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!

The Finish Line :: how to finish your book and move toward the world :: A Webgasm

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

WHAT: A three-hour online webgasm with Lidia Yuknavitch and at least one magical guest. (With a 15-minute intermission.) WHEN: Sunday, December 5th, 1PM-4PM Pacific (4PM-7PM Eastern) WHERE: ZOOM. Meeting ID will be provided ahead of time. (Interested in this event but unable to join it live? All registered attendees will receive a link to a recording of it that will be viewable for one week afterwards.) HOW MUCH: $150. Payment plans are available, contact Daniel Elder at registration@corporealwriting.com SCHOLARSHIPS: Scholarships are always available. Click here to apply. Well let's face it. Trying to finish a book-length work is kind of a clusterfuck. If this sounds like you, join Lidia for a webgasm focused on strategies for finishing your book, including shaping the whole, amplifying the…

$150

Overcoming Rejection for Writers

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

FEATURING: Jami Attenberg Deesha Philyaw Tommy Pico Moderated by Denne Michele Norris Sponsored by GrubStreet's Muse & the Marketplace conference Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned pro, all writers face rejection—but how we cope with that rejection plays a huge role in shaping our literary future. Rebounding can be tough, but rather than allowing rejection to stop us in our tracks, we can reframe it into a motivational and instructional tool. Some rejections actually make us stronger—as writers, editors, applicants, and people—while others just need to be ignored. Poet and TV writer Tommy Pico (JUNK, Reservation Dogs), memoirist Jami Attenberg (I Came All This Way to Meet You), and award-winning short story writer Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) will share…

$10

Busting Myths About Parenting and Writing

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

FEATURING: Claire Vaye Watkins Kaitlyn Greenidge Matthew Salesses Moderated by Kelly Luce Sponsored by GrubStreet's Muse & the Marketplace conference The idea that parenthood is a barrier to art creation is outdated, even dangerous—that we create in spite of having children rather than making complex work productively informed by parenthood in all its glory, sorrow, and ambivalence. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought parenting issues to the forefront of the national conversation, and the result has been that the discussions around parenthood specific to writing have evolved, too. Novelists Claire Vaye Watkins (I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness), Kaitlyn Greenidge (Libertie), and novelist and essayist Matthew Salesses (Craft in the Real World) will talk about the struggles, triumphs, stereotypes, and assumptions of writing as parents…

$10

How to Pitch Electric Lit: Updated with Our New Editors!

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

FEATURING: Denne Michele Norris Michelle Chikaonda Sponsored by GrubStreet's Muse & the Marketplace conference Writing an essay, opinion piece, or feature doesn’t start with the first sentence. You have talent and a compelling idea, but how can you get an editor to pay attention? A pitch is the writer’s chance to package their work so that it catches an editor’s eye. In this conversation, Denne Michele Norris, Electric Literature's editor-in-chief, and Michelle Chikaonda, contributing editor, will answer some key questions so you can take your idea from successful pitch to published piece. We’ll discuss things like what makes a good pitch, common mistakes and misconceptions, and why Electric Lit even asks for pitches in the first place. This event is an update to our previous…

$10

Submission Roulette III

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

FEATURING: Halimah Marcus Alyssa Songsiridej Sponsored by GrubStreet's Muse & the Marketplace conference Tired of opaque form rejections that offer zero insights into why your submission “wasn’t a fit” or “doesn’t meet our publication’s needs”? Then join Submission Roulette III for, finally, some candid answers. Recommended Reading editors Halimah Marcus and Alyssa Songsiridej will review your anonymously submitted first pages, reading them for the first time live on screen, and share their immediate reactions as they go. What leads an editor to pass after just a few paragraphs, and what entices them to keep reading? And, since the chat has been so lively during past roulettes, we’ve added a fun new twist: we’ll all drink (or hydrate with a non-alcoholic beverage) every time we spot…

$10

To Agent Or Not to Agent

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

It’s all about the relationship! In this workshop you’ll learn when and how to search for an agent, what you need for a powerful query letter, and the nuts and bolts of when to sign, when not to sign, and how to escape from a toxic agent relationship. 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 susan@literary-arts.org if…

$360

Fall | So, You Wanna Be A Writer w Wayne Gregory | Sep 13 – Oct 11 | Online

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” ~ E. L. Doctorow You have a thousand stories inside your head. You dabble on the page but rarely if ever finish anything, much less share with others. “Is my work good enough?” you wonder.  “Do I have something original and interesting to say? What makes me think I can be a writer?”  The biggest obstacle for emerging writers is not lack of time nor lack of skill nor lack of things to write about. It’s a lack of self-confidence. This workshop is designed for those who want to be writers, but are not sure they can be.  It…

$219 – $248

Deadline: Application Deadline for Director of Archives and Library Programs at IPRC

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

The Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) in Portland, Oregon seeks a fourth Co-Leader to take on the role of Director of Archives & Library Programs in October 2022. This position reports to the Board of Directors, and joins three other Co-Directors, as well as a dedicated roster of volunteers and teaching artists. This is a full-time exempt position at 32 hours/week and $21/hr to start, with the opportunity to grow with the organization and participate in the creation of the FY 2023 Budget. Benefits include PTO, flexible work hours, and health & dental insurance. IPRC staff have full access to the studio facilities as well as workshops and learning opportunities. Read the full job description here Hiring Timeline: Applications Due by: September 28th, 2022 Interviews:…

Free

PUBLISHING: Literary Agent Rayhané Sanders—Seminar + Consultations—Oct 7th-9th

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

We have the great privilege of hosting Rayhané Sanders, literary agent at Massie and McQuilkin, for a 90-minute webinar on Publishing (with ample opportunity for Q&A) on Saturday October 8th, 2022, from 11:00AM to 12:30PM Pacific. Yes, Rayhané represents our very own Lidia Yuknavitch.) In addition to the seminar, Ms. Sanders is taking on twenty private manuscript consultations. Over the course of a 20-minute meeting, she will give you feedback from an agent’s point of view on the first 25 pages of your manuscript, submitted ahead of time. (Please note, Ms. Sanders comes from New York publishing, and is very encouraging but also very direct!) The deadline for submitting your 25 pages will be September 15th, and you’ll be provided with specific formatting guidelines. Consultations will…

$150 – $375

Cultivating a Sustainable Writing Practice

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

This workshop is offered via Zoom PST Register here Cultivating a Sustainable Writing Practice Our practice—how we labor as writers—is highly personal. When we create a writing habit, it helps to consider our individual creative processes, life priorities, writing goals, and all the ways that we get in the way of our own writing. How we labor is also bound up in cultural notions of productivity and success that can often kill the creative drive. It can be hard to consistently carve out time in order to cultivate the type of patient, inner stillness required to write, but it is possible. Necessary, even. In this supportive workshop, we will talk about how to design a sustainable writing practice that aligns with your creative process, priorities…

$15 – $75