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

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Opening Singalong!

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Emily Arrow opens the festival day with a singalong! Portland Book Festival General Admission Passes are required for entry into all events. Passes are $15 in advance and $25 day of Festival. Youth 17 & under, or with a valid high school ID get in FREE. All full-priced General Admission Passes include a $5 book fair voucher and entry into Portland Art Museum. Passes admit attendees to the Festival; individual events are first-come, first-served. More info here. Emily Arrow Emily Arrow creates songs about books! Formerly a K-6 music educator, Emily’s passion for books led her to create music that promotes literacy. Formerly in Tennessee, now based in Texas, Emily brings picture books to life by collaborating with bestselling authors and publishers. Emily’s YouTube Channel is…

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Free

Storytime: Arab Arab All Year Long!

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Celebrate the beauty and diversity of life in the Arab diaspora throughout the year. Wrapping grape leaves, playing doumbek, drawing henna tattoos, we’re Arab, Arab, Arab, the whole year through! Yallah! From January to December, join some busy kids as they partake in traditions old and new. There’s so much to do, whether it’s learning to write Arabic or looking at hijab fashion sites while planning costumes for a local comic convention. With details as vivid as the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle perfume (made to remind Mom of Morocco), children bond with friends, honor tradition, and spend loving time with family. Accompanied by buoyant and charming illustrations, this portrait of Arab life and childhood zeal is sure to bring joy all year round. Portland Book Festival…

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Free

Calligraphy

IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center) 318 SE Main Street #175, Portland, OR, United States

*This workshop meets in-person. Masks & Proof of Vaccination + Booster required Register here Experienced and beginner scribes are welcome to join this 6-week class with instruction and quiet practice of 3 different calligraphic hands. Learn to use the edged pen, an edged brush, rule your paper, and study Uncial, Roman Capitals, and Italic. Instructor: Jade Novarino Sundays 10am—12pm November 6—December 18, with a break on November 27 Class Meetings: 6 Capacity: 10 $60-135 *2 no-cost spots available; BIPOC & 2S prioritized About the Instructor: Jade Novarino is an artist, farmer, pen-pal, and scribe.

$60 – $135

Writing Food

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

Explore the role of food in storytelling, and how it can shape, define, and give insight into our characters’ deeper desires. Particpants will examine the language of food, and talk about how hunger translates across unsaid emotions. Drawing upon sensory texts about snacking, groceries, and meals both extravagant and humble, we’ll learn new ways to think about food, how we use it in writing, and how it can add depth, texture, and humanity to our stories. 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…

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$80

“The Most Important Element”: Plot in Literary Fiction

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

“Plot-driven” has become a code word for commercial (aka “lesser”) fiction. But plot has always been what defines a good story. In this workshop, we will examine the centrality of plot in narrative, from Aristotle down to contemporary literary fiction. We will also explore the essential characteristics of a great plot and the rewards of a well-plotted story. Reading excerpts from masters like George Saunders and Bulgakov, students will learn how to structure plot visually, how to engineer a plot twist, and on a pragmatic level, how to create plot when you’re staring at a blank page. 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…

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$55

Kick-Start Your Picture Book

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

This class will take you from idea to rough draft in four hours. Picture books are so much more than stories with short text for young readers. We’ll study the picture book form, then construct stories in picturebook form, playing with powerful tools such as repetition, suspenseful page turns, and the rule of threes. You can come with a picturebook draft you want to perfect – or bring an idea and leave with a draft. Join award-winning children’s book author Elizabeth Rusch in this condensed version of her popular and productive Picturebook Writing class. 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.…

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$145

Haunted: Writing into Death & The Dead with Sonya Lea — begins November 8th

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Haunted: Writing into Death & The Dead Begins November 8th, 2022 Four weekly 2-hour sessions over Zoom on Tuesdays from 5-7PM PST (11/8, 11/15, 11/22, 11/29) “Many people live and die without ever confronting themselves in the darkness. Pray that one day, you will spin around at the water’s edge, lean over, and be able to count yourself among the lucky.” ― Carmen Maria Machado, Her Body and Other Parties “What would you read to someone who was dying? Annie Dillard had asked our class. She wanted this to be the standard for our work. There, at the memorial service for my friend, I thought of another: Dying, what stories would you tell?” ― Alexander Chee, How to Write An Autobiographical Novel: Essays “My grief…

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$200 – $400

Recharge Your Writing Life: Experiments & Strategies

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Equal parts strategy, community, generative writing, and experiment, this class will help writers spark curiosity and deepen self-knowledge while crafting artistic habits that nourish. A good fit for writers who want to reimagine their creative life. We’ll discuss methods for working through blocks and rejection, rituals that refill the well, and ways to make time for creativity in a busy world. Each session will offer generative prompts, literary tinctures and tonics, and tactile practices that unite body and intellect. 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…

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$285

Fall | Erasing the Male Gaze (and Other Power Structures) in Creative Nonfiction w Paige Thomas | Nov 9 – Dec 7

Attic Institute 4232 SE Hawthorne, Portland, OR, United States

It is not groundbreaking news that the literary canon and the study of writing has been dominated by work that was created for and by men. Slowly and imperfectly, the reasons behind their presence is being questioned, and rightfully so. The canon is diversifying, but that does not mean that our implicit writing techniques—how we think about writing, how we create narrative tension, how we read literary texts—is not still being influenced by a history that is saturated by the male gaze. In this class, group discussions and generative, prompt-driven exercises will be geared toward experimenting with modes of thinking and writing about life that undermines dominant narrative traditions. You see, a great work of writing does not need to have a plot. It does…

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$175 – $197

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
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