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!

WORKS ON PAPER: EXPERIMENTS IN LANGUAGE & SOUND PRESENTS MARK SO

Passages Bookshop 1801 NW Upshur, Suite 660, Portland, OR, United States

Works on Paper: Experiments in Language and Sound presents an evening of tapes, readings, and text-objects by MARK SO Saturday, May 6 4:00 pm – 10:00 pm, come and go as you wish $10-20 suggested donation; no one turned away Passages Bookshop 1801 NW Upshur, Suite 660 503-388-7665 ======================================= A six-hour multichannel playback of So’s experimental taped through-reading of John Ashbery's booklength poem Flow Chart provides a lively scrim for several discrete but related nucleii of his work to appear and coincide: • a group of his Ashbery scores which composer Manfred Werder performed for a month at a time, marked only by his sparse overtyping and occasional polaroids • several typescripts from late in the Ashbery series, no longer scores but radical transcriptions of…

Free – $20

Maartje Hensen’s ‘Pride Atlas!’

Bishop & Wilde 2601 NW Thurman Street, Portland, OR, United States

Come celebrate the publication of writer and influencer Maartje Hensen’s new book, “The Pride Atlas!” Space is limited, so register for the event here! Order the book now at bishopandwilde.com or add your name below to reserve a copy for pickup the day of the event.

Free

Slamlandia

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

Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month. This mic provides a creative, fun, and welcoming space for all literary communities in Portland. We encourage poets new and old to come share their work. We strive towards a safer space for poets to read their own poetry, witness others, and participate in community. This event takes place in-person. Proof of Covid-19 vaccine or a negative PCR test is required for admittance. Please see our Covid-19 guidelines for in-person events at Literary Arts. Hosted by Julia Gaskill. Julia Gaskill Julia Gaskill is a professional daydreamer hailing from Portland, Oregon. Her poetry examines the tightrope we sometimes walk of feeling our voices censored and also being unabashedly ourselves. Her poems touch on everyday…

Free

Constellation #5: Ajose-Fisher, Mayer, Minto

Tin House 2617 NW Thurman Street, Portland, OR, United States

April's event was a stunner, and we're thrilled to announce a stellar local lineup for our fifth Constellation on May18th, along with some exciting changes. Changes first: the reading space has been transformed into a beautiful independent bookstore! Bishop & Wilde will be open before the event. Feel free to arrive early and shop. And now, this month's readers: Kesha Ajose-Fisher (she/her) is the author of the award-winning collection of stories, No God Like the Mother, which focuses on the lives and realities of women who have been tasked with holding up the sky, all while the world whispers “you’re doing it wrong.” She has also earned a number of prestigious awards for other essays and stories she has written over the years, including The…

Free

Submission Deadline: Old Pal Mag: Issue 7

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Old Pal is currently open for submissions until May 20, 2023! We publish poetry, fiction, criticism, excerpts, audio, mixed media, and various mediums of art. We encourage artists from all experience levels and communities to submit. Contributors are compensated $50 upon publication. We ask that submissions are limited as follows: Up to 10 pages of poetry Up to 15 pages of prose Up to 10 images or visual artworks Up to five minutes of audio or video Simultaneous submissions are welcome; we just ask that you notify us to withdraw works if accepted elsewhere. We do not accept previously published work; however, works previously posted to social media will still be considered. There is no submission fee or subscription required to submit. All rights revert…

Free

Works on Paper: MALEDETTO by KENNETH GABURO, performed by Evergreen Experimental Music Ensemble

Passages Bookshop 1801 NW Upshur, Suite 660, Portland, OR, United States

Works on Paper: Experiments in Language and Sound presents EVERGREEN EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC ENSEMBLE in a performance of MALEDETTO by KENNETH GABURO Saturday, May 20 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00) No late entry $10-20 suggested donation; no one turned awayPassages Bookshop 1801 NW Upshur, Suite 660 503-388-7665   ======================================= Works on Paper is excited to present the Evergreen Experimental Music Ensemble in Kenneth Gaburo's linguistic-musical tour de force Maledetto.============================================ Kenneth Gaburo's Maledetto, a landmark work of experimental music from the composer's LINGUA project, exemplifies Gaburo's practice of Compositional Linguistics (i.e., language as music, and music as language). Arun Chandra, who has led multiple performances of the work over the years and serves as musical director for the Evergreen Experimental Music Ensemble, provides the following analysis:…

Free – $20

Meet Grace Lin, author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Newmark Theatre 1111 SW Broadway Ave., Portland, OR, United States

We're OVER THE MOON excited to share that Grace Lin, author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, will be at the Oregon Children's Theatre's May 27th afternoon performance! Families attending this special performance will be able to meet the author and have a book signed after the show. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Author Signing Event: May 27 at 2:00 pm Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, Portland Recommended for ages 6 and up Read a fabulous review of the show here! Get Tickets Here

$22 – $45

Jewish Poetry Book Club at EJC

Eastside Jewish Commons 2420 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland, OR, United States

Love to read poetry? Drawn to Jewish poets writing in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish in translation? Let's lift the poetry off the page with some communal meaning-making. Jion us on some first Wednesdays 12:30 - 2 PM at the Eastside Jewish Commons, 2420 NE Sandy. June 7, 2023 September 6, 2023 December 6, 2023 Bring copies of two poems by your favorite Jewish poet to read together on June 7th. From there we will assemble and vote on which poets' books to read for the year. Bring your lunch. Please plan on making a small donation to EJC each time we meet. $3 - $10 is suggested. No one turned away for lack of funds. Under the instigation but not tutelage of Betsy Fogelman Tighe.…

$3 – $10

Slamlandia

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

Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month. This mic provides a creative, fun, and welcoming space for all literary communities in Portland. We encourage poets new and old to come share their work. We strive towards a safer space for poets to read their own poetry, witness others, and participate in community. This event takes place in-person. Proof of Covid-19 vaccine or a negative PCR test is required for admittance. Please see our Covid-19 guidelines for in-person events at Literary Arts. Hosted by Julia Gaskill. Julia Gaskill Julia Gaskill is a professional daydreamer hailing from Portland, Oregon. Her poetry examines the tightrope we sometimes walk of feeling our voices censored and also being unabashedly ourselves. Her poems touch on everyday…

Free

The Moth: StorySLAM: Pride

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

PRIDE: Prepare a five minute story about being proud. The confidence and glory of owning your talents, embracing your identity or, perhaps, flying too close to the sun. Lion-hearted valiance for a job well-done or the stubborn sting of unburied hatchets or unspoken apologies. Staying faithful to values, swallowing pride or admitting you ain't too proud to beg. COVID Requirements: See Holocene's COVID Policy for details. We will not be selling any tickets at the door. This venue is 21+ *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

$15