A resource for the PDX literary community. Produced by Old Pal.
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!
Home(Work): A Conversation Between Jami Attenberg and Kristen Arnett A look at the craft of fiction & essay writing through the lens of regional narrative. YouTube
Revision is one of the most challenging parts of the writing process. How do we dig deeper and color in the edges to make our writing more evocative? How do we use the senses to make it come to life? What would happen if we approached the same material from a different point of view (third person as opposed to first-person say)? In this six-week class, we will take an editor’s perspective on polishing our work. The class will be structured as a mini-workshop and we will devote most of our time to peer reading and critique with an emphasis on elements of developmental editing as well as line editing. We will focus on refinement of style, structure, and content. Sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph, we will sharpen…
WHAT: A three-week online workshop for young mammals ages 13 to 17. WITH: Katie Collins-Guinn WHEN: Tuesday July 21- to Friday August 7th—we will meet on Tuesdays and Fridays at 1:30pm WHERE: ZOOM! (But of course.) Meeting ID will be provided each morning of meet days. HOW MUCH: $100, with a capacity of twelve writers/artists. Payment plans are available, contact Daniel Elder at registration@corporealwriting.com SCHOLARSHIPS: Click here to apply. One seat available to a mammal whose financial situation has been directly impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. Making art is a vital way to survive. Sometimes we need a little help accessing our inspirations and motivations—working collectively has a powerful way of conjuring that. Memory is a prominent part of our present lives. As we move…
A discussion about making narrative (and aesthetic) sense out of the darkest parts of their pasts. YouTube
“Because something happened to you, you own it. Tell your stories. ~Anne Lamott Often, when we set out to write a story we don’t know where to begin. In this class we will look at the wealth of possibility in our lives, in our family life, our work life, or something a friend has told you that seems perfect fodder for fiction. What is a story that’s often retold to the point of folklore in your family? What is the anecdote that you trot out over a beverage with friends? In this class we will use life as the starter for stories to which we apply our imagination, the skills in our writers’ toolbox, and the joy that comes from being in charge of how…
ONLINE EVENT Come sing, listen, learn and celebrate. Join Karen Kitchen (Osage Nation) for this story hour featuring songs and books from Native cultures. Children, families, elders, aunties and uncles -- everyone is welcome. Register for event via Zoom: https://bit.ly/3ex1MCQ
Hey, champ! Thanks for checking out Telltale. This used to be a monthly curated storytelling event for people that like to get vulnerable and take no shit. We are into genuine connection, laughter, heartbreak, poignant moments, and community building. We, in theory, should be just kicking off our 4th season, but...things got real weird. So I can’t promise that Telltale is back, because the future feels pretty hard to predict or commit to. But we are at least going to have an August show. Yeah, it’s going to be on zoom and not in person. Yeah, it’s not the same. But it’s better than nothing. And I said I’d do the show until the government stopped making me angry all the time....and....you see my point.…
Join us for an evening of fiction, family, and baseball with Christopher Beha, author of The Index of Self-Destructive Acts, and Rob Neyer, former sportswriter and local author of Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game. $5 Registration will benefit the Roosevelt High School Athletics Program. The Index of Self-Destructive Acts Sweeping in scope yet meticulous in its construction, The Index of Self-Destructive Acts is a remarkable family portrait and a masterful evocation of New York City and its institutions. Over the course of a single baseball season, Christopher Beha traces the passing of the torch from the old establishment to the new meritocracy, exploring how each generation’s failure helped land us where we are today. Whether or not the world is ending, Beha’s…
WHAT: A two-hour online webgasm. WITH: Lidia Yuknavitch and Jen Pastiloff WHEN: Sunday, August 30th 11AM-1:30PM PST (2.5 hours long) WHERE: ZOOM! (But of course.) Meeting registration and access details will be provided in advance. HOW MUCH: $100. Payment plans are available, contact Daniel Elder at registration@corporealwriting.com SCHOLARSHIPS: Click here to apply. We always hold space open. Contact us. Heartbeats: Body/Story We are carrying too much of the world in our bodies just now--viruses of all sorts, injustices, traumas, sadness, rage. Join Jen and Lidia for a chance to physically and narratively release some of what we are carrying with a combination of yoga and writing. No experience necessary. We are here for each other. Jen will lead us through body release and Lidia will…
The philosophy of William James (1842–1910) has had world-wide influence, and yet it is in many ways an essentially American view of the nature and humanity. James was a psychologist by training. This study led him to develop his unique view of human experience, out of which grew his profound concept of the nature of knowledge and reality as the way in which we act in the world and experience life. In this seminar, we will discuss a few of James’s most important essays in general philosophy, ethics, psychology, and religion in order to grasp the force of his simple but revolutionary ideas. The Will to Believe by William James Essays in Radical Empiricism by William James Delve Access Program We want Delve seminars to…