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!

Fall | Monthly Poetry Gathering w John Morrison | Sep 17 – Jan 21 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

"If I write, the dark shadows move away from my desk". ~ Donald Murray Poetry Here’s a workshop that can flow with the longer rhythms of your writing. A Saturday morning of each month, we’ll gather and share poems in a comfortable but focused fashion. You choose the poem to share based on what feedback you are looking for; the poems could range from one you want ready to submit for publication, to an experimental piece that needs a supportive but critical eye. Along the way we’ll talk about craft and how to grow and sustain a fulfilling practice, which includes the company of fellow poets.  Come ready to share your poems and insights and to carry generous feedback home to your writing desk. Zoom…

$219 – $248

Fall | Personal Essays w Lee Montgomery | Sep 17 – Nov 19 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

First Draft to Publication Leads Personal Essays and memoir represent some of the most adventurous writing today. Pushing narrative boundaries, utilizing traditional and nontraditional forms, this type of writing explores individuality and the minutiae of life unlike any other form. This workshop will help students explore the world of memoir and personal essay writing and understand both traditional and nontraditional narrative strategies available to them. Though the class will be run as a classic workshop, where students will submit their work to be reviewed in class, it will also combine craft lectures, outside reading, and in-class exercises. | Maximum: 12 writers Zoom link provided prior to start of workshop. Teacher: Lee MontgomeryTime: Saturdays, Sep 17 - Nov 19, 10am - 12:30pm Pacific TimeLocation: Online via ZoomTotal Fee: Discounted Early Registration…

$548 – $583

Fall | Writers’ Lab: Life Stories w Lee Montgomery | Sep 20 – Oct 25 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Frank Conroy, the longtime director of the Iowa Writers Workshop, once said that in good writing, you can feel a soul pressing up against the narrative. The question is how do writers access the “soul” that translates into good storytelling? We’ll first focus on finding the soul that’s pushing you to write by offering a true laboratory, a safe place to inspire and experiment with new ideas generated by in-class prompts and exercises. We will talk about the craft of narrative, as well. Students will be required to read assigned essays and memoir excerpts outside of class to get a sense of the forms and techniques of narrative. The hope is students will be well on their way with a map for a new project by…

$265 – $287

Fall | Introduction to Flash Nonfiction w Brian Benson | Sep 20 – Oct 18 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Flash nonfiction, simply put, is true-to-life writing defined by extreme compression: it's saying what you've got to say using as few words, and as much beauty, as possible. An endlessly accessible, playful, potent form, flash nonfiction is evermore popular; from Brevity to 100 Word Story, The Forge to The Sun, legions of journals are eager to publish great flash. In this prompt-driven workshop, we'll read short nonfiction by masters of the form; we'll talk about what stories are suited for flash, how to tell them well, and where to publish them; and most of all, we'll write and write and write, via in-class exercises and take-home prompts. Students will leave the class with reams of new writing and ideas for where to publish. Maximum | 16 students. Zoom link provided prior to start of workshop. Teacher: Brian BensonWorkshop Day: TuesdayTime: Tuesdays,…

$219 – $248

APPS DUE: SEP 12: Creative Nonfiction (CNF) Studio | Sep 22 – Dec 15,

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

Write what you know you want to know The Creative Nonfiction (CNF) Studio is based on the idea that inspiration, accountability, and community are essential to every writer’s growth. The CNF Studio meets weekly for multi-month sessions, and its curriculum is designed to help you deepen your writing through a keener understanding of both literary craft and your own voice. The CNF Studio is open to applications from all writers, and members often return for multiple sessions. This creates the Studio’s special experience: a consistent, deep, and supportive study of your writing in the company of other writers. Each weekly session includes a close-reading and discussion of a selected work of creative nonfiction, a roundtable reading of take-home prompts, and in-depth critique of several works-in-progress. Over…

$548 – $583

Fall | Short Fiction w Joanna Rose | Oct 1 – Oct 29 | In-Person

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

Description to come. All in-person students must show proof of Covid-19 vaccination.  Teacher: Joanna RoseTime: Saturdays, Oct 1 - Oct 29, 10am - 12pmLocation: Attic Institute of Arts and Letters, 1033 SW Yamhill, Suite 405Total Fee: Discounted Early Registration is due seven (7) days prior to the start of the workshop. | Discounted Early Registration: $219 (cash/check); $233 (Paypal). | Tuition Registration: $234 (cash/check); $248 (PayPal).

$219 – $248

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

APPS DUE: SEP 25: Fiction Studio: Novel Intensive | Oct 8 – Apr 15

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

25 Weeks to Focus on Your Novel Fiction Studio is based on the idea that inspiration, accountability, and community are essential to every novelist’s growth. Fiction Studio meets weekly for half the year, and its curriculum is designed to help you deepen your writing through a keener understanding of both literary craft and your own voice. Fiction Studio is open to applications from all writers (see application information below). This creates the Studio’s special "novel intensive" experience: a consistent, deep, and supportive study of your writing in the company of other writers. Learn more about applying to the Fiction Studio To Apply: To apply to join the next Fiction Studio, please send a writing sample of up to 3,500 words and a 250-word statement of purpose. APPLICATIONS DUE: Sep 25, 2022. NOTE: This…

$1345 – $1395

Fall | Creative Nonfiction Workshop: Attention to Detail or “Of Thumbs” w Paige Thomas | Oct 11 – Nov 1 | In-Person

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

Before being dubbed the inventor of the essay form, Michel de Montaigne was a grief-stricken man who locked himself away in a tower on his family’s manor on the French countryside where, for years, he labored over what would become his famous essays. In his solitude, he wrote a series of meditations titled “Of _____” — “Of Smells," “Of the Custom of Wearing Clothes,” “Of Posting,” (letters, that is), “Of Sleep,” and "Of Thumbs" — that attempted the impossible task of defining and then exhausting his interest in individual objects or desires. Modern life does not mirror Montaigne’s privilege of time, space, and quietude, but part of his beloved legacy still rings true: the necessity of attention to detail—to singularity—and how dedication to understanding the specific can crack open…

$175 – $197

Fall | The Why and How of Writing Your Life w Wayne Gregory | Oct 19 – Nov 16 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

"There is no greater burden than carrying an untold story." ~ Maya Angelou We live in a time when it is more important than ever for us to tell the stories of our lives. We are inundated with more information than we can ever process and while we communicate with more people via social media, we feel increasingly detached from the feeling of community. In short, we lack enough well-crafted human stories. Stories summon our imagination to experience the life of another and through that experience to better understand the other, as well as ourselves. This workshop is for the one who wants to discover how to identify her/his compelling story and how to create a work that will grab readers and take them on…

$219 – $248