LitPDX seeks to amplify marginalized voices, and welcomes all, their ideas, their events, and their words.

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What’s Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She

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

Like trigger warnings and gender-neutral bathrooms, pronouns are sparking a national debate, prompting new policies in schools, workplaces, even prisons, about what pronouns to use. Far more than a by-product of the culture wars, gender-neutral pronouns are nothing new. Based on linguist Dennis Baron’s own empirical research, What’s Your Pronoun? (Liveright) chronicles the story of the role pronouns have played – and continue to play – in establishing both our rights and our identities.

Free

Jim Ottaviani

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

America may have put the first man on the moon, but it was the Soviet space program that made Valentina Tereshkova the first woman in space. Meanwhile, in the United States, NASA’s first female astronauts were racing toward milestones of their own. In Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier (First Second), a nonfiction graphic novel for young readers, Jim Ottaviani (and illustrator Maris Wicks) capture the drive of Mary Cleve, Valentina Tereshkova, and the first women in space.

Free

The Moth: StorySLAM: Revolution

Holocene 1001 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR, United States

REVOLUTION: Prepare a five-minute story about rebellion. Renewal, upheaval, or ridding a system of evil. Whether macro or micro, tell us about a moment of complete transformation, progression, regression. A call to arms or a call to action, share a story of change and the power of resistance. This venue is 21+ *Tickets for this event are available one week before the show, at 12pm PT / 3pm ET. *Seating is not guaranteed and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please be sure to arrive at least 10 minutes before the show. Admission is not guaranteed for late arrivals. All sales final. Media Sponsors: OPB and Literary Arts Additional Information About the Venue This venue is 21+.

$15

Author in Chief

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

Based on a decade of research and reporting, Craig Fehrman’s Author in Chief (Avid Reader/Simon & Schuster) tells the story of America’s presidents as authors – and offers a delightful new window into the public and private lives of our highest leaders. Combining the narrative felicity of a journalist with the rigorous scholarship of a historian, Fehrman delivers a feast for history lovers, book lovers, and everybody curious about a behind-the-scenes look at our presidents.

Free

Biography & Memoir Book Club

Books Around the Corner 40 NW 2nd Street, Gresham, OR, United States

The Books Around the Corner Biography/Memoir Book Club will be led by a community member and meets monthly on the third Wednesday of every month at 6PM. We would like to extend an invitation to all of our biography/memoir loving customers. 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. Join us on February 19th for our Biography/Memoir Book Club. The community run group has chosen to discuss Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness. About the book: In this revelatory, raw, and rambunctious memoir, the author shares never-before-told secrets and reveals…

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Free

Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World

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

Harvey Weinstein. Brett Kavanaugh. Jeffrey Epstein. Donald Trump. The most infamous abusers in modern American history are being outed as women speak up to publicly expose behavior that was previously only whispered about – and it's both making an impact and sparking a backlash. Believe Me (Seal) brings readers into the evolving landscape of the movement against sexual violence, and outlines how trusting women is the critical foundation for future progress. Editor Jaclyn Friedman will be joined in conversation by Believe Me contributors Katherine Cross and Sassafras Lowery.

Free

Westside Writing Group

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

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

You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters

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

For readers of Susan Cain’s Quiet and Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, You’re Not Listening (Celadon) is an eye-opening wake-up call by New York Times reporter Kate Murphy, drawing attention to the worldwide epidemic of not listening – exposing the profound impact that it is having on us all and showing what we can do about it. Murphy will be joined by Kathryn Zerbe, OHSU professor of psychology, for a conversation moderated by Megan Labrise, editor-at-large of Kirkus Reviews.

Free

2019/2020 Portland Arts & Lectures: Susan Orlean (Sold Out)

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall 1037 SW Broadway, Portland, OR, United States

Susan Orlean is an author and journalist, and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992. She has written eight books, including, most recently, The Library Book, a New York Times best seller and a Washington Post Top 10 Book of the Year for 2018. Her other books include Rin Tin Tin, Saturday Night, and The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award–winning film Adaptation. Orlean has been called “a national treasure” by the Washington Post, and the New York Times has said that her work “has that elusive quality to it: exquisitely written, consistently entertaining and irreducible to anything so obvious and pedestrian as a theme.” The 35th season of Portland Arts & Lectures features some of the most engaging writers at work today. Our 2019/2020 season features George Packer, Amor Towles, Min Jin Lee, Susan Orlean, and Colson…

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SOLD OUT

Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus

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

The fear of campus sexual assault has become an inextricable part of the college experience. Research has shown that by the time they graduate, as many as one in three women and almost one in six men will have been sexually assaulted. Drawing on the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) at Columbia University, the most comprehensive study of sexual assault on a campus to date, Shamus Khan presents a new framework that emphasizes sexual assault’s social roots. Empathetic and insightful, Sexual Citizens (W. W. Norton) (coauthored by Jennifer S. Hirsch) transforms our understanding of sexual assault and offers a roadmap for how to address it.

Free
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