A resource for the PDX literary community. Produced by Old Pal.
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!
Join fellow writers the first Wednesday of the month for a friendly critique. The goal is to support one another with constructive feedback and participate in writing exercises. All experience levels welcome! Join Online Meeting ID: 230 496 085
In an ever-changing country filled with political turmoil, understanding our histories is the only way for us to move forward. The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education’s Student Advisory Board hosts a Youth Book and Film Circle, where students in grades 9 – 12 meet to discuss films and books covering topics related to the museum’s core exhibits and mission. For our second meeting, participants will be asked to watch the 2019 film Jojo Rabbit and/or read the book Night by Elie Wiesel. Jojo Rabbit is a satirical film directed by Taika Waititi about the Hitler Youth and antisemitic propaganda during the Holocaust but is also a story of resistance. Night is a memoir that recounts the author’s experiences as a Jewish victim…
Award-winning author Willy Vlautin (The Motel Life, Lean on Pete) explores the impact of trickle-down greed and opportunism of gentrification on ordinary lives in his scorching new novel that captures the plight of a young woman pushed to the edge as she fights to secure a stable future for herself and her family. Barely 30, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she’s been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother, Kenny. Portland’s housing prices have nearly quadrupled in 15 years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it’s their last best chance to own their own home — and obtain the security they’ve never had.…
Here is an opportunity to share or listen to one page of work in progress from talented writers from everywhere. Come with a single page of work and sign up to read – or come to listen and prepare to be inspired! Hosted by Natalie Serber. April’s featured reader is Marilyn Freeman. Click here to register in advanced. You don’t need to live in Portland to participate. If you have questions, please contact jessica@literary-arts.org Media artist and writer Marilyn Freeman (they/them) works at the intersections of reckoning and resiliency, queerness and film, and contemplative, creative and social practices. They are author of The Illuminated Space: A Personal Theory and Contemplative Practice of Media Art (The 3rd Thing, 2020) and creator of Cinema Divina®—short evocative films…
Since April is National Poetry Month, the theme of the open mic is poetry and it's importance. This year is the 25th annual National Poetry Month celebration by the Academy of American Poets. Anyone who would like to participate in this Open Mic is welcome. Email Tom Hogan at tomhogan2@comcast.net (link sends e-mail) to register. You will receive a zoom link prior to the event. Plan to read 1 or 2 poems depending on the number of participants and length of the poems. If time permits additional poems will be allowed.
Write A Book: Fiction & Creative Nonfiction IPRC Creative Workshops for Fall 2020 will be held online via zoom, PST. *Waitlist Instructor: Michael Heald Wednesdays, 6:30 – 8:30 Nine students maximum (ages 18+) Class meetings: 24 (8 per term) Cost: $825 *2 spots available at sliding scale, BIPOC prioritized; email hquinn@iprc.org *2 spots available at no cost, BIPOC prioritized; email hquinn@iprc.org October 7, 2020 – June 9, 2021 This workshop will consist of three eight-week terms. Writers currently working on memoirs, essay collections, novellas, novels, short story collections, oral histories, and long-form journalism are all strongly encouraged to apply. Hybrid forms welcome. Over the course of 24 sessions, writers will work towards a draft of a manuscript in a supportive workshop environment. We’ll explore non-linear…
The KBOO Community Radio Artist In Residence Program assists artists working creatively with sound. Every year, one artist or one collaborative group of artists will be awarded twenty hours of studio recording*** and production time with a KBOO Mixologist in order to create a piece of sound art that will be publicly presented at the end of the Residency. ***Due to COVID19, studio recording time may be limited or not available. KBOO is currently closed to all non-essential in-studio activity and we do not yet have an anticipated date for re-opening. The public presentation may need to be limited to a virtual format only depending on health and safety measures. Applicants should submit proposals that do not depend on using KBOO studios or having an…
Writing is often thought of as something done in isolation; we know there is immense power when writing is done in community. Join us for 90 minutes of creativity and community-building, with generative writing exercises, sharing and strengths-based feedback. Our workshop model, refined over 22 years, is proven for people of all writing levels: from the budding writer to the published author. Workshops are held via Zoom. Weekly registration opens 5 days before each session and closes one hour before the workshop. Click here for more info. Mondays from 3 to 4:30 pm (Pacific Time) Sliding Scale Registration $5-$30. Register here. $0 registration available for past Write Around Portland participants at a social service agency and people experiencing financial hardship. Register here. Thursdays from 11 am to…
Every year on Yom HaShoah, the Day of Remembrance, communities around the world uphold the memory of victims of the Holocaust through the Reading of the Names, a public recitation of Holocaust victims’ names, ages, and birthplaces. The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education will once again sponsor the Reading of the Names. While the event is normally held at Pioneer Courthouse Square, this year a selection of community members, elected officials, and Holocaust survivors will be reading at the Oregon Holocaust Memorial in Washington Park and the names read will be those written on the Memorial, which recognizes the lost families and friends of local Holocaust survivors. The Reading of the Names will be a virtual event and will be recorded. “The…
Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, Afro-punk before that term existed. Coming of age in Detroit, she can’t imagine settling for a 9-to-5 job — despite her unusual looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar’s amateur night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for the fledgling Rivington Records. In early 1970s New York City, just as she’s finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a…