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!

Wordlights Poetry ft. Ken Yoshikawa

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings presented by NovaPDX, Rocking Frog Cafe and hosted by Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday, December 21st, we'll have a feature from Ken Yoshikawa celebrating the release of Ken's book Monster Colored Glasses (Lightship Press, 2019) and a long set poetry open mic! OUR FEATURE: Ken Yoshikawa Ken Yoshikawa is a shin-issei/first generation half-Japanese American poet-actor from Portland, OR. He has been active in the Portland spoken word community since 2014. In his theatre career he’s appeared at Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, NW Children’s Theatre, Oregon Adventure Theatre, and Portland Playhouse. Ken graduated from Reed College with a B.A in Theatre Arts. In 2019 he released his first spoken word album Quiver (Lightship Press), and performed his autobiographical poetic solo play…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Brett Elena

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings presented by NovaPDX, Rocking Frog Cafe and hosted by Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday, January 4th, we'll have a feature from Brett Elena and a long set poetry open mic! OUR FEATURE: Brett Elena Brett calls the Blue Ridge Mountains and her best friend's couch home. She writes because it makes her happy, without any awards to her name. When not scribbling, she can be found attempting to learn piano or tormenting her twin sister. She has crossed six continents in her search for the zero-calorie cookie and is currently working on her latest project, “The Stories I Never Told.” *** Sign-ups start at 5:30, show starts at 6PM. On first and third Saturdays each performer in the open mic gets 10…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Brianna Grisby

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings presented by NovaPDX, Rocking Frog Cafe and hosted by Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday January 11th, we'll have a feature from Brianna Grisby, mini-features from Julia Gaskill & Stephen Meads, and a short set poetry open mic! OUR FEATURE: Brianna Grisby Brianna Grisby is a spoken word poet born and raised in Portland Oregon. She was the 2018 grand slam champion. She has been on the Portland unified slams team twice and will be representing Portland Poetry Slam at the 2020 Women of the World Poetry Slam in Dallas Texas. She loves using her voice to advocate for others, and to help people feel valid. MINI-FEATURES FROM: Julia Gaskill Julia Gaskill (she/her) is a professional daydreamer hailing from Portland, Oregon. She has…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Stephanie Strange

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings presented by NovaPDX, Rocking Frog Cafe and hosted by Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday, January 18th, we'll have a feature from Stephanie Strange and a long set poetry open mic! OUR FEATURE: Stephanie Strange Have you met Stephanie Strange? She IS an odd one. With one foot firmly planted in this world, and the other playing footsie beyond the veil, The Lady Strange has something to say. Some of these stories are her own, from a life of passion and missteps; and some of these stories were given to her from the animals, ghosts, and spirits who speak to her, to pass along to mankind, before it’s too late. Lessons and stories all, for a world full of lonely people who are…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Robert Lashley

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings presented by NovaPDX, Rocking Frog Cafe and hosted by Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday January 25th, we'll have a feature from Robert Lashley, mini-features from Sam Preminger & David Paz-Mendoza, and a short set poetry open mic! OUR FEATURE: Robert Lashley A 2016 Jack Straw Fellow, Artist Trust Fellow, and nominee for a Stranger Genius Award, Robert Lashley has had poems published in such journals as Feminete, Seattle Review of Books, NAILED, Gramma, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, and The Cascadia Review. His work was also featured in Many Trails to the Summit , an anthology of Northwest form and lyric poetry, and It Was Written, an anthology of poetry inspired by hip hop. His full-length books include THE HOMEBOY SONGS (Small…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. DeAngelo Gillispie

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings are presented by NovaPDX & Rocking Frog Cafe and curated by Portland poet Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday, February 1st, we'll have a feature from DeAngelo Gillispie and a long set poetry open mic! This show is hosted by Red O'Hare! OUR FEATURE: DeAngelo Gillispie DeAngelo Gillispie, hails from Atlanta, Georgia and currently works as a professional stuntman in Hillsboro, Or. He has been a part of the spoken word community for over a decade. He currently performs his own stunts at spoken word venues around the country as well as internationally. DeAngelo was first published at 19 years old & has been bothering the general public with his thoughts ever since. He enjoys johnnie walker scotch & long debates on haiku…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Chrys Tobey

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings are presented by NovaPDX & Rocking Frog Cafe and curated by Portland poet Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday, February 8th, we'll have a feature from Chrys Tobey and a long set poetry open mic! This show is hosted by Red O'Hare! OUR FEATURE: Chrys Tobey Chrys Tobey’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals, including the minnesota review, Rattle, New Ohio Review, Ploughshares, Smartish Pace and The Cincinnati Review. Her poetry has also been nominated for the Pushcart, Best of the Net, and featured on Verse Daily. Her first book of poetry, A Woman is a Woman is a Woman is a Woman, was published in 2017 from Steel Toe Books. Chrys teaches for a few colleges and curates Women Writers Against…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Brian S. Ellis

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings are presented by NovaPDX & Rocking Frog Cafe and curated by Portland poet Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday, February 15th, we'll have a feature from Brian S. Ellis and a long set poetry open mic! This show is hosted by Igor Brezhnev! OUR FEATURE: Brian S. Ellis Brian S. Ellis is the author of four collections of poetry, the most recent of which is Often Go Awry from University of Hell Books. He lives in Portland, Ore. YOUR HOST: Igor Brezhnev Igor Brezhnev is a poet and a book designer among his other sins. He is the founder of Wordlights poetry reading series and of Lightship Press, a small press focused on publishing poetry. Igor has two full length collections of poetry…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Maryam Gabriel-Imam

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings are presented by NovaPDX & Rocking Frog Cafe and curated by Portland poet Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday, February 22nd, we'll have a feature from Maryam Gabriel-Imam and a long set poetry open mic! This show is hosted by Allegra White! OUR FEATURE: Maryam Gabriel-Imam Maryam Gabriel-Imam (pronouns they/she) is an Egyptian poet, scholar, singer-songwriter, translator, disabled performer, and tenderqueer caterpillar. They hold a masters in Middle Eastern Studies from the City University of New York, and they currently teach History at Rosemary Anderson High in Portland, OR. They are also the up-and-coming bilingual drag performer and activist, Baba Yusef. Maryam/Baba is currently working on mixed-media poetry performances incorporating live music, drag and spoken word, breaking the boundaries of who gets to…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Micah Fletcher

Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, United States

Wordlights Saturday poetry evenings are presented by NovaPDX & Rocking Frog Cafe and curated by Portland poet Igor Brezhnev. On Saturday, February 29th, we'll have a feature from Micah Fletcher and a long set poetry open mic! This show is hosted by Allegra White! OUR FEATURE: Micah Fletcher Micah Fletcher is a nationally recognized poet and spoken word artist who took first place in Portland Oregon’s city wide youth poetry competition called Verselandia in 2013. YOUR HOST: Allegra White Allegra White is a writer based in Portland, Oregon. Allegra's chapbook of poetry On The Backs Of Product Request Forms (2019) explores themes of escapism and humor in the mundane. Her full length poetry collection will be released in 2020 by Lightship Press. She studied English…

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