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!

Art & Power: Centering the Voices of Black Artists

Louiza 2808 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Portland

Black and African American communities have always created and contributed to thriving arts and culture landscapes. Despite racist laws and oppressive systems’ attempt to erase and co-opt these contributions, the resiliency, advocacy, and creativity of Black artists continues to challenge the paradigm. Black artists are bringing art to life across the region, redefining art spaces, creating new systems, and reimagining new futures. Join us for the last Art & Power of 2019 and listen, learn and reflect with local artists Bethlehem Daniel, Carlos the Rollerblader, Christine Miller, and Mic Crenshaw as they discuss their experience as Black artists in Portland’s arts ecosystem, with moderation by S. Renee Mitchell. We strive to host inclusive and accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. There will…

Free

Westside Writing Group

Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton

A group for anyone writing nonfiction or memoir who would like company, support, and, most of all, accountability. Whether you’ve never written a word or you’re a published author, join us!

Free

Lindy West

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland

From the moment powerful men started falling to the #MeToo movement, the lamentations began: this is feminism gone too far, this is injustice, this is a witch hunt. In The Witches Are Coming (Hachette), Lindy West, firebrand author of the bestselling memoir and now critically acclaimed Hulu TV series Shrill, turns that refrain on its head. You think this is a witch hunt? Fine. You've got one. In a laugh-out-loud, incisive cultural critique, West extolls the world-changing magic of truth, urging readers to reckon with the dark lies at the heart of the American mythos, and unpacking the complicated, and sometimes tragic, politics of not being a white man in the 21st century. She tracks the misogyny and propaganda hidden (or not so hidden) in…

Free

Going Feral: Field Notes on Wonder and Wanderlust

Powell's Books on Hawthorne 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

In her deeply personal and intellectually curious essays, Heather Durham explores wild America, weaving the unique perspectives of a trained ecologist, inquisitive philosopher, and restless nomad, probing the intricacies of the natural world as profoundly as she does herself. She wanders from New England vernal pools to Pacific Northwest salmon runs, Rocky Mountain pine forests to Desert Southwest sage flats in search of adventure, solace, authenticity, and belonging in the more-than-human world. Part scientifically informed nature writing, part soul-searching memoir, Going Feral: Field Notes on Wonder and Wanderlust (Wandering Aengus) is the story of a human animal learning to belong to the earth.

Free

The Blackonteurs – November Edition!

Deep End Theater 211 SE 11th Ave, Portland

Story Telling show Thursday November 21st 7:30 p.m. / $12 The Blackonteurs are back at The Deep End Theater! Named one of “Six New Projects Shaking Up Portland’s Arts Scene” by Portland Monthly Magazine, The Blackonteurs is Portland's own storytelling show that features all black & African-American performers sharing their stories of triumph, struggle, laughter, love, joy, and pain. On Thursday, November 21st at 7:30pm, join us for performances by: - Emmett Wheatfall! - Nichole Robinson! - Willie Poinsette! ​- Carlos Kareem Windham! - Cookie Zvovushe! And hosted by the forever-effervescent Leann Johnson!

$12

Reading: How Your Story Sets You Free

Rose City Book Pub 1329 NE Fremont, Portland

Everyone has a story to tell. Sharing that story can change you, your community, or even the world. But how do you start? This inspirational guide invites you to unlock your truth and share it, whether in a TED talk, a blog post, or a conversation with their loved ones. Storytelling coaches Heather Box and Julian Mocine-McQueen reveal how to embrace the power of personal storytelling in a series of easy steps. Their practical and motivating advice fills this charming ebook and serves as a powerful reminder that stories matter.

Free