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!

Drop-in Writing Workshops for BIPOC Writers with Anya Pearson

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

These online workshops for BIPOC writers are designed to help you generate new material, refine an existing draft, or simply discover the permission to call yourself a writer. We will gather on Zoom on the first Sunday of each month (March-June) and hold space for each other, creating an online community with other BIPOC writers. Think of this as a playpen and creative incubator to support you as you generate writing and navigate building a creative practice and life in the arts. We will write together using specific prompts. We’ll bounce ideas off each other, share our work in progress, and hold space for the fullness of who we are. These online workshops are for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) writers, in order to maintain…

$5 – $30

Write Around Portland: Bi-Monthly BIPOC Online Writing Workshop

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

For people who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC). 2nd & 4th Friday of every month from 4 to 5:30 pm (Pacific Time), Free. (No workshop 12/25.) Workshops are held via Zoom. Pre-registration is required. Registration opens the 1st of the month every month. Pre-register for our 2nd Friday workshop here. Pre-register for our 4th Friday workshop here. Click here for more workshop details.

Free

Contents Under Pressure: Using Constraints to Stretch Your Creativity

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

for BIPOC writers only Putting constraints on our writing can feel like a challenge, but sometimes a little pressure is what’s needed to push our writing in a new direction or to find language for what seems unsayable. We’ll draw on Oulipian constraints like the lipogram and the Beatiful Outlaw, as well as visual constraints such as erasures and collage, to radically depart from our typical writing habits. We’ll also invent our own extreme constraints to discover what happens when we challenge ourselves to write our way out of seemingly impossible restrictions. Access Program We want our writing classes 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…

$240

Delve Readers Seminar: Five Contemporary Poets: Clifton, Harjo, Komunyaaka, and More

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

A Delve for BIPOC participants only A survey of five contemporary poets and their volumes of selected poems. We will focus on each poet’s body of work, starting with Lucille Clifton, then moving through the works of Joy Harjo, Yusef Komunyaaka, Arthur Sze, and Tracy K. Smith. By reading books that collect poems over decades, we will access each poet’s progressions in content, form, and style, as well as comprehensively approach the historical and cultural contexts reflected. Spending significant time with each poet will bring both breadth and depth to our discussions, and over the course of the seminar we will build a larger and more cohesive understanding of the work of poetry. Reading List: Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000, Lucille Clifton…

$240

April BIPOC writer workshop

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

For BIPOC writers 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. Scholarships are available. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org for more information. Jacqueline Fitzgerald is an educator, coach, and writer who strives to lead through a love ethic and believes in the power of stories to change hearts and minds. Her writing has been published in the Oregonian, The Learning Network of the New York Times, and Beacon Magazine. Currently, she is working on a speculative future novel exploring intergenerational experiences of survival…

$15

Write Around Portland: Bi-Monthly BIPOC Online Writing Workshop

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

For people who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC). 2nd & 4th Friday of every month from 4 to 5:30 pm (Pacific Time), Free. (No workshop 12/25.) Workshops are held via Zoom. Pre-registration is required. Registration opens the 1st of the month every month. Pre-register for our 2nd Friday workshop here. Pre-register for our 4th Friday workshop here. Click here for more workshop details.

Free

BIPOC Reading Series- April

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

The theme for April is “Uses of Anger” inspired by Audre Lorde’s groundbreaking essay. 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. Click here to register for this event. This event is open to everyone, but only people who self-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. Dey Rivers is a mixed-media visual artist, poet and storyteller based in Portland Oregon on Cowlitz and Clackamas Native lands. After earning…

Free

Oregon BIPOC Writers Publishing Event

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 to connect Oregon’s most talented, diverse writers to the publishers and authors seeking to hear their voices. Pitching a Book 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM (PST) Distilling the important elements of a book into a concise and gripping pitch is a true art. In this presentation, seasoned literary agent Fiona Kenshole lays out the fundamentals of good pitching. This webinar is intended to aid writers in preparing for a pitching session with a publisher or agent later on in the day. Demystifying Book Publishing Panel 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (PST) So much of the process of getting published, finding an agent,…

Free

Tender Table Recipe Swap

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Bored of your own cooking? Overwhelmed by the idea of looking up new recipes? I know I am! Join Tender Table at a virtual recipe swap! We'll enjoy some tea, listen to chill music, write recipe cards together and send them to each other in the mail. Sign up to receive a recipe swap kit, including Tender Table-branded recipe cards and more! RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/tt-recipe-swap This event is reserved for women, femmes, trans/nonbinary folks who are BIPOC.

Free

May BIPOC Writer Workshop

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

For BIPOC writers 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. Scholarships are available. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org for more information. Jacqueline Fitzgerald is an educator, coach, writer, and musician who believes that creation is a catalyst for transformation. Working at the cross-section of art, healing, and change work, Jacqueline has a passion for stories and their ability to cultivate belonging. Her writing has been published in the Oregonian, The Learning Network of the New York Times, and Beacon Magazine. Currently, she…

$15