LitPDX seeks to amplify marginalized voices, and welcomes all, their ideas, their events, and their words.

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Kundiman Reading Salon

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

Kundiman creates a space where Asian Americans can explore, through art, the unique challenges that face the new and ever changing diaspora. We see the arts as a tool of empowerment, of education and liberation, of addressing proactively the legacy we will leave for our future. In partnership with Literary Arts, Kundiman brings you a reading salon for BIPOC writers. The theme is “Burden, Bliss, and Balance.” Hosts Jennifer Perrine and Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito will lead writing exercises and a community discussion based on the theme. Writers may then sign up to share in an open mic. This event is open to everyone, but only people identifying as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color will be invited to read. Light snacks will be provided. If…

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Free

Ekphrastic Creative Writing Lab

Carnation Contemporary and Well Well Projects 8371 N Interstate Ave #3, Portland

Ekphrastic Creative Writing Lab *This workshop meets in-person. Masks & Proof of Vaccination + Booster required **This workshop meets at Carnation Contemporary & Well Well Projects located at 8371 N Interstate Ave #3, Portland, OR 97217 Register here Instructor: Stephanie Victoire This 4-week writing lab series explores the further imagination, narrative and creation that awaits us within the consciousness of visual art. Students will experience how art communicates with its viewers and anticipates its reincarnation into multiple streams of language and ideas. Throughout the course of the workshops, students will learn how to transcend the messages, concepts and threads of thought they pull from the pieces in the gallery that speak to them, and respond creatively in any written form they wish. Each week there…

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$100 – $200

BIPOC Reading Series – October

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

This bimonthly reading series is intended to prioritize the safety, creativity, and stories of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Come listen to our featured readers, or sign up to share your work in our open mic. Readings will be followed by a short community discussion. The theme for October is “Shadow.” Click here to register for this event. This event is open to everyone, but only people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color will be invited to read. If you have any questions, please contact our host Jessica at  jessica@literary-arts.org.  

Free

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms This workshop is virtual, PST Register here Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms In this 6-week class, we will experiment with short form creative writing. Our focus—whether it’s flash fiction, lyric essay, prose poetry, or hybrid—will be on the art of compression. Each week, participants will be given a writing exercise, a short reading, and two workshop submissions from their peers. Class time will include workshop as well as discussion of readings and craft. Our workshop will be guided by observations, questions, and possibilities. We will be thinking less about how to “fix” a piece of writing and more about what we see, our curiosities, and how to recognize hidden opportunities. Each participant will receive feedback from…

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$80 – $200

PBF Cover to Cover: Voices Like Thunder: An afternoon of poetry with the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Join us for the release of NACF’s first published anthology The Larger Voice – Celebrating Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Literature Fellows. This event will bring poetry readings by Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest (Lummi Nation), previous Oregon State Poet Laureate (2016-18) Liz Woody , Laura Da’ (Eastern Shawnee/Seneca/Miami), and emerging local Native poets. This program will be moderated by author Trevino Brings Plenty (Minneconjou Lakota). The readings will be followed by a Q&A panel and an open mic for Indigenous and BIPOC community poets. Event tickets will include free admission the day of to both the Jeffrey Gibson: They Come From Fire and the Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe exhibitions. This event is a partnership between the Portland Art Museum and…

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Free

Oregon BIPOC Publishing Event: Pitching, Submitting, & Proposing

Literary Arts 925 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States

Literary Arts, Ooligan Press, and Portland State University’s English Department partner to present the Oregon BIPOC Writers Publishing Event. This event is designed for writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color to connect to the publishers and authors seeking to hear their voices. Pitching, Submitting, & Proposing: How to Make Money as a Writer  Join us for a panel discussion featuring local editors and grantors, as they discuss what makes for a successful pitch, submission, and grant proposal. Featuring Kelly Zatlin, Amy Lam, Karina Agbisit, and Jennifer Perrine. This event takes place in-person. Please see our Covid-19 guidelines for in-person events at Literary Arts. If you have any questions about this event, contact Jessica Meza-Torres at jessica@literary-arts.org. Jennifer Perrine Jennifer Perrine is the author of four…

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Free

Oregon BIPOC Publishing Event: What to Expect When You’re Expecting (a Book!)

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Literary Arts, Ooligan Press, and Portland State University’s English Department partner to present the Oregon BIPOC Writers Publishing Event. This event is designed for writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color to connect to the publishers and authors seeking to hear their voices. What to Expect When You’re Expecting (a Book!) Ever wonder what working with an editor is like? Have questions about how to navigate this relationship? This virtual workshop will feature writer-editor duo, Laura Stanfill and Ari Honavar sharing their experience working together and what made their partnership successful. This event is virtual. Click here to register in advance. If you have any questions about this event, contact Jessica Meza-Torres at jessica@literary-arts.org. Ari Honarvar Ari Honarvar is the founder of Rumi with…

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Free

BIPOC Writing Workshop: November

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Searching for a space to create new work with fellow BIPOC writers? This two-hour workshop meets on Zoom. A variety of prompts will be presented as avenues for generating and sharing new work in an informal setting. Open to BIPOC writers at all levels writing in poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Access Program We want our writing classes and Delves to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and Delve tuitions at a reduced rate. The access program for writing classes covers 60% of the class tuition. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available. Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at…

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$20

Delve Readers Seminar: Language as resistance, words as collage: Don Mee Choi and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Though published many decades apart, these two texts share similarities both in their subject matter and their experimental qualities. Just as Dictee cannot be merely labeled as a memoir and DMZ Colony cannot be labeled purely as a poetry collection, both texts expand our understanding of genre by weaving together prose, poetry and photographs. Moreover, they “hold history accountable” by integrating historical events into the deeply personal, ranging from Japanese colonization of Korea to the Korean War. In doing so, these Korean American writers give voice to feelings and understandings that have often been silenced. By looking at these two texts in tandem, we will examine their use of language to resist power and silencing as well as how their experimental methods seek to give…

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$160

BIPOC Reading Series- April

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

This bimonthly reading series is intended to prioritize the safety, creativity, and stories of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Come listen to our featured readers, or sign up to share your work in our open mic. Readings will be followed by a short community discussion. The theme for April is “Transformation.” Our featured reader is Brandt Maina. Brandt Maina (he/they) – RIOA wa RIOE —is an abstRact and absuRdist artist, performer and writer from Nairobi, Kenya. In the month of the year of our Lard, May 2020, they graduated with a BFA in Acting and Vocal Performance from Taylor University, a small conservative Christian University in rural Indiana. Simply stated, with a background in the arts, and fresh memories of being homeless…

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Free
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