your Fat Ham experience!
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Portland Center Stage and Portland Playhouse Team up To Serve FAT HAM
Portland Mercury's Joe Streckert discusses the co-production between Portland Center Stage and Portland Playhouse with PCS's Marissa Wolf and PPH's Producing Director (and Fat Ham Director) Charles Grant. Artwork by Harrison Freeman.
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Behind the Curtain: Straight Up Shakespeare
PCS's Literary Manager, and Fat Ham Dramaturg, Kamilah Bush shares her insights into James Ijames' Fat Ham and how it relates to Shakespeare's Hamlet.
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Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 207
James Ijames on Fat Ham
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Fat Ham(let): What to know about Hamlet (1599-1601) to understand Fat Ham (2021)
Dramaturg Amy Thone (Seattle Rep) discusses the similarities and differences between Shakespeare's Hamlet and Ijames' adaption, Fat Ham.
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Laughing as an Act of Resistance: An Interview with James Ijames
Barbora Příhodová interviews James Ijames about his play, Youth, that premiered at Villanova Theatre, and his vision of theater in the contemporary political climate.
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Cast & Creative Team
Meet the cast and creative team for Fat Ham.
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James Ijames & Ham4Ham
- https://www.jamesijames.com/about-margot
- https://www.pewcenterarts.org/fellow/james-ijames
- https://www.headlands.org/artist/james-ijames/
- https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/james-ijames
- https://theatrephiladelphia.org/theatre-news/laughing-as-an-act-of-resistance-an-interview-with-james-ijames
- https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/fat-ham-james-ijames/
- https://www.seattlerep.org/about-us/inside-seattle-rep/fat-hamlet-what-to-know
Gaston County, NC
- https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/multnomahcountyoregon,gastoncountynorthcarolina/RHI325224
- https://www.gastonianc.gov/images/files/transportation_planning/documents/RCP/Highland_Neighborhood_Map.pdf
- https://history.textiles.ncsu.edu/textile-companies/loray-mills/
- https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2025/demo/p60-286.pdf
- https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NC#
- https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/north-carolina-median-household-income-by-race/
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MHINC37071A052NCEN
- https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/gaston-county-nc-median-household-income-by-race/
- https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/multnomahcountyoregon/PST045224
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS
- https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/
- https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/nc/gastonia/
- https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/or/portland/
- https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-unemployment-rate.htm
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NCURN
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ORMULT1URN
- https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/historic-preservation-office/survey-and-national-register/surveyreports/GastonCountyAfricanAmericanResourcesSurvey-2000.pdf
- https://highlandrising.wordpress.com/page/5/
- https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/census/congregational-membership?y=2020&y2=0&t=0&c=37071
- https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/state/north-carolina/
- https://www.churchadvise.com/directory/NC/Gastonia
- https://www.gastongazette.com/story/opinion/2023/03/15/gastonia-has-plenty-of-churches-but-lack-heart-for-the-homeless/70000517007/
Crime & Punishment
- https://www.ncpedia.org/central-prison
- https://www.ncdps.gov/death-custody-reporting
- https://www.governing.com/management-and-administration/deaths-decline-in-n-c-jails-but-remain-historically-high
- https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/central-prison/
- https://www.dac.nc.gov/central-prison
- https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/22/central-prison-h-66
- https://www.dac.nc.gov/fy-2021-2022-annual-statistical-reports/open
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/research/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11369514860&gbraid=0AAAAACMYpodDquGg5c0LDa0dQsfQzwMnp&gclid=CjwKCAjwg_nNBhAGEiwAiYPYA0NEkWrnysK08GS0iYT89aXcvaxicZVLJkspmxbu8xV0wA_Fgr0g4BoClR4QAvD_BwE
- https://csgsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/North-Carolina-Criminal-Justice-Data-Snapshot.pdf
- https://www.prisonpro.com/content/gaston-correctional-center
- https://www.dac.nc.gov/divisions-and-sections/institutions/prison-facilities/gaston-correctional-center
- https://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/data/prisons2020/NC/
- https://www.nconemap.gov/datasets/nconemap::correctional-institutions/about
- https://ncsecondchance.org/about/
- https://ncsecondchance.org/about/
- https://www.dac.nc.gov/divisions-and-sections/division-institutions
- https://trends.vera.org/state/NC
- https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-people-are-in-prisons-in-the-us/state/north-carolina/
- https://vera-institute.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/pdfdownloads/state-incarceration-trends-north-carolina.pdf
- https://www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/NC.html
Marine Service
- https://www.marines.com/life-as-a-marine/life-in-the-marine-corps/preparing-for-operating-forces.html
- https://www.federalpay.org/military/marine-corps/ranks
- https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/marine-active-duty-pay
- https://download.militaryonesource.mil/12038/MOS/Infographic/2023-demographics-active-duty-marine-corps-members.pdf
BBQ
- https://www.wxii12.com/article/north-carolina-barbecue-bbq-war-eastern-western-style/41736559
- https://southinblackandwhite.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/holy_smoke_the_big_book_of_north_carolina_barbecue_-_the_lore.pdf
- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/6037-Which-Side-of-the-North-Carolina-Barbecue-Battle-Are-You-On
- https://www.ourstate.com/nc-barbecue-styles/
- https://woodys.com/heavenly-heritage-the-rich-and-smoky-history-of-north-carolina-bbq/
- https://www.beasleyssmokehouserub.com/post/the-evolution-of-carolina-style-bbq-exploring-the-origins-regional-variations-and-signature-sauce?srsltid=AfmBOoqC8XCbjhv7-KQ0n2U3BJIwEu7slQmqb3xfThntft_WW5se672B
- https://www.elonnewsnetwork.com/article/2013/11/the-bbq-state-unique-origins-of-barbecue-define-north-carolina-history-culture
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/travel/north-carolina-barbecue.html
- https://www.thepauperedchef.com/article/north-carolina-barbecue-a-tale-of-vinegar-hush-puppies-and-the-whole-hog
- https://medium.com/@Ameera.Henry/roots-culture-the-black-history-of-barbeque-fb451404f0df
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/dining/black-smoke-book.html
- https://www.southernfoodways.org/
- https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/how-black-people-shaped-barbecue#
- https://barbecuebible.com/2021/06/08/black-smoke-african-americans-and-the-history-of-the-united-states-of-barbecue/
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/23412910?read-now=1&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/dining/high-on-the-hog-netflix.html
- https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/from-barbycu-to-barbecue-book/
- https://www.cindersbarbecues.co.uk/cinders/who-invented-the-bbq-the-history-of-barbecues/
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-evolution-of-american-barbecue-13770775/
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