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

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Talks & Discussions

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A Conversation with Charles Baxter

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Join us for a conversation with fiction writer Charles Baxter. Dr. Baxter will discuss fiction writing and the short story, “The Next Building I Plan to Bomb,” from his collection, Gryphon. (Link here.) Feel free to join the discussion! Charles Baxter is the author of the novels The Feast of Love (nominated for the National Book Award), First Light, Saul and Patsy, Shadow Play, The Soul Thief, and The Sun Collective, and the story collections Believers, Gryphon, Harmony of the World, A Relative Stranger, There’s Something I Want You to Do, and Through the Safety Net. His stories have been included in The Best American Short Stories. A recipient of the Guggenheim Award, Baxter lives in Minneapolis and teaches at the University of Minnesota and…

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Free

A Conversation with Santi Holley

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Join us for a conversation with journalist and non-fiction writer, Santi Holley. Mr. Holley will discuss his newly-released book on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Murder Ballads album, that will be published by Bloomsbury Press in November. Santi Elijah Holley was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His essays, short stories, reviews, and journalism have appeared in numerous outlets, including The Atlantic, The Guardian, VICE, Tin House, Atlas Obscura, The Economist, Paste, The Outline, Topic, Sojourners, Pacifica Literary Review, Willamette Week, The Portland Mercury, The Stranger, and Longreads. His work has been selected for Entropy’s Best of 2019: Best Online Articles and Essays, and cited in Best American Essays 2018. He is the recipient of a 2020 PEN America grant, the 2019 Robert B. Silvers…

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Free

IntersectFest VI: For and by BIPOC

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Hi all, this is the schedule for this year! It focuses on different ways BIPOC have responded to the pandemic, BLM, protests and activism, work, abolition, protection and healing. IntersectFest VI A Festival for and by BIPOC November 21 2020 10:00-11:00 FOOD SOVEREIGNTY Mimi and Heifara 11:10-11:50 START YOUR OWN FEST Organizers of Decolonisefest, London 12:00-12:45 PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ABOLITION Cory 12:45-1:30 lunch break 1:30-2:15 SEX WORK, ANTI-BLACKNESS AND COLONIALISM Saiya 2:30-3 DOXING V 3:15-4 MOVEMENT AS HEALING claire 4:15-5 TRAUMA IN ACTIVISM Mikey 5:10-5:40 MUTUAL AID NETWORK Q+A Organizer of Gas Mask and filter supplies Salty's Zoom link will be posted on Event page on fb.com/pdxpoc on Nov 20

Free

The Mystery Box Show: Panel Discussion

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

New Show Format: Panel Discussion FREE on YouTube at 7:30pm PDT feat. Dirty Lola, Stella Harris, Reba Sparrow and more! From vanilla to kinky, queer to straight, and everything in between, a night at The Mystery Box Show brings you tales of one-night stands, explorations into fetish, awkward first times, dark fantasies come true, and much much more. Storytellers have included bestselling authors, nationally touring comedians, adult film industry veterans, theatre professionals, sex toy experts, members from the kink community, students and people from all walks of life. Nothing here is too raw, too sweet, too strange, or too deep; it's all about the sex, and all about the story.

Free

Jonathan Hill in Conversation With Lisa Ko

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Three siblings search for their missing mother across a ruined America in Ignatz Award nominee Jonathan Hill’s new original graphic novel, Odessa (Oni Press). Eight years ago an earthquake — the Big One — hit along the Cascadia fault line, toppling cities and changing landscapes up and down the west coast of the United States. Life as we know it changed forever. But for Vietnamese American Virginia Crane, life changed shortly after the earthquake, when her mother left and never came back. Ginny has gotten used to a life without her mother, helping her father take care of her two younger brothers, Wes and Harry. But when a mysterious package arrives for her 18th birthday, her life is shaken up yet again. For the first…

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Free

Carlos Motta: History’s Backrooms / Book Launch & Panel Discussion with Artist & Guests

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

CARLOS MOTTA: HISTORY'S BACKROOMS / BOOK LAUNCH & PANEL DISCUSSION WITH ARTIST & GUESTS Co-presented with P.P.O.W. Gallery Tuesday, December 8, 2020 / 4:00 PM PST / 7:00 PM EST Live-stream at picatv.org / Register in advance here / Closed-Captioned FREE / Donations will be shared among PICA, Pueblo Unido, and Voz Workers' Rights Education Project Carlos Motta–whose exhibition We Got Each Other's Back is currently on view at PICA–will be in conversation with special guests to mark the publication of History's Backrooms (Skira, 2020), the first comprehensive monograph of his work documenting nearly 20 years of the leading Colombian artist's interdisciplinary practice and prolific career exploring alternative and marginalized narratives, identities, communities, and their social and political contexts. Guest panelists Hendrik Folkerts (Dittmer Curator…

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Free

A Tasting Flight of New Books

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

OSU Press History Showcase, Presented by the Authors History is always in the making at Oregon State University Press. As this historic year winds to a close, we’ve gathered together the authors of four books published in 2020 that deepen our understanding of and broaden our perspective on Oregon’s past. This sampling of new books explores the agricultural landscape of the hops plant, the underappreciated art of Clifford Gleason, one woman’s fight for racial equity in the U.S. Forest Service, and the emergence of the Pacific Northwest as a global economic force. Prior registration is not required to attend this program. Ability Accommodation Information This event provides the following accommodations: Handicap Accessible Black Woman in Green: Gloria Brown and the Unmarked Trail to Forest Service…

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Free

How to Get Published in Recommended Reading

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

About a third of the stories published in Recommended Reading are unsolicited submissions, which share space in the magazine with work by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners. Unlike some legacy lit mags, we really are reading all the work you send in, and we really do publish it. So how can you make your stories stand out among the thousands of submissions we receive every year? Recommended Reading’s editorial team—Halimah Marcus, Brandon Taylor, Erin Bartnett, and Alyssa Sondsiridej—pull back the curtain on their decision-making process and offer invaluable advice to short story writers. A must-watch for anyone who is planning to submit. Q&A to follow. This event is part of Electric Lit's Winter Salon Series, presented by Reedsy.

$10

How to Pitch Electric Lit

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

For freelancers, writing an essay, feature, or opinion piece doesn’t start when you type the first line. It starts with the pitch. Having a topic and a talent isn’t enough; you also have to be able to package your idea in a way that catches an editor’s eye. But how do you get started writing a pitch? How long is too long—and how short is too short? What does a good pitch look like—and a bad one? And why does Electric Lit ask people to write a pitch, anyway? Electric Literature editor-in-chief Jess Zimmerman and contributing editor Jennifer Baker fill you in on everything you need to know when proposing nonfiction work to Electric Lit and other publications. Q&A to follow. This event is part…

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$10

How to Get Published in The Commuter

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Unlike most literary magazines, The Commuter chooses its weekly piece of poetry, flash, graphic, or experimental narrative almost exclusively from unsolicited submissions—9 out of 10 issues are drawn from the so-called “slush.” (We don’t think it’s slush!) Work published in The Commuter has been recognized by Best American Poetry and Comics, the Wigleaf Top 50, and Best Small Fictions. But we get thousands of submissions every year, and only publish 52 issues. So how can you help your work get recognized? Commuter editors Halimah Marcus, Kelly Luce, and Ed Skoog invite you behind the scenes for a frank editorial discussion that is a must-watch for anyone planning to submit. Q&A to follow. This event is part of Electric Lit's Winter Salon Series, presented by Reedsy.

$10
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