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

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Workshops

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So, You Wanna Be A Writer w Wayne Gregory | Jan 17 – Feb 14 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” ~ E. L. Doctorow You have a thousand stories inside your head. You dabble on the page but rarely if ever finish anything, much less share with others. “Is my work good enough?” you wonder.  “Do I have something original and interesting to say? What makes me think I can be a writer?”  The biggest obstacle for emerging writers is not lack of time nor lack of skill nor lack of things to write about. It’s a lack of self-confidence. This workshop is designed for those who want to be writers but are not sure they can be. …

Continue readingSo, You Wanna Be A Writer w Wayne Gregory | Jan 17 – Feb 14 | Online
$219 – $248

Poetry Workshop: A Tour of Potent Forms w John Morrison | Jan 18 – Feb 15 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

“A poet’s resources and inspirations remain constant, but our curiosity about form and technique renews the art for us.” ~ Paul Violi In this session we’ll open up and explore several potent forms that power great poetry, like the aubade, pantoum, litany, and palindrome. And maybe more importantly, these forms will provide a roadmap and a toolkit for future radical and satisfying revision of your draft poems. We’ll consider the music and strategy of model poems, and then through writing experiments and play, we’ll draft our versions. You will leave each evening with an appreciation and a draft of the evening’s form, and that form that will stay with you to invigorate your writing practice. Zoom link provided prior to start of workshop. Teacher: John MorrisonTime: Wednesdays,…

Continue readingPoetry Workshop: A Tour of Potent Forms w John Morrison | Jan 18 – Feb 15 | Online
$219 – $248

A Writer’s Toolkit: Plot and Structure w Wayne Gregory | Jan 19 – Feb 16 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

It has to come to life! Bit by bit, putting it together Piece by piece, only way to make a work of art --- Stephen Sondheim This class is about helping the emerging writer take her pile of random chapters, character sketches, fragments, scenes, ramblings, and moments of literary brilliance, into something of a coherent and emotionally resonant story. During this class we will explore how a writer can look within their narrative to identify the key scenes, to understand the most critical trajectory for the character(s) from beginning to end, and to build the necessary narrative to connect those key scenes and move the journey of the characters forward. Finally, each student will develop their own revision practice and understand better what their story…

Continue readingA Writer’s Toolkit: Plot and Structure w Wayne Gregory | Jan 19 – Feb 16 | Online
$219 – $248

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms This workshop is virtual, PST Register here Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms In this 6-week class, we will experiment with short form creative writing. Our focus—whether it’s flash fiction, lyric essay, prose poetry, or hybrid—will be on the art of compression. Each week, participants will be given a writing exercise, a short reading, and two workshop submissions from their peers. Class time will include workshop as well as discussion of readings and craft. Our workshop will be guided by observations, questions, and possibilities. We will be thinking less about how to “fix” a piece of writing and more about what we see, our curiosities, and how to recognize hidden opportunities. Each participant will receive feedback from…

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$80 – $200

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms This workshop is virtual, PST Register here Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms In this 6-week class, we will experiment with short form creative writing. Our focus—whether it’s flash fiction, lyric essay, prose poetry, or hybrid—will be on the art of compression. Each week, participants will be given a writing exercise, a short reading, and two workshop submissions from their peers. Class time will include workshop as well as discussion of readings and craft. Our workshop will be guided by observations, questions, and possibilities. We will be thinking less about how to “fix” a piece of writing and more about what we see, our curiosities, and how to recognize hidden opportunities. Each participant will receive feedback from…

Continue readingPushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms
$80 – $200

Weekly Fiction Critique Group w Joanna Rose | Jan 28 – Apr 1| Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Learn to critique your own work and the work of others in non-judgmental, informative terms. Each week participants will share and discuss their stories, novels, or scenes. Together we’ll look at the many ways story happens on the page. We’ll identify how the various tools of showing and telling are being used, and to what effect. And we’ll learn to be there for each other. Maximum: 10 writers Register for this workshop Zoom link provided prior to start of workshop. Teacher: Joanna RoseTime: Saturdays, Jan 28 - Apr 1, 9:30am - 12:30pm Pacific Time, 10 weeksLocation: Online via ZoomTotal Fee: Discounted Early Registration is due seven (7) days prior to the start of the workshop. | Discounted Early Registration: $657 (cash/check); $680 (Paypal). | Tuition Registration: $672 (cash/check); 695…

Continue readingWeekly Fiction Critique Group w Joanna Rose | Jan 28 – Apr 1| Online
$657 – $672

Writing the Weird and Wonderful

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

The world is a weird place, and we’re just here to document it. This course is for the scribes, the armchair historians, the miners of weird information — all of you aspiring nonfiction writers who aren’t sure what to do with your ideas, or budding freelance journalists looking to turn your ideas into sellable stories. In this workshop, students will take their bits of brilliance and turn them into finely-honed pieces of nonfiction. We’ll take an idea from start to finish: generating story ideas, discussing options for research, conducting interviews, gaining trust with subjects, writing effective pitches, outlining and playing with structure and the editing process. Discussions and lectures will focus on the building blocks of great nonfiction stories, including visceral scenes, effective interviews, interesting…

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$395

Risograph Basics @ Outlet!

Outlet 2500 Northeast Sandy Boulevard, Portland, OR, United States

About the Workshop Welcome to our Risograph Basics course: a printing, collage, experimentation, and mark making extravaganza! Get to know Outlet and our RISO sisters (Barbara, Janet, Corita, and Tina) and learn the basics of this fun and unique print method! This workshop is a great place to start if you’re new to riso, or if you’d like a refresher! We’ll take a deep dive into risograph history, an overview of how these machines work, the stencil-duplicator process, and the quirks and fun (sometimes unpredictable) outcomes of riso printing. The main focus of this class is EXPERIMENTATION. We’ll share print and zine inspiration, favorite mark making tools and how to use them for riso, and we’ll walk through a print demo on two of our…

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$100 – $125

Poetry Workshop: An Afternoon of Deep Music w John Morrison | Apr 8 | In-person

Attic Institute 4232 SE Hawthorne, Portland, OR, United States

“Poetry is speech with song in it, the song made by words made to dance." ~ Robert Nye Prosody in the poems of Terrance Hayes, Mary Szybist, Diane Seuss, and others In this afternoon gathering, we will step into several poems by highly-accomplished poets and see what techniques they use to achieve their superior poems. More exploration than lecture, together we’ll discover the formal strategies and deep music in the work of Terrance Hayes, Mary Szybist, and Diane Seuss, among others. While this exploration can be seen as a follow up to January’s Deep Music of Poetry session on prosody, all are welcome for this fresh adventure. Be ready to read and collaborate in a full afternoon of discovery, and plan to carry home inspiration for…

Continue readingPoetry Workshop: An Afternoon of Deep Music w John Morrison | Apr 8 | In-person
$99 – $119

Poets & Popcorn

Alberta Abbey 126 NE Alberta Street #205, Portland, OR, United States

Event starts at 5:30 All ages welcome. Free parking is available in the lot across the street until full. A creative writing workshop, open mic, and film screening community event at The Abbey. Poets and writers will engage in a 1-hour cross-genre / poetry writing workshop in conversation with the themes, subjects, and ideas of the selected film. A 45-minute community open mic will follow, inviting attendees to share new creative work and build literary community with each other. A free admission community film screening will conclude the event, encouraging donations and concession stand purchases beforehand. Workshop participants will be additionally encouraged to engage with the film as an ekphratic inspiration to continue their workshop drafts at a future date. Each stage of the event…

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Free
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