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!

The Year of Less

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

In her late 20s, Cait Flanders found herself stuck in the consumerism cycle that grips so many of us: earn more, buy more, want more, rinse, repeat. Even after she worked her way out of nearly $30,000 of consumer debt, her old habits took hold again. When she realized that nothing she was doing or buying was making her happy – only keeping her from meeting her goals – she decided to set herself a challenge: she would not shop for an entire year. The Year of Less (Hay House) documents Flanders’s life for 12 months during which she bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she challenged herself to consume less of many other things besides shopping. Blending Flanders’s…

Free

Delve Fall 2019: We Are All For Sale: Capitalism and Consumerism

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

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.” – Ursula K. Le Guin We’ll be looking at “the art of words” in four very different works to examine capitalism and consumerism in our society. We’ll start with Severance, a satirical, post apocalyptic, immigrant novel set in New York with roots in China. We’ll continue our journey abroad through Capitalism: A Ghost Story, Arundhati Roy’s masterful examination of how globalized capitalism has affected India. We’ll trace the intersection of capitalism and feminism through the co-editor of Bitch Media’s book, We Were…

$220

St Johns Salon: A Quarterly Conversation

Two Rivers Bookstore 8836 N Lombard Street, Portland, OR, United States

Hosted by Two Rivers Bookstore and moderated by Rebekah Courpet, this quarterly meetup is all about expanding our knowledge on selected subjects and practicing respectful communication to share thoughts and ideas with each other. We will announce topics and suggested reading lists a month prior to the scheduled meet up so everyone has time to educate themselves on the topic and form initial thoughts and impressions to be shared with the group (if desired). Come to listen, come to share, come to connect! First meeting: January 12th at 4:00pm Meeting Topic: Clothing and the fashion industry as it pertains to conscientious consumerism as a whole. Visit our website for the conversation reading list! https://www.tworiversbooks.com/event/st-johns-salon-community-connection%C2%A0-conversation-rebekah-courpet

Free