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!

Pageturners Author Visit: Katie Grindeland

Multnomah County Library - St. Johns Library 7510 N Charleston Avenue Portland, OR 97203, Portland, OR, United States

Engage in stimulating conversation about books, exchange perspectives about characters and plot, and get to know your neighbors. Meet the author! Read The Gifts We Keep by Katie Grindeland. Dangerous secrets, past tragedies, and a violent obsession are forced to the surface when Emerson and her estranged family agree to care for 10-year-old Addie. If these five can face their true selves, each other and their past, they just might find a way forward to a life filled with love and happiness. Pageturners is sponsored by Friends of the Library.

Free

Pageturners Author Visit: Leni Zumas

Multnomah County Library - Midland Library 805 SE 122nd Ave, Portland, OR, United States

Engage in stimulating conversation about books, exchange perspectives about characters and plot, and get to know your neighbors. Meet the author! Read Red Clocks by Leni Zumas. Abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty and property to every embryo. In a small Oregon fishing town, five very different women navigate these new barriers alongside age-old questions surrounding motherhood, identity and freedom. Pageturners is sponsored by Friends of the Library.

Free

Pageturners Author Visit: Kenneth R. Coleman

Multnomah County Library - Rockwood Library 17917 SE Stark Street, Portland, OR, United States

Engage in stimulating conversation about books, exchange perspectives about characters and plot, and get to know your neighbors. Meet the author! Read Dangerous Subjects: James D. Saules and the Rise of Black Exclusion in Oregon by Kenneth R. Coleman. James D. Saules, a black sailor, was shipwrecked off the coast of Oregon and settled there in 1841. Just two years later, Oregon Trail emigrants began arriving in large numbers and Saules had to adapt to a new reality in which Anglo-American settlers persistently sought to marginalize and exclude black residents from the region. In Dangerous Subjects, Coleman sheds light on a neglected chapter in Oregon's history. Pageturners is sponsored by Friends of the Library.

Pageturners Author Visit: Jerry Sutherland

Multnomah County Library - North Portland Meeting Room 512 N Killingsworth Street, Portland, OR, United States

Engage in stimulating conversation about books, exchange perspectives about characters and plot, and get to know your neighbors. Meet the author! Read Calvin Tibbets: Oregon's First Pioneer by Jerry Sutherland. Sutherland tells the story of the first American to settle permanently in Oregon Country with the goal of making it part of the United States. Pageturners is sponsored by Friends of the Library.

Free

Free Range Poetry: Christina Butcher, Jonathan Merritt, Armin Tolentino

Multnomah County Library - Northwest Meeting Room 2300 NW Thurman Street, Portland, OR, United States

Free Range Poetry presents Christina Butcher, Jonathan Merritt, Armin Tolentino Monday, November 4, 2019 Northwest Library 2300 NW Thurman Street Portland An open mic will precede featured poets. Open mic readers limited to two pages of material. Sign up for open mic at 5:45 pm. Reading 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm. CHRISTINA BUTCHER is a freelance writer and veteran from Chaparral, New Mexico. Before serving as a linguist in the U.S. Army, she worked on cultural preservation projects and developed a passion for storytelling and community involvement. She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from New Mexico State University and a certificate in storytelling and content strategy from Washington State University. She lives and writes in Tacoma, Washington. JONATHAN MERRITT is a mara'akame, a traditional…

Free

Are Girls Turning into Killer Cats?

Multnomah County Library - US Bank Room 801 SW 10th St, Portland, OR, United States

Listen to the creative team of the Eisner Award–nominated comic book Man-Eaters talk comics, felines, and feminist agendas. Featuring NYT bestselling writer Chelsea Cain (Man-Eaters, Mockingbird), Lia Miternique (Man-Eaters co-creator), and 14-year-old contributors Eliza Fantastic Mohan (writer), Stella Greenvoss (artist), and Emily Powell (Haiku-writer-in-residence).

Free

Seeing It Through: A Visual Manifestation of the Black Panther Party’s Legacy in Portland

Collins Gallery 801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, United States

This exhibition is open during Central Library's hours of operation. Black history is far more than the Civil Rights era. In response to the racism that marginalized and harmed Black Portlanders, the Portland Black Panther Party formed its Portland Chapter in 1969. Their goal was to build equity for the oppressed in our city. This exhibition features artwork by Elijah Hasan and the HeArt Gallery that responds to the legacy of the Black Panthers' Ten-Point Program. Opening reception on Saturday, January 11, 3-5 pm. Explore the legacy of the Portland Black Panther Party through art, music and storytelling featuring Kent Ford. Light refreshments will be served.

Free

From Historical Trauma to Historical Wisdom: How a Generation Is Healing

Multnomah County Library - US Bank Room 801 SW 10th St, Portland, OR, United States

The Indigenous 20-Something Project began as a movement to heal Native young adults from the lasting impacts of intergenerational trauma caused by colonization. In this interactive talk, Shalene Joseph (A'aniih, Athabascan) and Josh Cocker (Ka'igwu, Tongan) will share their perspectives on the power of historical wisdom to create resilience, hope and community connection. Join us for Everybody Reads, Multnomah County Library’s annual community reading project.

Free

The History of African Storytelling

Central Library - U.S. Bank Room 801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, United States

Explore the history of traditional African storytelling and explore the moral lessons behind the stories. Come together with other African American children, families. and elders to share the history of your families. This event will include an open mic for families to share their stories, history, songs and poetry and a kids craft table. Participants are encouraged to bring a photo of their family and those who identify as part of the African diaspora are encouraged to wear African attire.

Free

Free Range Poetry: 2020 Opening Night Poetry Open Mic

Multnomah County Library - Northwest Meeting Room 2300 NW Thurman Street, Portland, OR, United States

Free Range Poetry presents 2020 Opening Night Poetry Open Mic Monday, February 3, 2020 Northwest Library 2300 NW Thurman Street Portland No featured readers. Readers will have 3-5 minutes dependent upon total number of readers on sign-up list. If there is time to spare, we’ll go around again starting from the top of the sign-up list. 5:30 pm Sign-up for readers begins 6:00 pm Readers begin 7:30 pm (or so) Readings end. Audience limited to approximately 40 people. Previously, we have had to turn away potential attendees at the door. Please arrive before 6:00 pm.

Free