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!

Ekphrastic Creative Writing Lab

Carnation Contemporary and Well Well Projects 8371 N Interstate Ave #3, Portland

Ekphrastic Creative Writing Lab *This workshop meets in-person. Masks & Proof of Vaccination + Booster required **This workshop meets at Carnation Contemporary & Well Well Projects located at 8371 N Interstate Ave #3, Portland, OR 97217 Register here Instructor: Stephanie Victoire This 4-week writing lab series explores the further imagination, narrative and creation that awaits us within the consciousness of visual art. Students will experience how art communicates with its viewers and anticipates its reincarnation into multiple streams of language and ideas. Throughout the course of the workshops, students will learn how to transcend the messages, concepts and threads of thought they pull from the pieces in the gallery that speak to them, and respond creatively in any written form they wish. Each week there…

$100 – $200

HOCUS Live Reading: SPIRITS

Rose City Book Pub 1329 NE Fremont, Portland, OR, United States

Come for the live readings, stay for the hurdy gurdy music and arcane literary rituals! There will be stories and poems about spirits disembodied, spirits high and spirits low, and spirits distilled, as well as some magical activities to absolve you of all your literary sins.

Free

Open Mic Night & Chill

IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center) 318 SE Main Street #175, Portland, OR, United States

Save the Date!

Free

Elizabeth Weinberg in Conversation With Chelsea Biondolillo

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

As wildfires char the American West, extreme weather transforms landscapes, glaciers retreat, and climate zones shift, we are undeniably experiencing the effects of the climate crisis in more and more destructive ways. Climate change is impacting every inhabited region of the world, but there is much we can still do. Unsettling (Broadleaf) explores human impacts on the environment through science, popular culture, personal narrative, and landscape. Using the stories of animals, landscapes, and people who have exhibited resilience in the face of persistent colonization across the North American continent, science writer Elizabeth Weinberg explores how climate change is a direct result of white supremacy, colonialism, sexism, and heteronormativity. Travel through the deep sea; along Louisiana's vanishing bayous; down the Colorado, Mississippi, and Potomac rivers; and…

Free

The Moth: GrandSLAM Championship

Aladdin Theater 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland, OR, United States

The Moth presents the Portland GrandSLAM, a battle of wits and words - fierce, hilarious, heartbreaking and all points between. The Moth is dedicated to finding people from all walks of life to tell inspired stories. At The Moth StorySLAM, those people find us. On this night, winners from our StorySLAM series compete to determine The Portland GrandSLAM Story Champion.

$25

Drink and Write Tuesdays

Rose City Book Pub 1329 NE Fremont, Portland, OR, United States

Jeanne Faulkner hosts this drop-in writing workshop on the last Tuesday of every month. Jeanne provides the prompts, tips, and coaching. You bring your computer and notebook.

Free

In-Store Reading: Christine Babinec: Want a Hug?

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

Annie Bloom's welcomes Portland author Christine Babinec for an in-store reading from her new book, Want a Hug?: Consent and Boundaries for Kids. This in-store reading is first come, first served. Please be mindful of any store health policies that might be in effect on the night of the reading. Signed and personalized copies are available for order! Please, please, please include the name for personalization in the order notes; or indicate "signed only." About Want a Hug?: It’s never too early to teach children about the necessity of boundaries and the power of consent. Developed by therapist Christine Babinec after years of working with survivors of abuse, Want a Hug? is a book about communication, understanding, mutuality, listening, and love. Far from a didactic lecture,…

Free

Amber Tamblyn in Conversation With Lidia Yuknavitch, Dr. Mindy Nettifee & Dr. Nicole Apelian

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

Edited by author, actress, and activist Amber Tamblyn, Listening in the Dark (Park Row) is an anthology on women’s intuition, with essays by Amy Poehler, Samantha Irby, Jia Tolentino, Jessica Valenti, US Poet Laureate Ada Limón, America Ferrera, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and others. Have you ever had a feeling about something that you just couldn’t explain? Something that was telling you in your gut what decision to make, which direction to go in, or what to believe. Most women are taught from an early age to ignore their intuition in favor of making logical, evidence-based decisions. But what if that small voice or deeper knowing was your greatest power? In a time when women are revolutionizing politics, entertainment, healthcare, and other industries, it’s critical to…

Free

BIPOC Reading Series – October

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

This bimonthly reading series is intended to prioritize the safety, creativity, and stories of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Come listen to our featured readers, or sign up to share your work in our open mic. Readings will be followed by a short community discussion. The theme for October is “Shadow.” Click here to register for this event. This event is open to everyone, but only people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color will be invited to read. If you have any questions, please contact our host Jessica at  jessica@literary-arts.org.  

Free

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms This workshop is virtual, PST Register here Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms In this 6-week class, we will experiment with short form creative writing. Our focus—whether it’s flash fiction, lyric essay, prose poetry, or hybrid—will be on the art of compression. Each week, participants will be given a writing exercise, a short reading, and two workshop submissions from their peers. Class time will include workshop as well as discussion of readings and craft. Our workshop will be guided by observations, questions, and possibilities. We will be thinking less about how to “fix” a piece of writing and more about what we see, our curiosities, and how to recognize hidden opportunities. Each participant will receive feedback from…

$80 – $200