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!

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Contemporary Brazilian Poetry at Portland State

Portland State University - Fariborz Maseeh Hall 1855 SW Broadway, Portland

This Thursday, PSU presents the poets Rodrigo Bravo and Flavia Rocha, along with translator Sean Nagus. They will read from their own work and also participate in a discussion of contemporary Brazilian literature. The presentation is free and open to the public. Rodrigo Bravo is a translator and researcher in Linguistics with emphasis in translation of poetic discourse, comparative literature and stychology. Lecturer at the graduate school of music at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, he develops his doctoral research at the Graduate School of Foreign Languages and Translation Studies at USP. Curator of the TransFormações exposition, at Casa das Rosas (SP) (2017), he also serves as a member of the editorial board of the literary series Neûron at Editora Córrego. Bravo authored academic essays, articles and the books Ernesto na Torre…

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Free

PSU Creative Writing BFA Student Reading

PSU - Smith Memorial Student Union 1825 SW Broadway, Portland

Join us on November 21 to hear BFA students and faculty read from their work! Free and open to all. 🌲☔️🎤✏️ Featuring: Gretchen Adams, Lily Lamadrid, Sam Miller, Anna Stein, and Missi Jarrar. With readings by BFA Faculty: Justin Hocking and Gabe Urza Smith 238

Free

Page-Turner Book Club

Books Around the Corner 40 NW 2nd Street, Gresham

We will discuss The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld. Rene will join us via Skype for a live Q&A at 6:30pm A riveting novel that ripples with truth, exploring the depths of love and sacrifice in the face of a past that cannot be left dead and buried. A year ago, Naomi, the investigator with an uncanny ability for finding missing children, made a promise that she would not take another case until she finds the younger sister who has been missing for years. Naomi has no picture, not even a name. All she has is a vague memory of a strawberry field at night, black dirt under her bare feet as she ran for her life. Available at a 15% discount to order if…

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Free

Learn Make Share: Bindfast Training

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

In this Learn Make Share, folks will be guided through the steps to bind a book using our Bindfast machine. Everyone will have a chance to practice using the paper stack cutter to prepare pages and bind 2-3 books. ** This LMS is part of a monthly series of trainings for the Bindfast. Once trained, members are certified to bind their own books during listed Bindfast open hours with volunteer support. *Free for IPRC members taking the workshop as one of 3 annual Learn Make Shares *$5-15 sliding scale for nonmembers, or for members who have already taken their 3 annual workshop Register Here

$5 – $15

Mind & Mouth Workshop

Marrow PDX 7025 N Lombard St, Portland

Free Youth 10-24* Thursday, November 21st, 6-8pm Mind & Mouth writing workshops are back! Depending on the week, these workshops will be led by our Mind & Mouth facilitator Briauna, our rad youth collective member David, or other folks in the community! Check specific dates for details! Details for this specific date TBA, but the leader will be Briauna! *Sign-in and enrollment are required. Enrollment (open only to folks 10-24) is required for the majority of our programming. If you're a young person, you should enroll! It’s free! For more details check out our enrollment page!

Free

Art & Power: Centering the Voices of Black Artists

Louiza 2808 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Portland

Black and African American communities have always created and contributed to thriving arts and culture landscapes. Despite racist laws and oppressive systems’ attempt to erase and co-opt these contributions, the resiliency, advocacy, and creativity of Black artists continues to challenge the paradigm. Black artists are bringing art to life across the region, redefining art spaces, creating new systems, and reimagining new futures. Join us for the last Art & Power of 2019 and listen, learn and reflect with local artists Bethlehem Daniel, Carlos the Rollerblader, Christine Miller, and Mic Crenshaw as they discuss their experience as Black artists in Portland’s arts ecosystem, with moderation by S. Renee Mitchell. We strive to host inclusive and accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. There will…

