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 with Christopher Luna: Saturday Afternoon Edition

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Join us on the second Saturday of every month for The Work. The Saturday Afternoon Edition of The Work takes place from 11:30am-2:00pm on the second Saturday of every month. Upcoming Saturday afternoon workshops will take place on February 13, March 13, and April 10. 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. We will read and discuss poetry, write several new poems, and give each writer feedback on at least one of the drafts composed during the workshop. The cost for the workshop is a suggested donation of $20…

Free – $20

The Poetry Box LIVE – January Edition

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

The Poetry Box LIVE - January Edition Time: Jan 9, 2021 at 4pm (Pacific) / 7pm (Eastern) The Poetry Box LIVE is a monthly Zoom poetry reading series on the 2nd Saturday of each month hosted by Shawn Aveningo Sanders January Featured Poets: • Cathy Cain (Oregon), author of A SHAPE OF SKY and BEE DANCE • Marcia B. Loughran (New York), author of MY MOTHER NEVER DIED BEFORE—2nd Place Winner of The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize, 2020 • Pasquale Trozzolo (Kansas) author of BEFORE THE DISTANCE ------- ABOUT THE FEATURED POETS ---------- Poet and visual artist Cathy Cain is the author of Bee Dance (The Poetry Box, 2019) and Empty Space Places You (Finishing Line Press, 2018). Her honors include the Kay Snow Paulann…

Free

Submission Deadline: Grits Quarterly: Issue #3: Revive

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Revived, reborn, restored, rejuvenated. Stories of coming back to life. Reviving your body, your spirit, your hope. Healing, rescuing, or breathing new life into something old. Maybe something came close to the edge and was saved. Maybe something that had shriveled was reanimated. As we ride this winter into 2021, we are looking deep into the renaissance within us. This theme is open to your interpretation! Issue #3 submission deadline : January 11, 2021 Issue #3 release : February 2021 What kind of work are we looking for? We want to read your truest weirds. Words that smack you in the stomach. Words that gnaw your bones. Little grits stuck in your teeth that remind us of our humanity. Written works: poetry, prose, short story,…

Free

Poet’s Essay

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

IPRC Creative Workshops for Winter 2021 will be held online via zoom, PST. Register here Somewhere between prose poetry and lyric essay there’s a genre of weird and brilliant writing I’m calling “the poet’s essay.” From Hanif Abdurraqib to Chris Kraus, this genre combines the imagistic musicality of poems with the argumentative structure of an essay. In this six-week generative course, students will explore and discuss examples of essays by poets and have the opportunity to generate work that follows different structures within this exciting genre. Reading list will/may include writers such as Maggie Nelson, Mary Ruefle, Eileen Myles, Joe Wenderoth, Claudia Rankine, Alexander Chee, and others. Open to writers of all levels. Students will leave the class with several starts and a greater understanding of…

$225

Poet’s Essay

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

IPRC Creative Workshops for Winter 2021 will be held online via zoom, PST. Register here Somewhere between prose poetry and lyric essay there’s a genre of weird and brilliant writing I’m calling “the poet’s essay.” From Hanif Abdurraqib to Chris Kraus, this genre combines the imagistic musicality of poems with the argumentative structure of an essay. In this six-week generative course, students will explore and discuss examples of essays by poets and have the opportunity to generate work that follows different structures within this exciting genre. Reading list will/may include writers such as Maggie Nelson, Mary Ruefle, Eileen Myles, Joe Wenderoth, Claudia Rankine, Alexander Chee, and others. Open to writers of all levels. Students will leave the class with several starts and a greater understanding of…

$225

Incite: Queer Writers Read—January 2021

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Join us for the first Incite of 2021! This time around, we'll be exploring the topic of relief with four fantastic queer authors: Clair Rudy Foster, Samson Syharath, Sarah A. Chavez, and Wayne Gregory. This is an online event. To register, use the link below: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqc-ihpzooHtf-CI63Kbe7CghMaYWHaY72

Free

Brian Komei Dempster and Jennifer Perrine

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Brian Komei Dempster’s latest book of poems Seize focuses on his experience of raising a son who suffers from intractable epilepsy and pervasive developmental delays. Moreover, the book explores wartime incarceration, domestic/familial/racial tensions, and legacies of trauma and violence—along with paths towards resolution. Through juxtaposition, the poems link seemingly disparate events through a central metaphor: seizure. Dempster will be interviewed by Portland author Jennifer Perrine. Jennifer is the author of four books of poetry, most recently Again (Airlie Press, 2020). Register in advance for this webinar https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_adX_8KcnSaKl2kkhsZP4WQ Brian Komei Dempster’s debut book of poetry, Topaz, was published by Four Way Books in 2013 and received the 15 Bytes 2014 Book Award in Poetry. His most recent book is Seize. He is the editor of both…

Free

Attic Institute: WINTER Online: A Writer’s Toolkit: How to Get Started As A Writer w Wayne Gregory | Jan 14 – Feb. 11

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

“Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.” ~ Pablo Picasso You have a story to tell, but you’re not sure how to get started. The Writer’s Toolkit is the class for you.  In this workshop, you will discover how to transform your ideas from imagination to a cohesive and compelling story that engages readers and keeps them turning the pages for more. You will learn some of the basic conventions for good writing that successful writers use: how to develop plot, how to create compelling characters, how to build dynamic scenes, and how to show rather than tell. You will learn by doing and will take away a wealth of writing tools and resources to keep honing your…

$215 – $242

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Chris Gonzalez

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Hosted by Christopher Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, & Morgan Paige Featuring Chris Gonzalez 7 pm Thursday, January 14 On Zoom $5 Suggested donation LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004 Please support Niche Wine Bar, whose owner, Leah Jackson, has provided a home for the reading series since 2015: https://nichewinebar.com Chris Gonzalez is an educator, journalist, playwright, poet, musician, and creative-collaborator based in Portland, Oregon. Chris has been a featured poet for the past six years, performing alongside International Slam Champions Saul Williams and Shane Koyczan. His first book, water or bread, was published by Human Error Press in 2017. NOTE: Due to circumstances beyond everyone's control, this month's reading will take place over Zoom. Email christopherjluna@gmail.com…

Free – $5