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!

Two Truths and a Lie (What Even Is Truth, Anyway?)

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Eavesdrop on your dream writing group meeting with a classic drinking (or not drinking) game. Memoirists and essayists are masters at spinning everyday lives into literary gold, but can they make stuff up? Electric Lit contributors and writing group pals Angela Chen (Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex), Lilly Dancyger (Burn it Down: Women Writing About Anger), Deena ElGenaidi, Jeanna Kadlec, and Nina St. Pierre bring their talents to bear on this game of truth and fiction. Hosted by Jess Zimmerman.

$10

How to Pitch Electric Lit

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

For freelancers, writing an essay, feature, or opinion piece doesn’t start when you type the first line. It starts with the pitch. Having a topic and a talent isn’t enough; you also have to be able to package your idea in a way that catches an editor’s eye. But how do you get started writing a pitch? How long is too long—and how short is too short? What does a good pitch look like—and a bad one? And why does Electric Lit ask people to write a pitch, anyway? Electric Literature editor-in-chief Jess Zimmerman and contributing editor Jennifer Baker fill you in on everything you need to know when proposing nonfiction work to Electric Lit and other publications. Q&A to follow. This event is part…

$10

Demystifying Publishing

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

You know you want to publish a book—but you're not sure how to take the first step, or even what the first step is. (“Write the manuscript,” obviously, right? Well, no, not always!) Agent DongWon Song (Howard Morhaim), nonfiction editor Rakia Clark (HMH), fiction editor Angeline Rodriguez (Orbit), and marketing director Meghan Deans (Ecco) open up the black box of publishing and walk you through the steps between “good idea” and “physical book you can sign.” Learn what to expect, what will be expected of you, what to watch out for, and how to prepare yourself to navigate the publishing world. Moderated by Jess Zimmerman. Q&A to follow.

$10

Leigh Cowart in Conversation With Jess Zimmerman

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Masochism is sexy, human, reviled, worshipped, and can be delightfully bizarre. Deliberate and consensual pain has been with us for millennia, encompassing everyone from Black Plague flagellants to ballerinas dancing on broken bones to competitive eaters choking down hot peppers while they cry. Masochism is a part of us. It lives inside workaholics, tattoo enthusiasts, and all manner of garden variety pain-seekers. At its core, masochism is about feeling bad, then better — a phenomenon that is long overdue for a heartfelt and hilarious investigation. And Leigh Cowart would know: they are not just a researcher and science writer — they’re an inveterate, high-sensation-seeking masochist. And they have a few questions: Why do people engage in masochism? What are the benefits and the costs? And…

Free