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Free

Small Press Residency – Propeller Books

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland

Rocking Frog Cafe & NovaPDX present the Small Press Residency program. Every month, meet the people from local small press publishers involved in making great books. During the residency you can purchase the featured press’ books at Rocking Frog Cafe and meet the people behind them. This month our featured press is Propeller Books (www.propellerbooks.com). Join us on Thursday, November 21st, for the last event for Propeller Books small press residency, hosted by Lucas Bernhardt, the guests for this evening are: Daneen Bergland, Ally Harris, and Harper Quinn. ~ Lucas Bernhardt holds MAs in English and in Writing from Portland State University, as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He manages the Portland State University Writing Center and is…

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Free

Slamlandia November Literary Arts Show ft. Desmond Spann

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland

Join us on NOVEMBER 21ST for a Thursday Poetry Open Mic and Slam! This is a qualifying slam to get into our WOWPS finals at the start of next year. Doors and sign-ups are at 6:30 PM Get there on time to get a spot in the open mic or slam! Show begins at 7:00 PM Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street Portland, OR 97205 This show is all ages. Please see our Accessibility and Safer Space info below. No door admission. We will have a feature from the fantastic Desmond Spann! ★ •*´¨`*• O P E N • M I C •*´¨`*• ★ The open mic will start the show out. The open mic is a great way to share your wonderful poetry! You…

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Free

John Arcudi, From Hell’s Heart

Broadway Books 1714 NE Broadway, Portland

To mark the occasion of the bicentennial of Herman Melville’s birth (August 1st, 1819), John Arcudi has brought together fifty-seven world renowned artists and their gorgeous, brand new illustrations for Moby Dick, Bartleby, Pierre, The Confidence Man, Typee, Billy Budd, and White Jacket, as well as excerpts from Melville’s letters. A short passage from Melville’s writing accompanies each illustration, giving context to the story. Artists include Matt Kish, Dave Malan, Hunt Emerson, Evan Cagle, Brahm Revel, Ryan Sook, and Cosimo Miorelli. John Arcudi is a Portland comic book writer, best known for his work on The Mask and B.P.R.D. and for his series Major Bummer; his most recent work, Rumble, is illustrated by David Rubin and published by Portland-based Image Comics. The son of a…

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Free

Storm Wrack & Spindrift Book Launch with Margaret Pinard

Another Read Through 3932 N Mississippi Ave, Portland

Possibly our last event for 2019 features one of our very own booksellers, Margaret Pinard! She is launching her fifth historical novel, Storm Wrack & Spindrift, which concludes the three-book Remnants series: The MacLeans have suffered being thrown off their land, emigrating to the New World, surviving in the forest wilderness, and losing their father Gillan in a bizarre murder. Now, ten years later, the two youngest emigrants split the family across an ocean: Sheena and her husband Gordon Lamont pursue a future back in Scotland while Alisdair dreams of university and a chance to reform the political system. But the British Empire of the 1830s has yet more surprises. When the only school in the province only accepts Anglican students, what will Alisdair do?…

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Free

Westside Writing Group

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

A group for anyone writing nonfiction or memoir who would like company, support, and, most of all, accountability. Whether you’ve never written a word or you’re a published author, join us!

Free

Alicia Jo Rabins + Martha Silano: A Poetry Reading

Mother Foucault's Bookshop 523 SE Morrison St, Portland

Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, ritualist and Torah teacher. She is the author of poetry books Divinity School (2015 APR/Honickman First Book Prize) and Fruit Geode (finalist for the 2018 Jewish Book Award), and has released three albums with Girls in Trouble, her indie-folk song cycle about Biblical women. Rabins lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two small children. www.aliciajo.com Martha Silano’s newest poetry collection is Gravity Assist (Saturnalia Books 2019). Previous collections include The Little Office of the Immaculate Conception and Reckless Lovely, both from Saturnalia Books. Martha teaches at Bellevue College, near her home in Seattle, WA. marthasilano.net

Free

Spare Room reading: Bravo, Rocha, & Negus

Passages Bookshop 1801 NW Upshur, Suite 660, Portland

An evening of Brazilian poetry in Portuguese & English with RODRIGO BRAVO FLÁVIA ROCHA SEAN NEGUS RODRIGO BRAVO holds a Master’s in Linguistics with a background in Classics and Hebrew Studies at the University of São Paulo. He is a translator and researcher in linguistics with emphasis in translation of poetic discourse, comparative literature, and stychology. Lecturer at the graduate school of music at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, he develops his doctoral research at the Graduate School of Foreign Languages and Translation Studies at USP. Curator of the TransFormações exposition, at Casa das Rosas (SP) (2017), he also serves as a member of the editorial board of the literary series Neûron at Editora Córrego. Bravo authored academic essays, articles and the books Ernesto na Torre de…

