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!

Short Story Crash Course

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Draft a short story in six weeks. Classes combine generative writing to help cultivate ideas for plot and character with workshop feedback to assist in developing story arc, structure, and sensory details. You will also read short stories by masters of the form to help you envision a range of creative possibilities. By the end of the class, you will have completed a draft of a short story, created a plan for revision, and developed material for future projects. Access Program We want our writing classes to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class registrations at a reduced rate. The access program for writing classes…

$285

Livestream Reading: Jamie Yourdon

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Annie Bloom's welcomes back Portland author Jamie Yourdon for the livestream launch of his new novel, The Space Between Two Deaths. Register in advance here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvcu2oqDMtGNKRmAN4UP5sM1ZBj7RxtMkT About The Space Between Two Deaths: In ancient Sumeria, only a thin veil separates the living from the dead. The lives of Ziz, her mother, Meshara, and her father, Temen, are disrupted when a mysterious crevasse rends the earth. Temen becomes obsessed with the mystery and, capturing a crow to guide him, he follows a path to the netherworld where he hopes to gain wisdom from his dead father. Yet he soon finds that ancestors don't always provide the answers we need. In his absence, a grisly accident occurs on their farm––Meshara and Ziz are forced to flee. Friendless…

Free

Books Around the Corner: Remote Writers Group

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Join fellow writers the first Wednesday of the month for a friendly critique. The goal is to support one another with constructive feedback and participate in writing exercises. All experience levels welcome! Join Online Meeting ID: 230 496 085

Free

Education: Book & Film Circle, April 2021

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

In an ever-changing country filled with political turmoil, understanding our histories is the only way for us to move forward. The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education’s Student Advisory Board hosts a Youth Book and Film Circle, where students in grades 9 – 12 meet to discuss films and books covering topics related to the museum’s core exhibits and mission. For our second meeting, participants will be asked to watch the 2019 film Jojo Rabbit and/or read the book Night by Elie Wiesel. Jojo Rabbit is a satirical film directed by Taika Waititi about the Hitler Youth and antisemitic propaganda during the Holocaust but is also a story of resistance. Night is a memoir that recounts the author’s experiences as a Jewish victim…

Free

Willy Vlautin in Conversation With Chelsea Cain

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Award-winning author Willy Vlautin (The Motel Life, Lean on Pete) explores the impact of trickle-down greed and opportunism of gentrification on ordinary lives in his scorching new novel that captures the plight of a young woman pushed to the edge as she fights to secure a stable future for herself and her family. Barely 30, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she’s been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother, Kenny. Portland’s housing prices have nearly quadrupled in 15 years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it’s their last best chance to own their own home — and obtain the security they’ve never had.…

Free

One Page Wednesday – April

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Here is an opportunity to share or listen to one page of work in progress from talented writers from everywhere. Come with a single page of work and sign up to read – or come to listen and prepare to be inspired! Hosted by Natalie Serber. April’s featured reader is Marilyn Freeman. Click here to register in advanced. You don’t need to live in Portland to participate. If you have questions, please contact jessica@literary-arts.org Media artist and writer Marilyn Freeman (they/them) works at the intersections of reckoning and resiliency, queerness and film, and contemplative, creative and social practices. They are author of The Illuminated Space: A Personal Theory and Contemplative Practice of Media Art (The 3rd Thing, 2020) and creator of Cinema Divina®—short evocative films…

Free

Write A Book: Fiction & Creative Nonfiction Workshop

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Write A Book: Fiction & Creative Nonfiction IPRC Creative Workshops for Fall 2020 will be held online via zoom, PST. *Waitlist Instructor: Michael Heald Wednesdays, 6:30 – 8:30 Nine students maximum (ages 18+) Class meetings: 24 (8 per term) Cost: $825 *2 spots available at sliding scale, BIPOC prioritized; email hquinn@iprc.org *2 spots available at no cost, BIPOC prioritized; email hquinn@iprc.org October 7, 2020 – June 9, 2021 This workshop will consist of three eight-week terms. Writers currently working on memoirs, essay collections, novellas, novels, short story collections, oral histories, and long-form journalism are all strongly encouraged to apply. Hybrid forms welcome. Over the course of 24 sessions, writers will work towards a draft of a manuscript in a supportive workshop environment. We’ll explore non-linear…

$825

Application Deadline: KBOO Artist in Residence

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

The KBOO Community Radio Artist In Residence Program assists artists working creatively with sound. Every year, one artist or one collaborative group of artists will be awarded twenty hours of studio recording*** and production time with a KBOO Mixologist in order to create a piece of sound art that will be publicly presented at the end of the Residency. ***Due to COVID19, studio recording time may be limited or not available. KBOO is currently closed to all non-essential in-studio activity and we do not yet have an anticipated date for re-opening. The public presentation may need to be limited to a virtual format only depending on health and safety measures. Applicants should submit proposals that do not depend on using KBOO studios or having an…

Free

Write Around Portland: Bi-Weekly Online Writing Workshop

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Writing is often thought of as something done in isolation; we know there is immense power when writing is done in community. Join us for 90 minutes of creativity and community-building, with generative writing exercises, sharing and strengths-based feedback. Our workshop model, refined over 22 years, is proven for people of all writing levels: from the budding writer to the published author. Workshops are held via Zoom. Weekly registration opens 5 days before each session and closes one hour before the workshop. Click here for more info. Mondays from 3 to 4:30 pm (Pacific Time) Sliding Scale Registration $5-$30. Register here. $0 registration available for past Write Around Portland participants at a social service agency and people experiencing financial hardship. Register here. Thursdays from 11 am to…

$5 – $30

Dawnie Walton in Conversation With Nadia Owusu

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, Afro-punk before that term existed. Coming of age in Detroit, she can’t imagine settling for a 9-to-5 job — despite her unusual looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar’s amateur night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for the fledgling Rivington Records. In early 1970s New York City, just as she’s finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a…

Free