LitPDX seeks to amplify marginalized voices, and welcomes all, their ideas, their events, and their words.

For details regarding specific events please contact the organizers or venues. If you are an organizer or venue and would like to reach out to us please feel free to contact us or submit an event using our submission form. We’d love to hear from you!

Events Search and Views Navigation

Event Views Navigation

Today

Playwriting Techniques for the Specialist with Matthew B. Zrebski

Portland Center Stage 128 NW 11th Avenue, Portland

This intensive will dive deep into areas of playwriting that require special skills for a particular piece. How does one adapt a story from a non-theatrical medium?  How does one approach writing the book of a musical as well as lyrics? How does one approach the one-person show?  How does a playwright collaborate on a devised piece? Specific frameworks will be offered to assist in tackling the unique challenges of these less traditional forms of playwriting. Students will have opportunities to choose one or multiple projects and share work for both peer and instructor critique. This class meets for 6 Saturdays, April 6, 13, 20, 27, May 4 & 11 Saturday, April 6, 2019 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The Armory Conference Room $150 Instructor:…

Continue readingPlaywriting Techniques for the Specialist with Matthew B. Zrebski
$150

Intro to Screenprinting

IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center) 318 SE Main Street #175, Portland

Join us to learn about silkscreen printing! Learn how to create stencils, prep and process screens while gaining knowledge about tools, tips, and tricks for the photo emulsion process. You’ll have the chance to acquire best practices for setting up your print station, printing and registration while gaining practice with the medium. Our studio area uses only water-based silkscreen inks and is a primarily a non-toxic studio environment. *Screen printing is also called silkscreen or serigraphy *Completion of this course grants Studio Members access to the Screen Printing studio to print during open studio hours. Non-members and Basic Members receive one trial month of Studio Membership after the completion of the workshop. Purchasing a personal screen is not required Screen Printing Resources:  RC SCREEN SHOP &…

Continue readingIntro to Screenprinting
$125 – $225

Fiction Workshop with Megan Kruse

Online N/A, Portland

When I say ‘work’ I only mean writing. Everything else is just odd jobs. —Margaret Laurence In this eight-week workshop, study the art of fiction with master storyteller Megan Kruse. We’ll generate ideas for short stories or novel chapters, identifying key emotions. We’ll develop compelling scenes that move our stories forward, work on characterization, dialogue, pacing, voice, and other elements of successful fiction. Weekly deadlines, feedback, writing exercises and short readings will keep you feeling inspired & generating new work. April 6 – June 1 The cost of this 8-week course is $295 A $90 deposit saves your spot. Megan Kruse studied creative writing at Oberlin College and earned her MFA at the University of Montana. Her debut novel, Call Me Home, was published by Hawthorne…

Continue readingFiction Workshop with Megan Kruse
$295

Kids’ Storytime

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland

Join us every Saturday for kids’ storytime. Today we’re reading Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug by Jonathan Stutzman.

Free

Printdustrial! – Letterpress Open Studios

Letra Chueca Press 1515 SE Ankeny St, Portland

Twelve letterpress printers throughout Portland open their doors to share their personalities, inspirations, and treasures during Design Week Portland! FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Each shop will offer its own programming, potentially including free samples, interactive and non-interactive demonstrations, and art and antiques for view and sale. Follow us and the participating artists on Facebook and Instagram for features and updates! Some studios may contain antique equipment unsafe for children to handle and be in old and unusual buildings. If you have accessibility concerns, consider contacting individual shops for details. If you have small children you prefer not to supervise, this event is not advised. [Please note, the location of this event is set at Letra Chueca Press, but there are other participating locations…

Continue readingPrintdustrial! – Letterpress Open Studios
Free

Poetry Read Aloud

Books Around the Corner 40 NW 2nd Street, Gresham

Kick off National Poetry Month at Books Around the Corner! Local author and poet Sharon Wood Wortman will read from "My Overnight Recovery in 30 Years, the Collected Sharon W.W." Afterwards we open the reading up for anyone who wishes to read their own poetry or a favorite poem to share their love of poetry. ABOUT SHARON WOOD WORTMAN Sharon is best known for The Portland Bridge Book and the bridge walks she led for thousands of Portland-area school children between 1991 and 2010. Through her poetry, performance pieces, and published essays, audience members explore the terrain this storyteller continues to create from a bumpy sobriety dating to an emergency room detox in 1977, and especially since 1988, when she walked into a women's treatment…

Continue readingPoetry Read Aloud
Free

As Directed – Kathleen Valenti

Another Read Through 3932 N Mississippi Ave, Portland

AS DIRECTED: In the shadow of a past fraught with danger and tainted by loss, former pharmaceutical researcher Maggie O’Malley is rebuilding her life, trading test tubes for pill bottles as she embarks on a new career at the corner drugstore. But as she spreads her wings, things begin to go terribly wrong. A customer falls ill in the store. Followed by another. And then more. The specter of poisoning arises, conjuring old grudges, past sins, buried secrets and new suspicions from which no one is immune. As Maggie and her best friend Constantine begin to investigate, they discover that some of the deadliest doses come from the most unexpected places. Kathleen Valenti is the author of the Maggie O’Malley Mystery Series, which includes her…

Continue readingAs Directed – Kathleen Valenti
Free

Peach Blossom Poetry Series: A. Molotkov

Lan Su Chinese Garden 239 NW Everett St, Portland

Chinese gardens in China and Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland are filled with poetic inscriptions: as text, calligraphy, engravings and plaques. Inspired by the culture of literature in Chinese gardens, prolific poets share their work with garden visitors every Saturday in April at 3 p.m. Included with Lan Su membership or admission; no registration is required. April 6 A. Molotkov April 13 Clemens Starck April 20 Stella Jeng Guillory April 27 Joni Renee Whitworth About the Presenters: Born in Russia, A. Molotkov moved to the US in 1990 and switched to writing in English in 1993. His poetry collections are The Catalog of Broken Things, Application of Shadows, and Synonyms for Silence (Acre Books/Cincinnati Review, 2019). Published by Kenyon, Iowa, Antioch, Massachusetts, Atlanta, Bennington and…

Continue readingPeach Blossom Poetry Series: A. Molotkov
$10

National Letter Writing Month Celebration

Oblation Papers & Press 516 NW 12th Ave, Portland

April is National Letter Writing Month! Stop by the shop to learn more about the history and benefits of letter writing and enjoy refreshments, special discounts, and raffle prizes!

Free

Fool’s Paradise: Tales from a Blissfully Skewed Point of View

Clinton Street Theater 2522 SE Clinton St, Portland

Who hasn’t lived in a fool’s paradise for at least a few moments in our lives? Please join storytellers Norm Brecke, Trish Anderson, Susan Zwingli, and nationally known Anne Rutherford for an evening of characters who see things from an interesting position. You’ll hear stories of famous and not-so-famous iconoclasts. Folktales that take on new life and remind us of how foolish we can all be at times. Join us for a fun evening of stories, music, and smiles. Anne & Norm will provide pre-show music from 7:00 to 7:30. Come early and enjoy the fun. Saturday, April 6 in the Clinton Street Theater at 7:30 pm. Doors open at 7:00 pm. Tickets at the door: $15; Buy on-line and save: https://cstpdx-com.seatengine.com/shows/97583 General Public: $12…

Continue readingFool’s Paradise: Tales from a Blissfully Skewed Point of View
$10 – $15
Click a category label below to view the calendar with only events in that specific category.