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Free

Lindy West

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

From the moment powerful men started falling to the #MeToo movement, the lamentations began: this is feminism gone too far, this is injustice, this is a witch hunt. In The Witches Are Coming (Hachette), Lindy West, firebrand author of the bestselling memoir and now critically acclaimed Hulu TV series Shrill, turns that refrain on its head. You think this is a witch hunt? Fine. You've got one. In a laugh-out-loud, incisive cultural critique, West extolls the world-changing magic of truth, urging readers to reckon with the dark lies at the heart of the American mythos, and unpacking the complicated, and sometimes tragic, politics of not being a white man in the 21st century. She tracks the misogyny and propaganda hidden (or not so hidden) in…

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Free

Going Feral: Field Notes on Wonder and Wanderlust

Powell's Books on Hawthorne 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

In her deeply personal and intellectually curious essays, Heather Durham explores wild America, weaving the unique perspectives of a trained ecologist, inquisitive philosopher, and restless nomad, probing the intricacies of the natural world as profoundly as she does herself. She wanders from New England vernal pools to Pacific Northwest salmon runs, Rocky Mountain pine forests to Desert Southwest sage flats in search of adventure, solace, authenticity, and belonging in the more-than-human world. Part scientifically informed nature writing, part soul-searching memoir, Going Feral: Field Notes on Wonder and Wanderlust (Wandering Aengus) is the story of a human animal learning to belong to the earth.

Free

The Blackonteurs – November Edition!

Deep End Theater 211 SE 11th Ave, Portland

Story Telling show Thursday November 21st 7:30 p.m. / $12 The Blackonteurs are back at The Deep End Theater! Named one of “Six New Projects Shaking Up Portland’s Arts Scene” by Portland Monthly Magazine, The Blackonteurs is Portland's own storytelling show that features all black & African-American performers sharing their stories of triumph, struggle, laughter, love, joy, and pain. On Thursday, November 21st at 7:30pm, join us for performances by: - Emmett Wheatfall! - Nichole Robinson! - Willie Poinsette! ​- Carlos Kareem Windham! - Cookie Zvovushe! And hosted by the forever-effervescent Leann Johnson!

$12

Reading: How Your Story Sets You Free

Rose City Book Pub 1329 NE Fremont, Portland

Everyone has a story to tell. Sharing that story can change you, your community, or even the world. But how do you start? This inspirational guide invites you to unlock your truth and share it, whether in a TED talk, a blog post, or a conversation with their loved ones. Storytelling coaches Heather Box and Julian Mocine-McQueen reveal how to embrace the power of personal storytelling in a series of easy steps. Their practical and motivating advice fills this charming ebook and serves as a powerful reminder that stories matter.

Free

5 x 5

Cardinal Club 18 NE 28th Ave, Portland

Thursday 11/21 7:30pm @cardinalclub presents the next edition of 5x5 featuring the poetic musings of @queenofcalcium @katslarue @michellerayeoh @futureeva @justinwsant Stop by and say hi

Free

Telltale: Top Five

Chapel Theatre 4107 SE Harrison St, Milwaukie

Hey, champ! Thanks for checking out Telltale. This is a monthly curated storytelling event for people that like to get vulnerable and take no shit. We are into genuine connection, laughter, heartbreak, poignant moments, and community building. We are now in our third season, and we are very excited for all the shows coming up this year. At Telltale, you can expect 8-10 performers sharing something with you, in the way that feels right to them--so there will be a mix of comedy, stories, music, essays, and more. Your evening will likely include honesty, swear words, enthusiasm, resistance, alcohol if that floats your boat, excellent pizza, dark humor, and some rad raffle prizes. You might make a new friend. You know how hard it is…

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$8
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