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!

Attic Institute: SPRING Online: Introduction to Flash Nonfiction w Brian Benson

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 Barren, 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 master writers, including Ross Gay, Natalie Lima, Ira Sukrungruang, Roxane Gay, Jerald Walker, Ruth Ozeki, and many more; 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. Register for…

$215 – $242

Attic Institute: SPRING Online: Prompts with Whitney Workshop w Whitney Otto

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Eight weeks of writing and reading. Try your hand at characterization, dialogue, plot, finding the telling detail, playing with points of view. Develop a “writing practice” while generating ideas for short stories, memoirs, even novels. Register for this workshop NOTE: To protect everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic, we're offering our workshops via Zoom. All students must first sign up for a free Zoom account. Setting it up is easy. And we can help you with questions, if needed. For each class, you'll receive a Zoom "invitation," from the instructor. Click the link...follow the simple directions about the settings for your microphone and in-computer video, and you're immediately in the "room" for the workshop. For critique workshops, instructors will communicate with students about the process of sharing work. For more generative workshops, students…

$344 – $367

Attic Institute: SPRING Online: The Future: a Generative Fiction Workshop with Elinam Agbo

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

In the Netflix anthology series Love, Death, and Robots, the future takes many forms. Cats survive the apocalypse while humans are extinct. Farmers fight an endless battle. Sentient yogurt takes over the world. Many of these episodes are adapted from short stories, writers envisioning a range of possibilities, given what they know of the past and the present. So, how do we imagine the future when the present feels like dystopia? What remains the same in a world of endless innovation? What has the potential to change? In this generative workshop, we will explore the future through weekly writing exercises. And through the work of writers like Rivers Solomon, George Saunders, NK Jemisin, John Scalzi, and Octavia Butler, we will examine the many paths humanity can…

$215 – $242

Attic Institute: SPRING Online: Seeing the Story with Fresh Eyes: Revision Workshop w Thea Chacamaty

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Two-hour Seminar: Have you finished a draft of a short story, essay, poem, or novel and are now ready to enter the next phase--the arduous, maddening, and fun process of revision? This two-hour seminar will help you see your work with fresh eyes. To revise in Latin means to “re-see” or to “see again.” Using targeted writing exercises to summon the heart of our writing, we will learn new revision techniques that make the writing new again. Register for this workshop NOTE: To protect everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic, we're offering our workshops via Zoom. All students must first sign up for a free Zoom account. Setting it up is easy. And we can help you with questions, if needed. For each class, you'll receive a Zoom "invitation," from the…

$45 – $64

Attic Institute: SPRING Online: Ekphrastic Poetry Workshop w Ruben Quesada

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

It Came from Outer Space: This class will focus on writing new poetry. In this workshop we will challenge our notions of ekphrasis by focusing our attention on sci-fi films to generate our poems. While the Greek term ekphrasis translates simply as ‘a vivid description’ of a thing, the long-established tradition of ekphrastic poetry opens the door to a wide range of creative approaches for poets to engage with a work of art in another medium. Ekphrastic poems utilize a myriad of forms and strategies, and they respond to, incorporate, investigate, embellish, interpret and/or reflect upon a vital work of art—usually either a painting, photograph, or sculpture. You will be expected to view one or more of the films from the list below as the source of artwork.…

$215 – $242

Attic Institute: SPRING Online: So You Wanna Be a Writer Workshop w Wayne Gregory

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” ~ E. L. Doctorow You have a thousand stories inside your head. You dabble on the page but rarely if ever finish anything, much less share with others. “Is my work good enough?” you wonder.  “Do I have something original and interesting to say? What makes me think I can be a writer?”  The biggest obstacle for emerging writers is not lack of time nor lack of skill nor lack of things to write about. It’s a lack of self-confidence. This workshop is designed for those who want to be writers, but are not sure they can be. …

$215 – $242

Attic Institute: SPRING Online: Monthly Poetry Gathering and Workshop w John Morrison

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

"If I write, the dark shadows move away from my desk". ~ Donald Murray 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 one or two 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.  Come ready to share your poems and insights and to carry generous feedback home to your writing desk. Register for this workshop NOTE: To protect…

$215 – $242

Attic Institute: APPS DUE: May 16: Atheneum Master Writing Program for 2021-2022

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

An annual certificate program, the Attic Atheneum melds independent study under close faculty supervision, student receptions, public readings, and other special Atheneum events created around good food and great conversation, dialogue, and literary community. Running for just under a year, the Atheneum is designed to advance your writing and seed literary life in the city. Atheneum Fellows form a unique community of literary artists and citizens. (** Please note: if you are having trouble getting your app to us in time, need support or extra time with your letter of recommendation, please email us. We know this is a difficult time to be applying for something in the fall, and we want to make it work for you.) Learn more and apply

Free

SPRING Online: Craft of Memoir w Brian Benson FULL — WAIT LIST ONLY

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Whether you're just getting started or looking to improve your work-in-progress, this new workshop will help you translate your personal experiences into a vivid, absorbing memoir. Through a mix of discussion, guided exercises and peer critique, we'll explore the many ways to pull compelling, relatable stories from one's life story, and we'll read and discuss a wide variety of memoir for inspiration and insight. Students will leave the workshop with many reading recommendations and writing resources. | Maximum 12 students Register for this workshop NOTE: To protect everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic, we're offering our workshops via Zoom. All students must first sign up for a free Zoom account. Setting it up is easy. And we can help you with questions, if needed. For each class, you'll receive a…

$215 – $242

SUMMER Online: Prose Poem Workshop w Ruben Quesada

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

A generative workshop that explores the boundaries of poetry. The intersection of poetry and prose offers a range of possibilities for style and subject. No previous writing experience needed. Reading will be provided two weeks before our meeting. "Thank you Ruben Quesada for an incredible class. It was full of fascinating information and the prompts Ruben gave us inspired my generative work (and from the other poets, you could tell it was the same for them)! Ruben also cultivated a space of openness and sharing that was truly remarkable for such a short class. He is a fantastic addition to the Attic, and I sincerely hope to take classes with him in the future. I most definitely would be interested to continue learning from and writing with Ruben."…

$65 – $83