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Classes & Seminars

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Summer 2019: Read Your Work in Public!

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

Most writers find themselves in a position where they need to read their work aloud in public. While it’s an exciting proposition to share your work, not everyone feels comfortable reading their prose in front of an audience. This workshop will help increase your skill and comfort level, so you can share your work with confidence. Tamar Shai Bolkvadze earned a Master in Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Alaska. In 2017 she was the recipient of Oregon Literary Arts’ Women Writers Fellowship for her play Ugly Baby, Stupid Baby. Tamar continues to focus on playwriting. SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE: Scholarships pay for the entire class tuition. All of our writing classes have at least one scholarship position available, made possible by a generous…

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$25

Delve Seminar: Escape from the Dollhouse

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

This Delve will examine stories from different literary genres and periods that all uniquely address the topic of personal freedom in conflict with societal pressures and control over the individual. Our texts will include Margaret Atwood’s much anticipated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and a selection of poems by various authors. Registration for this Delve includes a ticket to Margaret Atwood in Conversation with Omar El Akkad on September 25th at Keller Auditorium.  Primary Texts: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments. (Participants should pre-order the new Atwood book if possible to ensure they receive it in time for class readings.) Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep First Assignment: Read Act 1 and 2 of A Doll’s House…

Continue readingDelve Seminar: Escape from the Dollhouse
$220

Intro to Risograph Printing

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

In this 4-hour introductory course, participants will learn the basics of risograph (riso) printing and will leave with an understanding of how to use this print technology to create zines, fliers, posters, or other printed matter. While this technology is not new, riso printing has recently become one of the most exciting developments in independent printing and publishing because of its cost-effectiveness for print runs between 25 and 1,000. Workshop participants will learn how to best maximize the many quirks of riso printing to achieve striking results. Participants are also encouraged to bring files of artwork that they’d like to print (files should be 100% grayscale, letter or tabloid size). For more information on riso printing and the modern riso resurgence, check out the riso wiki.…

Continue readingIntro to Risograph Printing
$100 – $200

Fall 2019: Memoir Accountability

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

September 7, 2019 and the first Saturday of the month through May 2, 2019. (no meeting in March) Saturdays, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. (8 meetings) Instructor: Jay Ponteri Prerequisites: • Previously enrolled in 18/19 nine month memoir intensive with Jay Ponteri, OR instructor permission. This class meets once a month from September to May. This will be your monthly dose of accountability for students who are continuing to work on their memoir. Each writer will have the opportunity to workshop pages of their manuscript in progress. About the instructor: Jay Ponteri is the author of the memoir Wedlocked (Hawthorne Books), winner of an Oregon Book Award in Creative Nonfiction. Jay directs the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing at Pacific Northwest College of Art  …

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$350

Submission Deadline: Creative Nonfiction (CNF) Studio | Sep 26 – Dec 19

The Internet 001 SE Cyberspace Lane, Portland, OR, United States

The Creative Nonfiction (CNF) Studio is based on the idea that inspiration, accountability, and community are essential to every writer’s growth. The CNF Studio meets weekly for multi-month sessions, and its curriculum is designed to help you deepen your writing through a keener understanding of both literary craft and your own voice. The CNF Studio is open to applications from all writers, and members often return for multiple sessions. This creates the Studio’s special experience: a consistent, deep, and supportive study of your writing in the company of other writers. Each weekly session includes a close-reading and discussion of a selected work of creative nonfiction, a roundtable reading of take-home prompts, and in-depth critique of several works-in-progress. Over the course of their time in the CNF Studio,…

Continue readingSubmission Deadline: Creative Nonfiction (CNF) Studio | Sep 26 – Dec 19
$582 – $604

Fall 2019: Building A Writing Habit

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

Using The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron as a resource, this workshop gives writers the tools to establish a disciplined writing practice full of healthy habits so they can keep writing. Class time will be spent in discussion, writing and learning strategies for establishing a consistent writing practice. Kristina Tate is a writer based in Portland, Oregon. She has lived in Arizona, San Francisco, South Lake Tahoe, New York City, Australia and elsewhere. Her work has appeared in Narratively, Guernica, BOMB and others. She is currently working on a memoir and a novel. September 8 – 29, 2019 Sundays, 2:00 to 4:00 (4 class meetings) Meets at Literary Arts, 925 SW Washington Instructor: Kristina Tate For writers at all levels

$175

Delve Seminar: Mid-Century Moderns: The Poetry of Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens were two of the most important modern American poets.  Their collected poems represent distinct and original responses to twentieth century literary modernism and to the culture of their time.  And unlike T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, they did not gain early notoriety through radical technique or bold pronouncement.  Drawn as they were to the international currents of modernism, they also remained rooted in the American scene and developed their own, deeply personal approaches to becoming modern poets.  As they grew as poets and slowly published their work, the value and enormity of their achievement was gradually recognized.  Frost was no longer seen as a regional poet of a vanishing rural world, and Stevens was recognized as more than a home-grown…

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$220

THIS IS NOT A RUSSIAN PLOT: A “Readings for Now” Seminar

Mother Foucault's Bookshop 523 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR, United States

The Oregon Institute for Creative Research presents: THIS IS NOT A RUSSIAN PLOT: A “Readings for Now” Seminar This is not a Russian plot, despite articles to the contrary by Mr. William J. Broad, science journalist, senior writer, and DuPont fellow at the New York Times, which, a month prior, had established in its main newsroom a "5G Journalism Lab" in partnership with telecom giant Verizon so that readers of the country's newspaper of record can see "more detailed, lifelike versions" of David Bowie's new red shoes. A "Readings For Now" seminar & group discussion on fifth generation wireless technologies.

Free

Fall 2019: Writing the Novel: 9 Months Intensive

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

This class for dedicated writers begins in September, with the goal of completing a draft of a novel, or rewriting a draft of a novel, by May. The class is for writers who are seeking a community of fellow writers to support one another in improving one’s writing and getting work done. We will meet 28 times over the course of 9 months. Class time will include discussions of craft and the writing process. Together, we will closely read three novels as well as supplemental essays, interviews, and a podcast or two. Students can expect to have their work in progress read and discussed 3-4 times over the course of our nine months working together. There are no staunch prerequisites for joining the class; if…

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$1200

Fall 2019: Grief and the Lyric Essay

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

It can be a challenge to access grief, not to mention represent it in word and forms, yet writers like Claudia Rankine, Ann Carson, and Maggie Nelson pull it off beautifully and in wildly different ways. We will try different ways into the conversation with grief, first through reading other writers, then in our notebooks. Writing exercises will allow you to explore memory, specifically as it can be accessed through the body. You will leave with a solid start into a new piece of writing or a fresh take on an older draft. About the instructor:Wendy Noonan’s poetry has been featured in 2River View, Poor Claudia, Muzzle, Painted Bride, and Crazy Horse. Recently, her creative nonfiction was shortlisted for PRISM international’s writing contest. Wendy is…

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$135
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