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!
Running With Sherman: The Donkey With the Heart of a Hero (Knopf) is the heartwarming story about training a rescue donkey to run one of the most challenging races in America, from Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run.
The definitive biography of the beloved – often controversial – cocreator of many legendary superheroes, Danny Fingeroth’s A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee (St. Martin’s) presents the origin of "Stan the Man," who spun a storytelling web of comic book heroic adventures into a pop culture phenomenon: the Marvel Universe. Fingeroth, himself a longtime writer and editor at Marvel Comics, and now a lauded pop culture critic and historian, knew and worked with Lee for over four decades. Fingeroth will be joined in conversation by Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and artist Brian Michael Bendis.
The Books Around the Corner Biography/Memoir Book Club will be led by a community member and meets monthly on the third Wednesday of every month at 6PM starting in January. We would like to extend an invitation to all of our biography/memoir loving customers (RSVP is not required). Our book discussions aim to bring people together to talk about books in a safe and inviting atmosphere. Our meetings are lovely and inclusive; we invite you to attend. Come and enjoy a lively discussion about the chosen book with other readers. Join us on January 15th for our first Biography/Memoir Book Club. We will discuss The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King. About the book: Rogers (1928-2003) was an enormously…
Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 – in both the hour and the year of the dragon. Almost immediately, he was plunged into conflict: as a child in Hong Kong as it was invaded and occupied by the Japanese; as the object of discrimination and bullying; and as a teenager grappling against the influence of gangs. As the world knows, Lee found his salvation and calling through kung fu – first as a student, then as a teacher, and finally as a global star. Jim Di Bartolo’s The Boy Who Became a Dragon (Graphix) tells his astonishing story in brilliant comic form.
The Books Around the Corner Biography/Memoir Book Club will be led by a community member and meets monthly on the third Wednesday of every month at 6PM. We would like to extend an invitation to all of our biography/memoir loving customers. Our book discussions aim to bring people together to talk about books in a safe and inviting atmosphere. Our meetings are lovely and inclusive; we invite you to attend. Come and enjoy a lively discussion about the chosen book with other readers. Join us on February 19th for our Biography/Memoir Book Club. The community run group has chosen to discuss Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness. About the book: In this revelatory, raw, and rambunctious memoir, the author shares never-before-told secrets and reveals…
When Roger Henneous first dons his keeper uniform and sets foot in the Oregon Zoo, he doesn't know what to expect. But over his 30-year career, Henneous discovers the joys, difficulties, and dangers of life in a zoo, all the while maintaining an unwavering devotion to Belle, Packy, and the rest of the Asian elephants in his care. Melissa Crandall’s Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd (Ooligan) takes place in a time when ethical conversations about animal comfort, safety, and enrichment in zoos were just beginning. More than an evolutionary history of zookeeping, this unique biography celebrates the extraordinary bonds between humans and elephants and asks what we owe elephants, where we have fallen short, and how we can move forward together.
Donnie Horn’s Darcelle: Looking From My Mirror (Donald L. Horn) tells the complete story of Walter W. Cole, aka Darcelle – Guinness World Record holder for oldest drag queen performer. Horn’s The Many Shades of Darcelle: 50 Years of Fashion 1969 Until Present documents Cole's life as Darcelle, as well as his purchase of Portland’s Demas Tavern and its transformation into Darcelle XV Showplace. Horn will be joined in conversation by Walter W. Cole.
Mario Livio's Galileo: And the Science Deniers (Simon & Schuster) is a fresh interpretation of the life of Galileo Galilei, one of history's greatest and most fascinating scientists, that sheds new light on his discoveries and how he was challenged by science deniers. "We really need this story now, because we're living through the next chapter of science denial" (Bill McKibben). Galileo's story may be more relevant today than ever before. At present, we face enormous crises — such as the minimization of the dangers of climate change — because the science behind these threats is erroneously questioned or ignored. Galileo encountered this problem 400 years ago. His discoveries, based on careful observations and ingenious experiments, contradicted conventional wisdom and the teachings of the church…
Total F*cking Godhead (Post Hill) is the complete story of the complex and enigmatic artist, Chris Cornell. It’s the riveting account of a blue-collar, high school dropout emerging from Seattle, Washington, to become one of the greatest singer-songwriters and voices of his generation. With input from people who knew and worked with him — together with Cornell’s own words — the book recounts in great detail the rise of his immortal band Soundgarden as they emerged from the 1980s post-punk underground to dominate popular culture in the ‘90s alongside other Seattle bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana. Long-time Seattle resident and rock writer Corbin Reiff examines Cornell’s dynamic solo career, as well as is his time in Audioslave. He delves into Cornell’s…
Jarvis Jay Masters’s early life was a horror story whose outline we know too well. Born in Long Beach, California, his house was filled with crack, alcohol, physical abuse, and men who paid his mother for sex. He and his siblings were split up and sent to foster care when he was five, and he progressed quickly to juvenile detention, car theft, armed robbery, and ultimately San Quentin. While in prison, he was set up for the murder of a guard — a conviction which landed him on death row, where he’s been since 1990. At the time of his murder trial, he was held in solitary confinement, torn by rage and anxiety, felled by headaches, seizures, and panic attacks. A criminal investigator repeatedly offered…