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!

Grief Rites Readers Series ~ September 9

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

A monthly storytelling showcase about grief, loss and love. Gather in community with others who share grief in all forms and manifestations. Come ready to cry, laugh, listen and hold space for yourself and others. *Trigger warning, because Grief. Content not edited for language or topic. Mature audience. *Venue is accessible; gender-neutral restrooms on premises Readings begin promptly at 7:30pm. ***This month's event will include an open mic, in addition to our curated readers. If you have words to share about your grief, we welcome you.*** Open mic signups begin at 6:30, readings start at 7pm. First priority will be given to those who've not previously shared at one of our events. You'll have roughly 4 minutes. If you have any questions about the open…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Jordan Wilson-Dalzell

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 October 12th, we'll have a feature from Jordan Wilson-Dalzell, two mini-features from Risa Mykland & Red O'Hare, and a short set poetry open mic! OUR FEATURE: Jordan Wilson-Dalzell Jordan Wilson-Dalzell (she/her/hers) is a poet living in Santa Cruz, California. Writer was the first name she called herself. Words are her compass. She teaches radical social justice to the little ones in her life--striving to infuse her teaching pedagogy with intersectional feminism and teaching through play. Her life centers around activism, supporting grassroots projects and one day creating a school focused on hands-on multi-lingual whole child community-based learning. In her free time, she spends her time reading, looking up…

Free

WoWPS Finals feat. Leyna Rynearson and Robyn Bateman

Tiny's Coffee - NE MLK Jr 2031 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR, United States

Join us for the Women of the World Poetry Slam finals! We will determine who is representing the Portland Poetry Slam at WoWPS this March in Dallas, TX! There is a 8 dollar suggested donation for this event, but no one is turned away for lack of funds. We will have featured performances from Leyna Rynearson and Robyn Bateman! For the competition, the top six poets from our qualifying season are competing! They are: Meghan Bell Julia Gaskill Brianna Grisby Sage Lilac Red O’Hare and Chelsea Sieg Do not miss out on this amazing competition! We will be at our venue, Tiny's Coffee Northeast! This means our show is all-ages! Everyone is welcome. We do not censor our mic except for instances of hate-speech. Please…

Free – $8

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

Last Stand featuring Red O’Hare!

Wildwood Saloon 1955 W Burnside St, Portland, OR, United States

Red O'Hare was born to a Jew and a Presbyterian in the California Bay Area and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She first started performing at 15 and has continued in spite of everything. Her work focuses on intergenerational trauma, the things we lose, and the people we shouldn't love. She recently released her first spoken word album, Seaglass Strange, with Lightship Press and Shady Pines Media. You can find it on bandcamp at https://redohare.bandcamp.com. I'm so pumped for the honor of hosting this event! Let's do this! --Mike G ♥

Free

Slamlandia Semi Finals ft. Lee Chapman

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

Join us on MARCH 5th for our semi final slam at Rocking Frog Cafe! Doors at 6:00 PM For this one off show, there will not be an open mic and the slam will be closed - so no sign ups! Show begins at 6:30 PM. Rocking Frog Cafe 2511 SE Belmont St. Portland, OR 97214 This show is all ages. Please see our Accessibility and Safer Space info below. There is a $1-5 suggested donation. This show will determine which four poets move on to our Grand Slam on April 5th. We will see the following eight poets compete for the top four slots: -- Ty Brack -- Red O’Hare -- Stephen Meads -- Space -- Vivian Knezevich -- Sarah Bat -- Josh Gross…

Free – $5

Wordlights Poetry ft. Caroline Holm

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, March 7th, we'll have a feature from Caroline Holm and a long set poetry open mic! This show is hosted by Red O'Hare! OUR FEATURE: Caroline Holm Caroline Holm is a 25 year-old Oregon-based artist and writer. Her poetry touches on love, spirituality and the healing truths found present in the phases and systems of the natural world. She will be performing work from her new book of poems and original illustrations, Woodland, due out this spring. To learn more about her work and book release, visit carolineholmpoetry.com or @carolineholmpoetry on Instagram. YOUR HOST: Red O'Hare Red O'Hare is a Ashkenazi Jewish American poet…

Free

Wordlights Poetry ft. Brennan Lucas Staffieri

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, March 21st, we'll have a feature from Brennan Lucas Staffieri and a long set poetry open mic! This show is hosted by Red O'Hare! OUR FEATURE: Brennan Lucas Staffieri Brennan Lucas Staffieri is a poet, playwright, podcaster, and director. He is currently a senior studying creative writing and theatre at Pacific University, and he founded and served as the president of the poetry club there, where he ran workshops and developed poetry programing for the campus. He is in the process of writing his first collection of poems, 41°43.5’ N, 49°56.8’ W, which explores grief aboard the sunken wreck of the RMS Titanic. He…

Free

CANCELED – Wordlights Poetry ft. Red O’Hare & Nicole Jean Turner

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, March 28th, we'll have features from Red O'Hare & Nicole Jean Turner and a short set poetry open mic! This show is hosted by Igor Brezhnev! OUR FEATURES: Red O'Hare Red O'Hare is a Ashkenazi Jewish American poet from Oakland, California where she featured twice with Bay Area Generations. A product of Presbyterian missionaries from the Belgian Congo and Eastern European carny folk, Red has been performing poetry for 20 years with varying rates of success. She has recently released a poetry album Seaglass Strange (Lightship Press, 2019) and is currently working on a chapbook of poetry. Red works in a bakery and is…

Free