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!

Poetry Slam and Open Mic feat. Nykole Jackson

Tiny's Coffee - NE MLK Jr 2031 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR, United States

Join us for a poetry slam and open mic!! Masks are heavily encouraged. There is a 5 dollar suggested donation for this event but no one is turned away. We will have a feature from Nykole Jackson We will be at our venue, Tiny's Coffee Northeast! This means our show is all-ages! Everyone is welcome. We do not censor our mic except for instances of hate-speech. Please also note that we start a little earlier then at previous venues. Accessibility info: Tiny's is on the 6 bus line, which is a frequent service line. It is a quarter mile from the the streetcar line and about a half mile away from the max. The building and stage is wheelchair accessible and most of the seating…

Free

October Virtual Collage Night

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Join us for Virtual Collage Night on the 1st Sunday of the month, 5-6pm. The first 40 mins or so will be open collage with occasional prompts, followed by a show & tell. Register here and we’ll send a zoom link the day of the event.

Free

Residency Application Deadline: Caldera 2023 Artist in Residence

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Through our residency program, Caldera supports artists, creatives, and cultural workers to build skills, relationships, and projects that inspire growth, combat oppression, and activate change. Residents draw inspiration from the residency community and the natural world surrounding our Arts Center in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Residencies are open to regional and national, creatives and cultural workers in any discipline. Artists at any stage of their careers, who are not current students, are eligible to apply. Residencies are also available for parent artists who would like to bring their children. Residents will receive private lodging, studio, and artist stipend. Please note: transportation to and from the residency site is not provided by Caldera Arts. 2023 Residency Dates January 5 - 30, 2023  -- 3.5…

Free

APPS DUE: SEP 18: Poets Studio 2022-2023 | Oct 3 – May 29

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

Poets Studio is based on the idea that focusing on goals is the key to lasting growth as a poet. Poets Studio is a weekly workshop that will run from Sep - May for 30 weeks. It is designed to give form and focus to your poetry writing. The Poets Studio is open to applications from all poets. Poets join the Poets Studio as members and attend for the entire session. This creates the Poets Studio's special experience: a steady, supportive, and comprehensive study of your poetry among other poets. Read more about the Poets Studio. Deadline to apply is Sep 18, 2022 To Apply: Please send ten (10) pages of poems and a 250 words "Statement of Goals" to the Attic Institute. All students must show proof of Covid-19 vaccination. …

$1860 – $1930

Delve Readers Seminar: Delve for Writers: Joan Didion and Durga Chew-Bose

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

Delve for Writers is a new, occasional Delve series that offers seminars that focus on close readings of narrative, form, and stylistic choices that writers can incorporate into their own writing practice. Creative nonfiction is the perfect place to find voice, ideas and perspective – and nobody does it better Joan Didion and contemporary groundbreaker Durga Chew-Bose, whose collection Too Much and Not the Mood is a wonderful mashup of what Didion has always done so well, mixing cultural criticism and memoir in think-pieces that inspire and challenge us. In this Delve for Writers, we’ll look carefully at the craft of what we’ve read with close readings of style, form, mechanics, and conceptual and narrative choices. This seminar will focus on what we can learn…

$245

Julian Aguon in Conversation With Karen Russell

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

Part memoir, part manifesto, Chamorro climate activist and human rights lawyer Julian Aguon’s No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies (Astra House) is a coming-of-age story and a call for justice — for everyone, but in particular, for Indigenous peoples. In bracing poetry and compelling prose, Aguon weaves together stories from his childhood in the villages of Guam with searing political commentary about matters ranging from nuclear weapons to global warming. Undertaking the work of bearing witness, wrestling with the most pressing questions of the modern day, and reckoning with the challenge of truth-telling in an era of rampant obfuscation, he culls from his own life experiences — from losing his father to pancreatic cancer to working for Mother Teresa to an edifying chance encounter with Sherman…

Free

The Moth: StorySLAM: Grown

The Old Church Concert Hall 1422 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR, United States

GROWN: Prepare a five-minute story about the highs and lows of adulting, or the trials and tribulations of getting there. Old enough to know better or wishing someone else would grow the heck up. Growing pains, rites of passage and the great onslaught of responsibility. You know what they say: age is just a number. COVID Requirements: See The Old Church's COVID Policy for details. We will not be selling any tickets at the door. This venue is 16+ *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

If It’s Not One Thing It’s Your Mother: Preparing Nonfiction for Submission w/ Melissa Chadburn—begins October 4th

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

If It's Not One Thing It's Your Mother, Preparing Nonfiction for Submission with Melissa Chadburn The goal of this workshop is to help creative nonfiction writers prepare their work for submission in an inclusive, supportive environment. Classes include reading assignments where we will explore various essay structures, and some short in-class writing assignments to allow writers to discuss and engage other craft techniques. Each writer will workshop one essay, hybrid, or longform piece anywhere from 1200-4500 words, (already in progress). This generative lab is meant to be a supportive environment for writers to actualize the intentions for their piece. Lab Leader: Melissa Chadburn When: October 4th and runs for 4 weeks Where: Zoom and WetInk, our rich, interactive, online platform. Melissa will host a Zoom…

$350

LC English Fall ’22 Reading Series: Audrey Gutierrez

Lewis & Clark - Frank Manor House 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, Portland, OR, United States

We are delighted to kickoff our LC English Fall ’22 Reading Series by showcasing work by Visiting Instructor and LC alumna Audrey Gutierrez! Audrey Gutierrez is a Cuban-American writer from Lafayette, Louisiana. She earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is a finalist of the 2022 PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship and of the Mary Blodgett Fiction Prize from the University of Iowa. In summer of 2022, Audrey was an Alaska State Parks Artist-in-Residence. Audrey has taught creative writing at the University of Iowa and English language in Baeza, Spain. Currently, she is finalizing her gothic novel, The Fractures of Nos Castillo, about five sisters living on the edge of Cuba during the Revolution, as well as working on a collection of horror and…

Free

Fiction Technique in Memoir

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

Memoir is not “biography” and it doesn’t have to read like a textbook. Memoir is a unique and exciting format in which the writer has the creative freedom to tell some portion of their life’s story in a captivating way. We don’t necessarily need to read your story from birth up to the present day but like any good novel, a good memoir should have a storyarch, memorable characters and a narrator who changes in some way by the end of the story. In this class, we will look at techniques for forming that story arch, for developing stronger characters and for writing scenes that will create an impact. We do this by applying some of the same storytelling and structural techniques that fiction writers…

$285