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

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Intro to Risograph Printing

IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center) 318 SE Main Street #175, Portland, OR, United States

In this 4-hour introductory course, participants will learn the basics of risograph (riso) printing and will leave with an understanding of how to use this print technology to create zines, fliers, posters, or other printed matter. While this technology is not new, riso printing has recently become one of the most exciting developments in independent printing and publishing because of its cost-effectiveness for print runs between 25 and 1,000. Workshop participants will learn how to best maximize the many quirks of riso printing to achieve striking results. Participants are also encouraged to bring files of artwork that they’d like to print (files should be 100% grayscale, letter or tabloid size). For more information on riso printing and the modern riso resurgence, check out the riso…

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$90 – $150

The Study and Practice of Autofiction

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

This course is for all levels of writers and readers; the only requirement is a desire to take a deep dive into the unique art of autofiction (autobiographical fiction). We will read and discuss excerpts from contemporary authors who write within the genre, such as Lucia Berlin, Tao Lin, Edouard Louis, Chris Kraus, Garth Greenwell, Zinzi Clemmons, Ayak Akhtar and others, in addition to weekly craft essays on the genre. There will be an opportunity to submit either one or two short excerpts of yourwriting (can be from a short story or novel-in-progress) to be workshopped during the. This course is generative, so participants should plan to submit at least 1500 words per week. Most importantly importantly, the goal of this course is to be…

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$285

Drink and Write Tuesdays

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

Jeanne Faulkner hosts this drop-in writing workshop on the last Tuesday of every month. Jeanne provides the prompts, tips, and coaching. You bring your computer and notebook.

Free

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

Writing About Parenthood

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

In this generative workshop, led by an editor at Literary Mama, we’ll mine our parenting experience for writing inspiration, while celebrating and honoring the integral role we play in the lives of others. This workshop is perfect for all levels and will include imaginative prompts, short readings, activities that will serve as catalysts for creativity, and optional opportunities to freshly-written work and receive encouraging feedback. Participants will learn fresh perspectives and new angles and approaches for developing material on this rich topic. The workshop will include a taste of SoulCollage®, an expressive arts method, through which we’ll create our own collaged cards surrounding the theme of parenting, then use them as writing prompts. (No artistic ability required.) Participants will have the opportunity to share their…

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$75

Poetry Through Divination

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

In this online three-part workshop, participants will explore various methods of using the Tarot and other simple forms of divination as prompts for poems. We will allow ourselves to be guided intuitively in our creations, suppressing the urge to control the process intellectually. Session One will be purely generative, focusing on starting and progressing new poems. In Session Two participants will work with the poems they started from prompts, developing them into cohesive pieces. Partly this will be through introducing a rational/intellectual component to raw materials that were derived from intuitive processes, but further divinatory and chance methods will also be part of our revision practices. In Session Three, students will share and discuss their polished work. Materials: any Tarot deck, your favorite book, pen…

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$155

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

Creating Vibrant and Complex Characters

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

This generative workshop will focus on the skills involved in creating and sustaining vibrant and complex characters. Through a series of in-workshop prompts and exercises participants will create and bring to life vivid characters. We will focus on physical description, internal life, setting, scene, action, and dialogue to round out and bring our creations to life. Close attention will be paid to literary and poetic devices. Supportive in-workshop sharing and feedback will be part of the process. Access Program We want our writing classes and Delves to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and Delve tuitions at a reduced rate. The access program for…

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$80

Writing Into Big Questions

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

How do the big questions of our time–from climate change to racism–inhabit the stories of our lives? And what does it look like on the page to tell exquisitely personal stories in ways that gesture toward larger concerns? In this 2-hour workshop, writers will uncover some of the big questions buried in their own narratives, identify research paths that might amplify the intersection between the Self and the World, connect with their own potentially-transformative obsessions, and explore how the stories we choose to tell can change us. Access Program We want our writing classes and Delves to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and…

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$55

Starting the Memoir

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

John D’Agata describes memoir as “an agitation of memory,” which suggests memory-based writing as not just the expression of memory but volatile, vital consideration of memory. In this workshop, participants will look at examples of prose memoir in which the writer uses the poet’s tools of meditation, dream, and lyricism, and then do their own memory-based writing. Access Program We want our writing classes and Delves to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and Delve tuitions at a reduced rate. The access program for writing classes covers 60% of the class tuition. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available. Please apply…

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$80
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