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!

Kim Johnson in Conversation with Black Cultural Library Advocates

Online N/A, Portland

Kim Johnson's debut novel, This Is My America, has been described as a cross between The Hate U Give and Just Mercy. Join Carla Davis and Ebonee Bell, members of Multnomah County Library’s Black Cultural Library Advocates team, as they chat with Ms. Johnson about first novels, love triangles, and how teens and young adults can advance antiracism and social justice. More about the book: This Is My America tells the story of 17-year-old Tracy Beaumont, who is in a race against time to prove her imprisoned father's innocence and save him from death row. Then the unthinkable happens and the police accuse Tracy's talented older brother, Jamal, of a horrible crime. Register for event via Zoom: https://multco-us.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwrceyupzsuHtPs75wBd5COqAEidcutsXms

Free

FALL Online: Bizarre Encounters: Fiction Workshop with Elinam Agbo

Online N/A, Portland

A student finds a man living in her closet. A couple receives a package of pig fetus in the mail. Tiger King. Bad Tinder dates. More and more, reality feels like fiction. In this class, students will be asked to think about the extremes of bizarre reality: from experiences that are commonplace (and still elicit doubt) to those we witness but cannot accept ourselves. We will use generative prompts to mine our experiences for the strangest encounters. Through these narratives, we will discuss perspective, power, and deniability in fiction. We will then conclude the class by exploring how these ideas can grow into longer projects. NOTE: To protect everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic, we're offering our workshops via Zoom. All students must first sign up for a free Zoom…

$65 – $83

Horror Book Club (Remote)

Online N/A, Portland

The Books Around the Corner Horror Book Club is led by the owner/librarian, Stephanie Rose, and meets monthly on the fourth Thursday of every month at 6PM. We would like to extend an invitation to all of our horror loving customers (RSVP is not required). Our book discussions aim to bring people together to talk about books in a safe and inviting atmosphere. Our meetings are lovely and inclusive; we invite you to attend. Come and enjoy a lively discussion about the chosen book with other readers. Our September pick is The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus and we will meet on September 24th. About the book: Set in the present day, The Living Dead is an entirely new tale, the…

Free

Teen Author Q&A and Writing Workshop with Aiden Thomas

Online N/A, Portland

Teens, join Aiden Thomas, author of Cemetery Boys, for a Q&A and scary story writing workshop. Register/join via Zoom: https://multco-us.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpcu-urj8sHN28CgjrXNpTTRKtEj3s8uuJ Aiden Thomas is a YA author with an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, OR. As a queer, trans Latinx, Aiden advocates strongly for diverse representation in all media. Aiden’s special talents include: quoting The Office, useless trivia, Jenga, finishing sentences with “is my FAVORITE”, and killing spiders. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color. Aiden's debut novel, CEMETERY BOYS, is a Dia de Muertos paranormal romance about Yadriel (a gay, trans brujo) who accidentally summons the wrong ghost…

Free

Livestream Reading: Catherine Hamilton: Victoria’s War

Online N/A, Portland

Annie Bloom's welcomes Portland author Catherine Hamilton for a livestream reading from her novel, Victoria's War. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwoc-uopjMqEtUnHOG9XUVMLsccFrsmkDLM Victoria's War is a work of historical fiction about 19-year-old Victoria Darski, a Polish Catholic woman sold into slavery during the Nazi occupation of Europe, and Etta Tod, the 20-year-old deaf daughter of a German baker who buys Victoria. Poland, 1939: Eager to study literature at the University of Warsaw, Victoria waits with bags packed. But Hitler invades Poland and classes are canceled. German officers burst into her family's home, and Victoria's world is turned upside down. She is ordered to work in a Nazi sewing factory. Making military shirts, Victoria sews a straight pin inside the collar in defiance. At a secret resistance meeting with…

Free