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!

Submission Deadline: 2021 Two Rivers Poetry Contest

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Deadline Extended/Plazo Extendido: 12 de Abril / 12 April English (Vea abajo para español): A virtual student poetry contest in celebration of National Poetry Month and in conjunction with the release of Amanda Gorman's The Hill We Climb. Inspired by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's performance at the 2021 inauguration, we're looking for poetry containing themes of uniting community through the particular experiences and challenges of 2020. All forms of poetry accepted. Parental permission is required. Eligible participants must: live within one of the following zip codes: 97203, 97217, 97231 OR be enrolled in any school within one of the above zip codes Submission: Poetry must be submitted in written form, and may additionally be submitted in video or audio formats. A video performance…

Free

Submission Deadline: Portland Review: TRANSIT / TRANSITION / TRANSLATION

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Themed submissions will open for 24 hours on April 14. Languages and change, buses and trains, the tracks of planets—for our series on transit, transition, and translation, we’re looking for stories, poems, and nonfiction that deal with change and movement in under 1000 words. We can't wait to read your work! Submissions will open at 12 a.m. PDT on April 14 and close at 11:59 p.m. ABOUT US: For over sixty years, Portland Review has published the works of emerging writers and artists alongside the works of well-established authors. We warmly encourage previously unpublished writers and artists to submit, and we aim to support work by those often marginalized in the artistic conversation, including (though certainly not limited to) people of color, women, disabled people,…

Free

Friends of the Columbia Gorge Second Spring Gorge Haiku Challenge

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

In celebration of National Poetry Month and International Haiku Poetry Day on April 17, Friends of the Columbia Gorge is announcing its second annual Spring Gorge Haiku Challenge. Recently, the video version of Amanda Gorman's popular "Earthrise" poem has inspired people around the nation in response to her challenge: We relish the view; We witness its round green and brilliant blue, Which inspires us to ask deeply, wholly: What can we do? In the spirit of Gorman’s words, for this year's Spring Gorge Haiku Challenge, Friends of the Columbia Gorge is asking the public to submit haikus illustrating what they love about the Gorge (the views, the communities, waterfalls, etc.) as well as haikus about why it's important to protect, preserve, and steward the Gorge…

Free

Submission Deadline: The Gravity of the Thing: Spring 2021

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Our Spring 2021 reading period is open from March 1st to April 30th. We accept defamiliarized works in the following general categories: Short: tell us a story in 3,000 words or less; we are interested in fiction, creative nonfiction, self-contained excerpts, and genre-bending forms. Flash: a fiction, creative nonfiction, or genre-bending story under 500 words. Poetry: share one or more poems, prose poems, or multimedia works for a combined count of 500 words or less. Six Words: a story in six words; you may share up to five stories per submission, but only one will be chosen. Baring the Device: essays about defamiliarization—or defamiliarized essays about storytelling, literary craft, or publishing—for our Baring the Device column and resources; click here to learn more. The Gravity of the Thing publishes work on a rolling basis throughout its quarterly reading periods. A…

Free

Attic Institute: APPS DUE: May 16: Atheneum Master Writing Program for 2021-2022

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

An annual certificate program, the Attic Atheneum melds independent study under close faculty supervision, student receptions, public readings, and other special Atheneum events created around good food and great conversation, dialogue, and literary community. Running for just under a year, the Atheneum is designed to advance your writing and seed literary life in the city. Atheneum Fellows form a unique community of literary artists and citizens. (** Please note: if you are having trouble getting your app to us in time, need support or extra time with your letter of recommendation, please email us. We know this is a difficult time to be applying for something in the fall, and we want to make it work for you.) Learn more and apply

Free

Grant Submission Deadline: Make | Learn | Build – Round Two

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

We are pivoting our grantmaking, offering more flexible awards with the goal of supporting a greater number of artists and arts-based businesses during a time of rapid change and creative innovation. Changes to our grantmaking align with our value of equity and commitment to racial justice and representation in our services and investments. These changes also reflect the feedback we received this summer and fall from an on-line survey and series of focus groups with Black artists, Indigenous artists, and other artists of color. Thank you to all who took the time to talk with us and shared your insights and perspectives. This grant offers funding for artists and arts-based business/organizations in three categories: MAKE: the creation of work in any artistic discipline LEARN: artistic…

Free

Application Deadline: Tin House Fall Residency: YA

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Now accepting applications for our YA Residency. This two-week program runs from Sept 3rd-19th & comes with a $600 stipend & studio apt in PDX. Application fee waivers are available. The deadline to apply is 5/23.

Free

HOCUS: Submissions Open!

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

HOCUS is now accepting submissions of prose and poetry of up to 2000 words for our next (hopefully) live event at the Rose City Book Pub in NE Portland. This event will take place on Tuesday, August 3rd from approximately 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. The theme is Talismans. Send us your poems, fiction, and creative nonfiction which deals either directly or obliquely with this theme. HOCUS is looking for work in the literary genre. If your work flirts with other genres like sci-fi or fantasy, it may be in our wheelhouse, but the term "literary" should come first. No hard sci-fi or sword-and-sandals gladiators or the like, please. To submit, go to our website and click on the Submit tab. Submissions close July 11th.

Free

HOCUS: Submissions Deadline

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

HOCUS is now accepting submissions of prose and poetry of up to 2000 words for our next (hopefully) live event at the Rose City Book Pub in NE Portland. This event will take place on Tuesday, August 3rd from approximately 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. The theme is Talismans. Send us your poems, fiction, and creative nonfiction which deals either directly or obliquely with this theme. HOCUS is looking for work in the literary genre. If your work flirts with other genres like sci-fi or fantasy, it may be in our wheelhouse, but the term "literary" should come first. No hard sci-fi or sword-and-sandals gladiators or the like, please. To submit, go to our website and click on the Submit tab. Submissions close July 11th.

Free

Submission Deadline: Airlie Press Summer Reading Period

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Airlie Press is a nonprofit poetry collective based in and around Portland, Oregon. We seek manuscripts from Pacific Northwest poets who are willing and able to commit to a three-year term of doing the shared work of running a collective press. As a press, we commit to participate in the ongoing conversation and practice regarding inclusion and equity. To this end, we encourage submissions from underrepresented voices and poets from marginalized communities. Most important editorial decisions are made by consensus. Airlie Press now accepts submissions from poets previously published by Airlie. In 2021, poets published before 2018 are encouraged to submit a manuscript during our summer submission period. All submissions will be judged alongside those from new poets. Returning poets must commit to a standard…

Free