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!

Classes & Seminars

  1. Events
  2. Classes & Seminars

Events Search and Views Navigation

Event Views Navigation

Today

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…

Continue readingDelve Seminar: Mid-Century Moderns: The Poetry of Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens
$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…

Continue readingFall 2019: Writing the Novel: 9 Months Intensive
$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…

Continue readingFall 2019: Grief and the Lyric Essay
$135

Intro to Screenprinting

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

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

Fall 2019: Writing the Memoir 9 month Intensive

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

This class for experienced and dedicated writers meets 28 times over the course of 9 months. The class begins in September, with the goal of finishing a complete draft of a memoir by June. Participants do not need to be published writers; however, they should have some experience with elements of memoir, including character, setting, dialogue and scene, and have a clear project in mind that they will devote nine months to. They should also be comfortable in a workshop setting, giving and receiving criticism on works in progress. Students who have taken Memoir Boot Camp one or more times at Literary Arts should find this class an appropriate next step. Memoir Boot Camp is not a pre-requisite. This class is specifically designed for writers…

Continue readingFall 2019: Writing the Memoir 9 month Intensive
$1200

Fall 2019: Memoir Boot Camp

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

Complete the first draft of a memoir in just eight weeks. This class is for writers who are ready to commit to an aggressive writing schedule and explore aspects of memory-based writing in a supportive environment. You should have some prior experience in writing nonfiction, as well as a specific project to which you will devote these eight weeks. Participants will present their work to the class for discussion three to four times. Natalie Serber is the author of the story collection Shout Her Lovely Name (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) a New York Times Notable Book of 2012 and a summer reading pick from O, the Oprah Magazine, and an Oregonian Top 10 Books of the Pacific Northwest and an Indie Next Pick. Her memoir, Community Chest, was…

Continue readingFall 2019: Memoir Boot Camp
$455

Fall 2019: Contents Under Pressure: Experiments in Poetic Form

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

What happens when someone puts severe restrictions on the way you write? What if Edgar Allen Poe wanted to write “The Raven,” but couldn’t use the letter E? Participants will look at some poems created under these kinds of extreme constraints, and we’ll write to learn what happens when we accept such outrageous challenges. Jennifer Perrine is a 2019 Oregon Literary Fellowship recipient. She is the author of three books of poetry: No Confession, No Mass; In the Human Zoo; and The Body Is No Machine. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Pleiades, Valparaiso Fiction Review and Salt Hill, and in the Broadsided Press folio “Bearing Arms: Responding to Guns in American Culture.” Her honors include the 2017 K. Margaret Grossman Fiction Award, the…

Continue readingFall 2019: Contents Under Pressure: Experiments in Poetic Form
$135

Fall 2019: Short Story Master Class

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

Draft two short stories in ten weeks. This intensive workshop combines study of narrative craft and model short stories with generative writing to help cultivate ideas for plot and character and workshop feedback to assist in developing story arc, structure, and sensory details. By the end of ten weeks, you will have completed drafts of two short stories, created a plan for revision, and developed a consistent writing practice. Prerequisites: • Short Story Intensive, Short Story Crash Course or Launching Stories at Literary Arts or instructor permission. • For instructor permission, please email a 3-4 page writing sample and a brief description of your writing class experience to Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org Mondays, September 16 – November 18, 2019 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. (10 class…

Continue readingFall 2019: Short Story Master Class
$465
Click a category label below to view the calendar with only events in that specific category.