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

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TAP@PBF: Cookbooks

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Stay tuned for a special podcast-only Portland Book Festival episode of Literary Arts’ The Archive Project! Acclaimed, award-winning cookbook author Naomi Duguid discusses her new book, Taste of Persia: A Cook’s Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan with Liz Crain (Dumplings Equal Love). This event is podcast only, and will be released on The Archive Project wherever you get your podcasts as part of the 2022 Portland Book Festival. Liz Crain Liz Crain is the author of Food Lover’s Guide to Portland, and coauthor of the cookbooks Toro Bravo and Hello! My Name Is Tasty, as well as Grow Your Own: Understanding, Cultivating, and Enjoying Cannabis. Her latest is the cookbook Dumplings Equal Love. She is a longtime writer on Pacific Northwest food and drink, and her writing has appeared in Lucky Peach, Food…

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Free

Hilary Plum

PSU - Shattuck Annex 1914 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR, United States

Hilary Plum (she/her) is the author of several books, including the essay collection Hole Studies (Fonograf Editions, 2022), the novel Strawberry Fields (Fence, 2018), and the work of nonfiction Watchfires (Rescue Press, 2016), which won the GLCA New Writers Award. A collection of poetry, Excisions, is forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press in 2023. She teaches at Cleveland State University and is associate director of the CSU Poetry Center. With Zach Savich she edits the Open Prose Series at Rescue Press. Recent work has appeared in Granta, Astra, American Poetry Review, College Literature, and elsewhere.

Free

Rachel King in Conversation With Kimberly King Parsons

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

It’s almost a decade after the Great Recession, and in Colorado, St. Anthony Sausage has not recovered. Neither have its employees: a laid-off railway engineer, an exiled computer whiz, a young woman estranged from her infant daughter, an older man with cancer who lacks health care. As these low-wage workers interact under the supervision of the factory’s owner and his quietly rebellious daughter, they come to understand that in America’s postindustrial landscape, although they may help or comfort each other, they also have to do what’s best for themselves. Over the course of twelve interrelated stories in Bratwurst Haven (West Virginia University), Rachel King gives life to diverse, complex, and authentic characters who are linked through the sausage factory and through their daily lives in…

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Free

Starting the Memoir

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

John D’Agata describes memoir as “an agitation of memory,” which suggests memory-based writing as not just the expression of memory but volatile, vital consideration of memory. In this workshop, participants will look at examples of prose memoir in which the writer uses the poet’s tools of meditation, dream, and lyricism, and then do their own memory-based writing. 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…

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$80

Mean Baby: Selma Blair with Esmé Weijun Wang

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall 1037 SW Broadway, Portland, OR, United States

Selma Blair has played many roles: Ingenue in Cruel Intentions. Preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde. Muse to Karl Lagerfeld. Advocate for the multiple sclerosis community. But before all of that, Selma was known best as … a mean baby. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair’s Mean Baby tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth. Blair is in conversation with Esmé Weijun Wang, author of The Collected Schizophrenias. This is one of two Portland Book Festival events at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, and requires a ticket for entry, in addition to your festival pass. A limited number of tickets include priority seating and a signed copy of Mean Baby. Simplify your Portland Book Festival experience…

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$5 – $30

Portland Book Festival!

Broadway Books 1714 NE Broadway, Portland, OR, United States

We're so excited that the Portland Book Festival is back in person this year! Please join us downtown for this marvelous event. We will be in the lobby of the Hatfield Hall (across Main Street from the Schnitz), selling books for authors in the Winningstad and Brunish theaters. Come say hi! Literary Arts will announce the authors appearing at this year’s Portland Book Festival, presented by Bank of America, on Wednesday, September 14, at 5 p.m. Passes to Portland Book Festival will also go on sale at this time.

Free

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

The Moth: StorySLAM: Leftovers

The Old Church Concert Hall 1422 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR, United States

LEFTOVERS: Prepare a five-minute story of what remained. Feelings, dinners, or lingering guests; the time there was too much or not quite enough; or the moment you couldn’t quite end things clearly. Cold pizza for breakfast, the last appetizer on the plate, family heirlooms, seeds of resentment. COVID Requirements: See The Old Church's COVID Policy for details. We will not be selling any tickets at the door. This venue is 16+ *Seating is not guaranteed and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please be sure to arrive at least 10 minutes before the show. Admission is not guaranteed for late arrivals. All sales final. Media Sponsors: OPB and Literary Arts

$15
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