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

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The Mouths of Others: Author Diana Kirk

Mt. Hood Community College Theatre 26000 SE Stark Street, Gresham

See this The Mouths of Others talk by Diana Kirk, author of Licking Flames: Tales of a Half-Assed Hussy, and a contributor to Nasty!, a collection of bold essays and recollections. Hear the Astoria-based writer and business owner read some of her latest provocative and genre-busting work on Wednesday, May 29, from Noon – 1 p.m. in the Visual Arts Theatre. When she’s not writing, Kirk owns and operates a bar in Astoria and travels as much as possible. You can learn more about her at https://dianakirk.wordpress.com Event takes place in the Visual Arts Theatre on the Gresham campus. Free and open to all!

Free

Helen Zia in Conversation with Putsata Reang

Portland Chinatown Museum 127 NW Third Ave, Portland

The Portland Chinatown Museum is honored to present a book conversation with Helen Zia, acclaimed writer, journalist, and activist. Helen Zia will be in conversation with writer Putsata Reang to discuss Helen’s new book, LAST BOAT OUT OF SHANGHAI. A book signing will follow the discussion period. This event is part of the Portland Chinatown Museum's ongoing series, STORIES MY MOTHER AND FATHER TOLD ME, sponsored in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities. LAST BOAT OUT OF SHANGHAI is based on the dramatic, real-life stories of a generation caught up in the mass rush out of Shanghai in the wake of China’s 1949 Communist Revolution, with startling parallels to the struggles faced by emigrants today. Shanghai has historically been China’s jewel, its richest, most…

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$10 – $12

Poetry Practice Space

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

Poetry Practice Space is a monthly gathering for poets and writers. Writing materials, readings and prompts for generative writing will be provided. Come share a space to talk about your writing practice, and current writing projects, bemoan rejections, celebrate acceptances, share writing resources— and write together! Consider Poetry Practice Space the calisthenics for your poetics. Suggested donation, no one turned away for lack of funds Free for members

Free

Rebecca Robinson and Stephen Strom

Broadway Books 1714 NE Broadway, Portland

Journalist Rebecca Robinson and photographer Stephen Strom join us to discuss their recently published book Voices from Bears Ears: SeekingCommon Ground on Sacred Land, published by the University of Arizona Press. In late 2016, President Barack Obama designated 1.35 million acres of public lands in southeastern Utah as Bears Ears National Monument. On December 4, 2017, President Donald Trump shrank the monument by 85 percent. A land rich in human history and unsurpassed in natural beauty, Bears Ears is at the heart of a national debate over the future of public lands. Through the stories of twenty individuals, and informed by interviews with more than seventy people, Voices from Bears Ears captures the passions of those who fought to protect Bears Ears and those who…

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Free

Annie Jacobsen

Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton

When diplomacy fails, and war is unwise, the president calls on the CIA's Special Activities Division, a highly classified branch of the CIA – and the most effective black operations force in the world. With unprecedented access to 42 men and women who proudly and secretly worked on CIA covert operations from the dawn of the Cold War to the present day, along with declassified documents and deep historical research, Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen unveils a complex world of individuals working in treacherous environments populated with killers, connivers, and saboteurs. Surprise, Kill, Vanish (Little, Brown) brings to vivid life the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.

Free

Classics Book Group

Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton

This month our group meets to discuss Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes. Join us!

Free

Whitenoise Project 19: Yen / Kaufka / Kim / Agcaoili / Perez

Tryst Bar 19 SW 2nd Avenue, Portland

For our first post-AWP Whitenoise Project event we are excited to announce a reading at Tryst, a WoC-owned bar and restaurant in Old Town! (also, our second ever reading on the west side and first in a while) We are also welcoming visiting poet and professor Jason Magabo Perez, who brings his first full-length collection, This is for the Mostless. https://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2018/03/apertures-wishes-and-questions Featuring: Jessica Yen Beth Haworth-Kaufka Hannah Kim Ie Agcaoili Jason Magabo Perez ADA Accessible and All Ages! $5-10 suggested donation to help support the artists No one will be turned away for lack of funds. The Whitenoise Project is a reading and discussion series aiming to center voices from underrepresented / erased communities (Black and Indigenous people and/or PoC, Women and Femmes of Color,…

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$5 – $10

Eric Gorges in Conversation With Gary Rogowski

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

In A Craftman’s Legacy (Algonquin), Eric Gorges, host of TV’s A Craftsman’s Legacy, makes the case that the craftsman’s way – the philosophy, the skills, and the mindset – can provide a blueprint for all of us in our increasingly hurried, mass-manufactured world. Filled with insights about the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of craftsmanship, A Craftsman’s Legacy identifies the craftsman’s values: taking time to slow down and enjoy the process, embracing failure, knowing when to stop and when to push through, and accepting that perfection is an illusion. Gorges will be joined in conversation by Gary Rogowski, author of Handmade: Creative Focus in the Age of Distraction.

Free

7DS Pants On Fire!

White Eagle 836 N Russell St, Portland

Pants On Fire! features seven storytellers telling the most insane, outrageous, hard-to-believe stories from their own lives. The catch? One of those seven will actually be telling a bald-faced lie -- a whopper that never actually happened. Think you can spot which of our seven storytellers is the liar? If you can, you might win a stay at McMenamin's Edgefield Hotel on us. Not sure you can which is guess the liar? No worries! There will be other ways to win valuable prizes throughout the evening, including a chance to take on one of your fellow audience members in our Two Truths & A Lie Mano-y-Mano Cage Match. Even if you don't win, you'll walk away having heard seven of the most wild, outrageous, hard-to-believe…

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$10
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