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!

Reading: Thomas J. Sims: On Call in the Arctic

Annie Bloom's Books 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR, United States

Annie Bloom's welcomes Thomas J. Sims to read from On Call in the Arctic: A Doctor's Pursuit of Life, Love, and Miracles in the Alaskan Frontier. The evening will also include a visual presentation. The fish-out-of-water stories of Northern Exposure and Doc Martin meet the rough-and-rugged setting of The Discovery Channel's Alaskan Bush People in Thomas J. Sims's On Call in the Arctic, where the author relates his incredible experience saving lives in one of the most remote outposts in North America. In Anchorage, Dr. Sims was scheduled to act as Chief of Pediatrics at the Alaska Native Medical Center. Life changed, along with his military orders, when he learned he was being transferred from Anchorage to work as the only physician in Nome. There,…

Free

Slow Media – Jennifer Rauch

Another Read Through 3932 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR, United States

Join us for a reading from Slow Media: Why Slow is Satisfying, Sustainable and Smart, a Nautilus Book Award winner described as  a “powerful corrective to media scholarship” (Chris Atton), a “spirited, sane, and savvy manifesto” (Carl Honoré), and a “compelling argument for how media can promote human existence more proportioned to human beings” (Douglas Rushkoff). Jennifer Rauch’s Slow Media aims to transform the way we produce and use media, just as the Slow Food movement changed how people grow, buy and eat food. Her book helps readers understand complex relationships between everyday media choices, human well-being and the natural world. It propels conversations about how we can challenge the status quo — as users, consumers, and citizens. These alternative visions nurture a media ecosystem that…

Free

David Wolman & Julian Smith

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

In 1908, three unknown riders arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, their hats adorned with wildflowers, to compete in the world’s greatest rodeo. They had travelled 3,000 miles from Hawaii, where their ancestors had herded cattle for generations, to test themselves against the toughest riders in the West. Dismissed by whites, who considered themselves the only true cowboys, the Hawaiians left the heartland as champions – and American legends. David Wolman and Julian Smith’s Aloha Rodeo (William Morrow) blends rough-knuckled frontier drama with a rousing underdog narrative.

Free

The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story

Powell's Books on Hawthorne 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR, United States

What happens when an undocumented teen mother takes on the U.S. immigration system? Taking us into detention centers, immigration courts, and more, Aaron Bobrow-Strain’s The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) reveals the human consequences of militarizing what was once a more forgiving border. This event in sponsored by Voz Workers' Rights Education Project and Causa, Oregon's Immigrant Rights Organization.

Free

Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer Is No

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

A savvy and validating guide to what might be in store for growing numbers of childfree and childless adults worldwide, Kate Kaufmann’s Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer Is No (She Writes Press) takes on topics from the shifting meaning of family to what we leave behind when we die. Weaving together wisdom from women ages 24 to 91, with both her own story and a growing body of research, Kaufmann brings to light alternate routes to lives of meaning, connection, and joy.

Free

Portland Storytellers’ Guild: The Sarah Hauser Festival of Stories – Storython –

Multnomah Arts Center 7688 SW Capital Highway, Portland, OR, United States

The  Portland Storytellers Guild will again host our two day Sarah Hauser* Festival of Stories to close our storytelling performance season.    Friday’s performance will be May 31st and Saturday’s performance will be June 1st. Friday evening, May 31. emcee Eric Foxman presents eight of the Guild’s most popular performers – Barb Fankhauser, Edward Hershey, Pam Maben, Gretchen Peterson, Holly Robison, Franz van der Horst and the team of Norm Brecke and Anne Rutherford  The evening’s tales will range far and wide and provide a cross section of styles, themes, and inciteful pictures of life and how we address the challenges that confront us. Saturday evening, June 1, brings again one of the highlights of every Guild season — “Storython” — with a dozen tellers coming to…

$12 – $15

KAREN KILGARIFF & GEORGIA HARDSTARK – Creators and Hosts of the Hit Podcast My Favorite Murder – SOLD OUT

Revolution Hall 1300 SE Stark St, Portland, OR, United States

The phenomenon of the true crime comedy podcast, My Favorite Murder, and its massive community of self-proclaimed “Murderinos” has been meteoric. In their highly anticipated dual memoir, Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, creators and hosts of the hit podcast, open up about their lives more intimately than ever. In their confessionally honest and hilarious book, Kilgariff and Hardstark focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being “nice” or “helpful.” They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond, to discuss meaningful cultural and societal issues with fierce empathy and unapologetic frankness. Sharing never-before-heard stories ranging from their struggles with depression, eating disorders, and addiction, Kilgariff and Hardstark irreverently recount their biggest mistakes and…

SOLD OUT

Street Journalist: Understand and Report the News in Your Community

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

A corrupt politician. A local business in trouble. A neighbor with a heroic story. An opportunity to work together for positive change. Whatever the stories are in your community that most need to be told, the best person to tell them is you. Whether you're writing for your local newspaper, producing a podcast or video series, or simply sharing what you see and learn every day on social media, the power of journalism is in your hands, as is the responsibility to use it ethically and wisely. In Street Journalist (Microcosm), longtime journalist Lisa Loving opens up the world of journalism, sharing her hard-won skills and knowledge to help expand your media literacy so that you can report on what matters most, hold powerful people…

Free

Grief Rites Readers Series ~ June 3

American Legion Post 134 2104 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR, United States

A monthly storytelling showcase about grief, loss and love. Gather in community with others who share grief in all forms and manifestations. Come ready to cry, laugh, listen and hold space for yourself and others. *Trigger warning, because Grief. Content not edited for language or topic. Mature audience. *Venue is accessible; gender-neutral restrooms on premises Readings begin promptly at 7pm. Come early, grab a drink (full bar) and find your seat. Please consider bringing canned goods or cold weather clothing/blankets to donate to the Post 134 food & clothing pantry, which serves local veterans, houseless and anyone in need. ***This month's event will include an open mic, in addition to our curated readers. If you have words to share about your grief, we welcome you.***…

Free

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves

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

Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers for the rest of their lives – but it doesn’t happen as frequently for all of us. In her timely anthology, Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves (Ballantine), “well-read black girl” Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black female writers and creative voices to shine a light on how important it is that everyone – regardless of gender, race, religion, or abilities – can find themselves in literature. Whether it’s learning about the complexities of femalehood from Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, finding a new type of love in The Color Purple, or…

Free