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: Stephanie Thornton Plymale: American Daughter

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

Annie Bloom's welcomes Portland author Stephanie Thornton Plymale. At age 4, Stephanie Thornton Plymale survived a full throttle, head-on collision in a mail truck stolen by her mother’s boyfriend. Again, at age 5, sat in the back of a van going 70 miles per hour, Stephanie survived a drunken rollover crash. She was twice physically unscathed but left mute with trauma, a condition which would come and go for years. She later suffered life-threatening burns due to neglect and became blind in one eye. Homelessness evolved to isolation in the Dependent unit of the state of California – to placement in several foster homes, one of which being horribly abusive. By age 10, Stephanie’s experience was that of criminal neglect, chronic hunger, truancy, homelessness, and…

Free

Tender Table Presents: Tampopo

Clinton Street Theater 2522 SE Clinton St, Portland, OR, United States

Tender Table is turning 3! To celebrate we are holding a special birthday fundraiser- a screening of Tampopo at the Clinton Street Theater! All ticket sales will go directly towards our 2020 programming. "Tampopo is the tale of an enigmatic band of ramen ronin who guide the widow of a noodle shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe. Tampopo serves up a savory broth of culinary adventure seasoned with offbeat comedy sketches and the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster. Sweet, sexy, surreal, and mouthwatering, Tampopo remains one of the most delectable examples of food on film." (Rotten Tomatoes) ***If you are Black, Indigenous, or a person of color and would like a discounted ticket, use promo code "BIPOC" to receive $5 off***…

$10

Dan Pfeiffer

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

From Dan Pfeiffer, cohost of Pod Save America, comes Un-Trumping America (Twelve), a sharp political playbook for how Democrats can take on Trump, McConnell, Fox News, and the rest of the right-wing circus dominating American politics. Pfeiffer worked for nearly 20 years at the center of Democratic politics, from the campaign trail to Capitol Hill to Barack Obama's White House. Here, Pfeiffer urges Democrats to embrace bold solutions – from fixing the courts to abolishing the electoral college to eliminating the filibuster – in order to make America more democratic (and Democratic).

Free

Ander Monson

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

Ander Monson’s new story collection, The Gnome Stories (Graywolf), focuses on characters who are loners in the truest sense – who are in the process of recovering from mental, physical, or emotional trauma, and who find solace – or at least a sense of purpose – in peculiar jobs and pursuits. Personal and idiosyncratic, Monson’s new collection of essays, I Will Take the Answer (Graywolf), showcases his deep thinking and broad-ranging interests, his sly wit, his soft spot for heavy metal, and his ability to tunnel deeply into the odd and revealing, sometimes subterranean, worlds of American life.

Free

Thom Hartmann

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

In his new book, The Hidden History of the War on Voting (Berrett-Koehler), progressive radio host Thom Hartmann unveils the strategies and tactics that conservative elites in this country have used, from the foundation of the Electoral College to the latest voter ID laws, to protect their interests by preventing “the wrong people” – such as the poor, women, and people of color – from voting, while making it more convenient for the wealthy and white. He also lays out a variety of simple, common-sense ways that we the people can fight back and reclaim our right to rule through the ballot box.

Free

Erin Khar in Conversation With Rene Denfeld

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

Erin Khar’s Strung Out: One Last Hit and Other Lies That Nearly Killed Me (Park Row) is a personal, illuminating look at the opioid crisis, as lived by one woman and her 15-year struggle with opioids, beginning when she was 13 and ending with motherhood. An urgent and empathetic take, Strung Out is a necessary memoir of addiction, recovery, and the lifesaving power of love. Khar will be joined in conversation by Rene Denfeld, author of The Butterfly Girl.

Free

Gone at Midnight: The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam

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

A Los Angeles hotel with a haunting history. A missing young woman. A disturbing video followed by a shocking discovery. A cold-case mystery that has become an Internet phenomenon – and for one determined journalist, a life-changing quest toward uncomfortable truths. In Gone at Midnight (Citadel), investigative journalist Jake Anderson chronicles eye-opening discoveries about who Elisa Lam really was and what – or whom – she was running from, and presents shocking new evidence that may reopen one of the most chilling and obsessively followed true crime cases of the century.

Free

Your Body in Balance: The New Science of Food, Hormones, and Health

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

Hidden in everyday foods are the causes of a surprising range of health problems: infertility, menstrual cramps, weight gain, hair loss, breast and prostate cancer, and much more. All of these conditions have one thing in common: they are fueled by hormones hiding in our food or influenced by the foods we eat. Neal D. Barnard’s Your Body in Balance (Grand Central) provides step-by-step guidance for understanding what's at the root of your suffering – and what you can do to feel better.

Free

Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper’s Life Among the Herd

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

When Roger Henneous first dons his keeper uniform and sets foot in the Oregon Zoo, he doesn't know what to expect. But over his 30-year career, Henneous discovers the joys, difficulties, and dangers of life in a zoo, all the while maintaining an unwavering devotion to Belle, Packy, and the rest of the Asian elephants in his care. Melissa Crandall’s Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd (Ooligan) takes place in a time when ethical conversations about animal comfort, safety, and enrichment in zoos were just beginning. More than an evolutionary history of zookeeping, this unique biography celebrates the extraordinary bonds between humans and elephants and asks what we owe elephants, where we have fallen short, and how we can move forward together.

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