LitPDX seeks to amplify marginalized voices, and welcomes all, their ideas, their events, and their words.

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Emily Lloyd-Jones

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

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn ("Ryn") only cares about two things: her family and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead. Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Sky in the Deep in Emily Lloyd-Jones’s bewitching historical horror novel for teens, The Bone Houses (Little, Brown) – perfect for fans of Holly Black.

Free

Nick Flynn

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

Beginning with a poem called “Confessional” and ending with a poem titled “Saint Augustine,” Nick Flynn's I Will Destroy You (Graywolf) interrogates the potential of art to be redemptive, to remake and reform. But first the maker of art must claim responsibility for his past, his actions, his propensity to destroy others and himself. Begin by descending, Augustine says, and the poems delve into the deepest, most defeating parts of the self: addiction, temptation, infidelity, and repressed memory. These are poems of profound self-scrutiny and lyric intensity, jagged and probing.

Free

Monqui Presents Kate Tempest

Wonder Ballroom 128 NE Russell St, Portland, OR, United States

Kate Esther Tempest (born 22 December 1985) is an English poet, spoken word artist and playwright. In 2013 she won the Ted Hughes Award for her work Brand New Ancients.

$18 – $20

My Shape is Sam Story Time with Amanda Jackson

Green Bean Books 1600 NE Alberta Street, Portland, OR, United States

Author Amanda Jackson will be at Green Bean Books to share her picture book My Shape is Sam on Saturday, September 28th at 1pm What's it like to be a square peg in a round hole? Sam wants to do more than what other Squares do in this sweet story about defying outward expectations. A signing will follow the reading!

Free

Hazel Newlevant

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

When 17-year-old Hazel Newlevant takes a summer job clearing ivy from the forest in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, her only expectation is to earn a little money. Homeschooled, affluent, and sheltered, Hazel soon finds her job working side by side with at-risk teens to be an initiation into a new world that she has no skill in navigating. No Ivy League (Lion Forge) is Newlevant’s uncomfortable and compelling graphic memoir – an important story of a girl's awakening to the racial insularity of her life, the power of white privilege, and the hidden story of segregation in Portland.

Free

Trans Voices Fringe Fest

Marrow PDX 7025 N Lombard St, Portland, OR, United States

This showcase features independent trans and genderqueer artists exhibiting nontraditional and unconventional vocal expressions. Organized by A Stick And A Stone! LINEUP: Cohabitation of Breaths - Abigail J Hansel of Yolk Sauna & June T Sanders (trans femme audio-visual ambient noise duo from "Idaho") Porch Cat (grunge-y pop punk / riot grrrl from "Bellingham") Sibila (industrial dancey synthy noise en español from "Olympia") DJ Vu (improv / experimental / noise from "Olympia") ChrisTiana Obeysummer (spoken word from "Seattle") Mx. Valentino (jazz-folk-punk) Robert Torres (poetry / spoken word) Sefer Raziel (glitch / noise / performance art) Myllo Mae (performance art) Dreams (synthy gay electronic beat rock) A Stick And A Stone (haunting choral experimentations) & More TBA In conjunction with TVF 2019 (a festival of trans…

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Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Pamela K. Santos

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

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings presented by NovaPDX, Rocking Frog Cafe and hosted by Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday September 28th, we'll have a feature from Pamela K. Santos, two mini-features from Michelle Ruiz Keil & Jennifer Dawson, and a short set poetry open mic! OUR FEATURE: Pamela K. Santos Pamela K. Santos is a writer and conceptual artist weaving multilingual narratives from diasporic lineages. A 2019 recipient of a Sustainable Arts Foundation award, Oregon Literary Fellowship, and Mineral School residency, her poetry appears in Tayo Magazine, Anomaly, Newtown Literary, Stoked Words, and the Unchaste Anthology. Pamela co-founded Portland’s Winter Poetry Festival (its second year coming this December). You can find more information about Pamela at pamelaksantos.com and follow her on Instagram at @fistsofmanilamae and on Facebook…

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Free

Book Launch for Stella Jeng Guillory’s An Advancing Glacier

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

Book Launch Celebration for Stella Jeng Guillory’s An Advancing Glacier 6pm September 28, 2019 Angst Gallery 1015 Main Street Vancouver, WA 98660 angstgallery.com In our era of retreating glaciers, Stella Jeng Guillory’s An Advancing Glacier is refreshing. The first and title poem opens “I capture your chill/ I nurture your chill/ I rapture your chill” and through the rest of the chapbook the poet does indeed capture details, nurture appreciation, and open us to rapture. We travel across many continents but these are not just tourist accounts decorated with exotic flowers. Each poem is precise and deeply personal. Grandmother chews food “small and fine./ She feeds me,/ mouthful by mouthful.” The reader will also be fed. – Penelope Scambly Schott Born in China and raised…

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Free

The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat & Fierce

Two Rivers Bookstore 8836 N Lombard Street, Portland, OR, United States

Editor Angie Manfredi and contributors Bruce Sturgell and Rachelle Abellar will read from this fabulous collection celebrating beauty in all sizes.

Free
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