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!

The Work Poetry Workshop: Monday Night Edition

Angst Gallery 1015 Main St, Vancouver, WA, United States

Join us on Monday, April 15 and 29 for The Work, a poetry writing workshop at Angst Gallery led by Christopher Luna. “Well, while I’m here I’ll do the work — and what’s the work? To ease the pain of living. Everything else, drunken dumbshow.” ― Allen Ginsberg, “Memory Gardens” (Fall of America, City Lights) The Work is a drop-in poetry writing workshop for beginners as well as more experienced writers. Poetry encourages empathy and compassion, and sparks the shifts in consciousness which can lead to healing, personal growth, and an interest in fighting for progressive social change. The Monday Night Edition of The Work takes place at Angst Gallery (1015 Main Street, Vancouver) from 6-8:30 pm on the second and fourth Monday of each…

Free – $20

Lewis & Clark Senior Student Poetry Reading

Lewis & Clark - Frank Manor House 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, Portland, OR, United States

Please join the English department for an evening of readings of original works of poetry by senior students from Mary Szybist’s Advanced Poetry Writing course. Refreshments will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!

Free

The Poet’s Toolkit Part 3: Sense – Kate Gray

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

During poetry month, honor your tender and fierce heart. Add tools to your poetry toolkit. You’ll start with sound, how your words can change your reader’s body. No experience necessary. You’ll write and share in a tremendously safe environment, using the Gateless Method. This workshop will give you practical ways to distinguish this writing form from others, practice in applying the tool, and the light to show you how brilliantly you shine. Part 1 of 3: Sound (Monday, April 15th, 6-8pm) Part 2 of 3: Shape (Tuesday, April 23, 6-8pm) Part 3 of 3: Sense All sessions will be held in the loft at Another Read Through. Register for each part a la carte on a sliding scale ($60-80), or for all three at a…

Free

Slamlandia May Guilder Slam

Guilder Cafe 2393 NE Fremont St., Portland, OR, United States

Join us for our MAY Poetry Open Mic and Slam at Guilder on May 2nd! Doors and sign-ups are at 6:00 PM Get there on time to get a spot in the open mic or slam! Show begins at 6:30 PM. Guilder 2393 NE Fremont St Portland, OR 97213 This show is all ages. Please see our Accessibility and Safer Space info below. There is a $1-5 suggested donation. We will not be having a featured poet at this time. ★ •*´¨`*• O P E N • M I C •*´¨`*• ★ The open mic will start the show out. The open mic is a great way to share your wonderful poetry! You can share 1-2 poems lasting a maximum of 3 minutes. ★ •*´¨`*•…

Free – $5

Chapbook launch: obsequies by manuel arturo abreu

Mother Foucault's Bookshop 523 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR, United States

Join us on May 2 at 7 pm to celebrate the launch of manuel arturo abreu’s new chapbook, obsequies. Reading alongside abreu are Laura Camila Medina and Bogosi Sekhukhuni. abreu will also play some piano.  Laura Camila Medina is an interdisciplinary artist born in Bogota, Colombia and raised in Orlando, FL. She bases her practice around uprooting and migration as a response to personal, cultural, and historical research. Medina is constantly inspired by her memories of home, her mother’s arepas, and her father’s soundtracks. She earned a BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art and is currently based in Portland, OR. Bogosi Sekhukhuni (b. 1991, Johannesburg) describes himself as a ‘lightworker’. He studied at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He has exhibited at…

Free

Spare Room reading: Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Phoebe Wayne, & Trevino Brings Plenty

Passages Bookshop 1801 NW Upshur, Suite 660, Portland, OR, United States

Trevino L. Brings Plenty is a poet and musician who lives, works, and writes in Portland, OR. He is singer/songwriter/guitarist for the musical ensemble Ballads of Larry Drake. He has read/performed his work at poetry festivals as far away as Amman, Jordan and close to his home base at Portland's Wordstock Festival. In college, Trevino worked with Primus St. John and Henry Carlile for this poetry work, studied with Tomas Svoboda for music composition, and Jerry Hahn for Jazz guitar. Trevino is an American and Native American; a Lakota Indian born on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, USA. Some of his work explores the American Indian identity in American culture and how it has through genealogical history affected indigenous peoples in the 21st…

Free – $5

The Poeming Pigeon: Sports – Book Launch Celebration

Pond House at The Ledding Library 2215 SE Harrison Street, Milwaukie, OR, United States

The Milwaukie Poetry Series and The Poetry Box present a reading to celebrate the launch of the 8th issue of The Poeming Pigeon: SPORTS. Featured Readers: Brittney Corrigan • Sharon Wood Wortman • Kris Demien Penelope Scambly Schott • Margaret Chula • Toni Partington Joshua Plack • Vivienne Popperl • Donna Prinzmetal Barbara A. Meier • Hanna Jane Weber • Joy McDowell Devon Balwit • Linda Neal Reising • Shawn Aveningo Sanders About the Book: Dive into this sports-themed collection and you’ll quickly become a fan, as our poets relive their glory days and share their love of the game. Whether you’re a competitive athlete, a dedicated amateur, or an armchair quarterback, we invite you to the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat—it’s…

Free

Wordlights: Saturday Poetry Evenings

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights is coming back to The Frog with regular poetry evenings on Saturdays presented by Nova PDX, Rocking Frog Cafe and hosted by Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday May 4th, we'll have a feature from Rodney Wilder Jr. and a poetry open mic! OUR FEATURE: Rodney Wilder is a biracial nerd who bellows death-metal verse in Throne of Awful Splendor and writes poetry, with previous work appearing in places like FIYAH and FreezeRay, Poets Reading the News and Words Dance, as well as his newest, nerd-themed collection, Stiltzkin’s Quill. He likes nachos, analogizing things to Pokémon, and getting lost in Oregonian forests with his co-meanderer, Brittany—the Sapphire to his Ruby. Find him on Instagram at @thebardofhousewilder. *** Sign-ups start at 5:30, show starts at 6PM. Each…

Free

Refugia Book Release Party!

The Bhaktishop Yoga Center 2500 SE 26th Ave, Portland, OR, United States

Persian Pony Press is proud to announce the release of Kristin Berger's newest poetry collection, Refugia - a series of 24 lyrical poems of winter & snow, fire & water, poems that trespass page and time. The Bhaktishop is a yoga studio, and seating will mostly be on a cork floor with cushions (chairs available for those who need it), with shoes off. :) A reading with light refreshments and books to purchase. As a part of The Bhaktishop's Compassionate Resistance Campaign, donations will be collected for Adelante Mujeres, a Hillsboro non-profit that provides holistic education and empowerment opportunities to low income Latina women and their families, to ensure full participation and active leadership in the community. http://www.adelantemujeres.org/ For reviews of Refugia, other readings and…

Free

The Voice of Empathy: John Sibley Williams and Paulann Petersen

The Tiny Theater PDX 3306 SE 65th Ave, Portland, OR, United States

Organized by Portland poet A. Molotkov, The Voice of Empathy is a poetry series that showcases writers whose work investigates the human capacity for compassion and generosity and invites the reader/listener to care deeply for others and the world. Each reading will be followed by a Q&A. May 5 John Sibley Williams Paulann Petersen Limited seating, please arrive early for a guaranteed seat. The Voice of Empathy is a poetry series that showcases writers whose work investigates the human capacity for compassion and generosity and invites the reader/listener to care deeply for others and the world. This description is for the poets’ reference only and does not presume to impose any constraints on the work selected for presentation. There is room for 37-39 poetry lovers.…

Free