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Stranged Writing Release Reading

The Stacks Coffeehouse 1831 N. Killingsworth St, Portland, OR, United States

The Gravity of the Thing celebrates the release of its first anthology, Stranged Writing: A Literary Taxonomy (bit.ly/3d6z94O) on October 13th. Join us at The Stacks Coffeehouse in Portland, Oregon to hear contributors Joshua James Amberson, Alex Behr, Lucie Bonvalet, Benjamin Kessler, Matt Rebholz, and Eli Ronick read their experimental prose, poetry, and cross-genre works. The event is free to attend, and food, drinks, and Stranged Writing will be available for purchase. About the collection: Stranged Writing is an anthology of defamiliarized creative writing curated according to biological taxonomy (species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain) using word count. Each hardcover edition includes a screen-printed dust jacket that transforms into unique literary organisms or book sculptures, the goal being a dimensional and tactile…

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Free

The Ghost Show: A Telltale Production

Alberta Abbey 126 NE Alberta Street #205, Portland, OR, United States

It’s been another strange year. Let’s make it even stranger with Telltale’s first special production, The Ghost Show, a night of celebration, mourning, community building, and creepiness. For us, ghosts can represent all the grief and loss of these bizarre and heavy years, the way the things and people we love are never really gone, and a way to get your heart racing in the middle of the night. Ghosts help us tell important stories and hold onto things we can’t let go of yet. Telltale promises to bring you a makers market selling odd things, an opportunity to make your own ghost, live music, storytelling, opportunities to participate in the show if you like, ghost shaped snacks, and perhaps a few ghosts in attendance…

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$18

Visiting Writers Series: Lesley Nneka Arimah

Reed College - Eliot Hall Chapel 3203 SE Woodstock, Portland, OR, United States

Lesley Nneka Arimah was born in the UK and grew up in Nigeria and wherever else her father was stationed for work. Her stories have been honored with a National Magazine Award, an O. Henry Award and the Caine Prize. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, GRANTA and has received support from MacDowell and the United States Artists Fellowship. She was selected for the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 and her debut collection WHAT IT MEANS WHEN A MAN FALLS FROM THE SKY won the 2017 Kirkus Prize, the 2017 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award and was selected for the New York Times/PBS book club among other honors. Arimah lives in Minneapolis and is working on a…

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Free

Pushpins & Portals: Experimenting with Short Forms

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

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 the instructor and from the other participants.…

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$80 – $200

BIPOC Writing Workshop: October

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

Form As Listening: On the Spiritual & Ecological in the Sentence & Story — with Janice Lee October 15th

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Form As Listening: On the Spiritual & Ecological in the Sentence & Story Saturday October 15th, 2022 1PM—3:30PM Pacific over Zoom (A recording will be made available to all registrants for a limited period afterwards.) “Form is about listening.” – Teresa Carmody “The ear is the first organ to develop in the fetus and the last one to stop functioning during the process of death. This prominence at the beginning and end of our life cycle indicates that the ear may hold valuable keys to the mysteries of life… While our eyes help light our path through this world, we also know that we came from darkness and will return to darkness… Where we cannot see, sound can guide us.” – Russill Paul, The Yoga…

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$50 – $250

Reading: Chris Grant

Rose City Book Pub 1329 NE Fremont, Portland, OR, United States

Waiting 'Round To Die is a coming-of-middle-age tale. A story of a man who flees his suburban life looking for meaning on the open road. Author Chris Grant lives in Austin but grew up in Roseburg. Praise for Waiting 'Round To Die "The characters are lively and well-drawn, the ironic life inspections are intriguing, and the on-the-road adventures a draw for readers who would walk out of their own lives for a period of time." --Midwest Book Review

Free

The Moth: StorySLAM: Costumes

Holocene 1001 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR, United States

COSTUMES: Prepare a five-minute story about playing the part. Holidays, parties or the school play. Stories of wearing the clothes to conform or stand out. Imposter syndrome or uniforms that itch. From ComiCon to Mardi Gras— Santa Clause to Spock, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle to Sexy Zombie Cat. Reveal yourself! COVID Requirements: See Holocene's COVID Policy for details. We will not be selling any tickets at the door. This venue is 21+ *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

Leave the Door Open On The Way Out: Endings in Fiction

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

We’re all familiar with satisfying story shape, the arc of a story that follows the pattern of jokes and sex—the inciting incident, rising action, crisis and the falling action. Yet sometimes this pattern can leave a story flat, without room for wonder. If a story leads exactly where you would expect it to go, then both the writer and the reader have discovered nothing. How do we expand our well-behaved, satisfying stories to fully burst into the mystery and unpredictability of human experience? In this workshop we will look at a few endings to short stories by Anton Chekov, Alice Munro, James Joyce, Charles Baxter, Tessa Hadley, ZZ Packer, Carmen Maria Machado, and others, for ways they use time, imagery, dialog, and omission to open…

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$145

Ecstatic Aesthetics w/ Amanda Montei — begins October 20th

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Ecstatic Aesthetics Begins October 20th, 2022 Four weekly 2-hour sessions over Zoom on Thursdays from 4-6PM PST (10/ 20, 10/27, 11/3, 11/10) Joy and pleasure are what we strive for as humans, and in an era that often feels grim, artistic representations of awakening and enjoyment are increasingly compelling to readers and writers. In this class, we will ask ourselves what the purpose of representing ecstatic experiences might be, as we examine our assumptions about the symbolism and syntax we use to communicate pleasure on the page. What does it mean to experience overwhelming delight, as both writer and reader? Can we give voice to exhilaration while avoiding nostalgia and denial? Together we will read theories and representations of heightened spiritual, sexual, and communal pleasure…

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$200 – $400
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