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!
On Tuesday, December 11, 7 pm, celebrate Grace Paley’s birthday at Mother Foucault’s as Eberhardt Press presents the “soft launch” of Judith Arcana’s biography Grace Paley’s Life Stories. Stop by for a slice of cake and some readings, and be sure to get a signed copy of the book!
From Ha Jin, the National Book Award-winning author of Waiting, comes The Banished Immortal (Pantheon), a narratively driven, deeply human biography of the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai – also known as Li Po. In his own time (701–762), Li Bai’s poems – shaped by Daoist thought and characterized by their passion, romance, and lust for life – were never given their proper due by the official literary gatekeepers. Nonetheless, his lines rang out on the lips of court entertainers, tavern singers, soldiers, and writers throughout the Tang dynasty, and his deep desire for a higher, more perfect world gave rise to his nickname, the Banished Immortal. Today, Bai’s verses are still taught to China’s schoolchildren and recited at parties and toasts; they remain an…
From Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead, comes the first-ever biography of Schlitzie, a major sideshow attraction from the early 1920s to the late 1960s. Nobody’s Fool (Abrams ComicArts) follows the story of Schlitzie’s long career, from Coney Island and the Ringling Bros. Circus to small-town carnivals and big-city sideshows. Today, Schlitzie is most well-known for his appearance in the cult classic Freaks. Griffith’s graphic novel biography offers a unique look into Schlitzie’s world and restores dignity to his life by recognizing his contributions to popular culture.
Carolyn Burke’s Foursome: Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keefe, Paul Strand, Rebecca Salsbury (Knopf) is a captivating, spirited account of the intense relationship among four artists whose strong personalities, passionate feelings, and aesthetic ideals drew them together, pulled them apart, and profoundly influenced the very shape of 20th-century art.
Portland, Oregon, didn’t always have a wildly successful craft brew scene. Someone had to be daring enough to innovate, and the Widmer brothers were just the men for the job. Written by Portland beer guru Jeff Alworth (The Beer Bible, Beer Tasting Tool Kit), The Widmer Way: How Two Brothers Led Portland’s Craft Beer Revolution chronicles Kurt and Rob Widmer’s journey from humble homebrewers to craft beer pioneers and purveyors of the iconic Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen. Alworth also dives deep into Portland’s history, setting the scene for Widmer’s rise in the city now known for its exquisite beer. Drawing from hours of interviews with Kurt and Rob, close family and friends, and big names in the beer industry, The Widmer Way offers an exclusive look…
Join us for our monthly series from Inkwater Press. This month, we hear from Marilynne Eichinger, Sharon Ann Rose, and Mark Chussil. Lives of Museum Junkies: The Story of America’s Hands-On Education Movement: Peer into the political and educational climate of the 1960s to discover factors that propelled the hands-on education movement into prominence. Follow the missteps and breakthroughs of Marilynne Eichinger and 11 other naive but dedicated museum directors, board volunteers, and National Science Foundation managers as they strove to change the way science was taught. Their oft humorous stories are revealed with candor and clarity. Responding to the latest research in learning and child development, they created engaging, self-teaching displays that impacted the landscape of 2,900 centers worldwide while serving 98 million people…
Hello all of you lovely True Crime junkies! Pick up your copy of The Trauma Cleaner and start reading! Then come join us on Sunday, August 11th from 3-5, to discuss the book, snack on yummy treats, drink some wine, and talk True Crime shop! If you want to support the gracious host of our little book club that could, please purchase your copy of The Trauma Cleaner from Books Around the Corner. You can even have it shipped to you for just $5.
To ensure that you are able to join us for the event, please rsvp for all guests. Guests who are walk in on the day of the event are not guaranteed seats. On September 15, please join Judith Arcana, author of Grace Paley's Life Stories, for a conversation with poet and publisher Carl Adamshick, and for readings by both writers from the book. Grace Paley's Life Stories is the only biography of renowned author and activist Grace Paley and explores the roots of her political consciousness and traces her work as an activist as it grew into her work as a storyteller. It was recently reprinted in a glowing 2nd edition by Eberhardt Press in Portland. Arcana and Adamschick will discuss the importance of this…
Award winning author, Paul Lisicky will enchant us with his words on Saturday, September 21st 2019, after day one of his workshop :: On Urgency at Corporeal Center. This reading is free and open to the public. You can also pre-order Paul's forthcoming book, LATER with Graywolf Press (2020) here :: https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/later
Janis Joplin has passed into legend as a brash, impassioned soul doomed by the pain that produced one of the most extraordinary voices in rock history. In Janis (Simon & Schuster), Holly George-Warren provides a revelatory and deeply satisfying portrait of a woman who wasn’t all about suffering. Janis is a complex, rewarding portrait of a remarkable artist finally getting her due.