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!

Michael Namkung – Seeing the Invisible INTERACTIVE

Alberta Rose Theatre 3000 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR, United States

Part spoken-word poetry, part storytelling, part extreme athletic art performance. Michael Namkung’s one-man show Seeing The Invisible is a no-holds-barred love story that journeys through the emotional life of men with a rawness and vulnerability that will break your heart wide open and reveal the creative power that lives within us all. Join Michael as he invites the audience directly into the work in his debut presentation of Seeing The Invisible INTERACTIVE. …….. Michael Namkung is Bob Ross diguised as an Olympic athlete. Michael is a father, poet, artist and multiple world champion. He is best known for Drawing Gym, an art form that inspires audiences to transcend their personal limitations by drawing while performing rigorous physical exercise. He has spoken and performed in museums,…

$25 – $40

Kids’ Storytime

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

Join us every Saturday for kids’ storytime. Today we’re reading The Cool Bean by Jory John.

Free

I’m Not Surprised.

Chapel Theatre 4107 SE Harrison St, Milwaukie, OR, United States

Hey, champ! Thanks for checking out Telltale. This is 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 are now in our third season, and we are very excited for all the shows coming up this year. At Telltale, you can expect 8-10 performers sharing something with you, in the way that feels right to them--so there will be a mix of comedy, stories, music, essays, and more. Your evening will likely include honesty, swear words, enthusiasm, resistance, alcohol if that floats your boat, excellent pizza, dark humor, and some rad raffle prizes. You might make a new friend. You know how hard it is…

$8

Seeing It Through: A Visual Manifestation of the Black Panther Party’s Legacy in Portland

Collins Gallery 801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, United States

This exhibition is open during Central Library's hours of operation. Black history is far more than the Civil Rights era. In response to the racism that marginalized and harmed Black Portlanders, the Portland Black Panther Party formed its Portland Chapter in 1969. Their goal was to build equity for the oppressed in our city. This exhibition features artwork by Elijah Hasan and the HeArt Gallery that responds to the legacy of the Black Panthers' Ten-Point Program. Opening reception on Saturday, January 11, 3-5 pm. Explore the legacy of the Portland Black Panther Party through art, music and storytelling featuring Kent Ford. Light refreshments will be served.

Free

Blackout Party feat. David Loftus

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

BONUS BLACKOUT PARTY: In honor of the fun we had last year when the power went out, we have established an annual blackout party. We will operate by candlelight, no recorded music. David Loftus will launch the evening with Story Time for Grown Ups, and then guests are welcome to play non-amplified acoustic music or simply enjoy a gentle, quiet evening. “Story Time for Grownups” presents an American original: the uncanny, unearthly, and chillingly amusing Ambrose Bierce. A journalist of the Old West who (unlike Stephen Crane or Mark Twain) really did fight in Civil War battles and chose to tell the truth about them. No cover. Bierce specialized in three kinds of stories: realistic accounts of Civil War battles, ghost stories set mostly in…

Free

The Moth: StorySLAM: Beg Borrow Steal

Holocene 1001 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR, United States

BEG BORROW STEAL: Prepare a five-minute story about need, desire, and greed. Extraordinary measures. Swindles, heists and deals with the devil. Robin Hood or hood-winked. Making “it” happen by any means necessary…. This venue is 21+ *Tickets for this event are available one week before the show, at 12pm PT / 3pm ET. *Seating is not guaranteed and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please be sure to arrive at least 10 minutes before the show. Admission is not guaranteed for late arrivals. All sales final. Media Sponsors: OPB and Literary Arts Additional Information About the Venue This venue is 21+.

$15

7DS: Pants On Fire!

White Eagle 836 N Russell St, Portland, OR, United States

Pants On Fire! features seven storytellers telling the most insane, outrageous, hard-to-believe stories from their own lives. The catch? One of those seven will actually be telling a bald-faced lie -- a whopper that never actually happened. Think you can spot which of our seven storytellers is the liar? If you can, you might win a stay at McMenamin's Edgefield Hotel on us. Not sure you can which is guess the liar? No worries! There will be other ways to win valuable prizes throughout the evening, including a chance to take on one of your fellow audience members in our Two Truths & A Lie Mano-y-Mano Cage Match. Even if you don't win, you'll walk away having heard seven of the most wild, outrageous, hard-to-believe…

$10

Fundraiser: Physician storytelling night!!

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

Join us for a physician storytelling night as five Portland pediatricians share vignettes of the funny, crazy, moving, devastating and weird things we see as we care for children. We are raising funds for an online pediatrician storytelling library, Reflections on Rosebuds. Suggested donation $10.

Free – $10

The History of African Storytelling

Central Library - U.S. Bank Room 801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, United States

Explore the history of traditional African storytelling and explore the moral lessons behind the stories. Come together with other African American children, families. and elders to share the history of your families. This event will include an open mic for families to share their stories, history, songs and poetry and a kids craft table. Participants are encouraged to bring a photo of their family and those who identify as part of the African diaspora are encouraged to wear African attire.

Free