LitPDX seeks to amplify marginalized voices, and welcomes all, their ideas, their events, and their words.

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Storytime: Arab Arab All Year Long!

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Celebrate the beauty and diversity of life in the Arab diaspora throughout the year. Wrapping grape leaves, playing doumbek, drawing henna tattoos, we’re Arab, Arab, Arab, the whole year through! Yallah! From January to December, join some busy kids as they partake in traditions old and new. There’s so much to do, whether it’s learning to write Arabic or looking at hijab fashion sites while planning costumes for a local comic convention. With details as vivid as the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle perfume (made to remind Mom of Morocco), children bond with friends, honor tradition, and spend loving time with family. Accompanied by buoyant and charming illustrations, this portrait of Arab life and childhood zeal is sure to bring joy all year round. Portland Book Festival…

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Free

National Anthems: Juhea Kim & Lidia Yuknavitch

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Two girls — one in Korea at the beginning of the twentieth century, one in a fallen American city in the coming late twenty-first century–must forge their destinies against and alongside that of their respective nations. Juhea Kim‘s Beasts of a Little Land is an epic story of love, war, and redemption set against the backdrop of the Korean independence movement, following the intertwined fates of a young girl sold to a courtesan school and the penniless son of a hunter. As rising waters—and an encroaching police state—endanger her life and family, a girl with the gifts of a “carrier” travels through water and time to rescue vulnerable figures from the margins of history in Lidia Yuknavitch‘s newest novel, Thrust. Moderated by Marisa Siegel (Fixed…

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Free

Reality Bites: Rafael Agustin & Chuck Klosterman

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Reckoning with the nineties, a decade that is not only back in fashion in a big way but a political, social, and societal impact that still ripples through our culture today. We’ll look at the the nineties from two very different perspectives: intensely personal, with Rafael Agustin’s memoir Illegally Yours; and from the stance of cultural criticism, with Chuck Klosterman’s The Nineties. Moderated by Eden Dawn (The Portland Book of Dates). When Rafael Agustin (Illegally Yours) tried to get his driver’s license during his junior year of high school, his parents were forced to reveal his immigration status. Suddenly, the kid who modeled his entire high school career after American TV shows had no idea what to do — there was no episode of Saved…

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Free

Storytime: Amah Faraway

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

A delightful story of a child’s visit to a grandmother and home far away, and of how families connect and love across distance, language, and cultures. Kylie is nervous about visiting her grandmother–her Amah–who lives SO FAR AWAY. When she and Mama finally go to Taipei, Kylie is shy with Amah. Even though they have spent time together in video chats, those aren’t the same as real life. And in Taiwan, Kylie is at first uncomfortable with the less-familiar language, customs, culture, and food. However, after she is invited by Amah-Lái kàn kàn! Come see!-to play and splash in the hot springs (which aren’t that different from the pools at home), Kylie begins to see this place through her grandmother’s eyes and sees a new…

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Free

Life Story: Jon Mooallem & Casey Parks

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Narrative journalism at its very best, with acclaimed essayist Jon Mooallem and award-winning journalist Casey Parks. Moderated by Melissa Febos, author of Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative. Jon Mooallem’s powers of perception have established him as one of the most distinctive, empathic, and clear-sighted narrative journalists working today. The Wall Street Journal has called his writing “as much art as it is journalism,” and Jia Tolentino has praised his “grace and command.” In Serious Face, Mooallem brings to life the desperate hopes and urgent fears of the people he meets, telling their stories with empathy, humor, insight, and kindness. These elegant, moving essays form an idiosyncratic tapestry of human experience: our audacity and fallibility, our bumbling and goodwill. In moments of calamity and within the extreme…

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Free

Animals with Freeman’s

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Three contributors from the new Freeman’s annual—Tess Gunty (The Rabbit Hutch), Debra Gwartney (I Am a Stranger Here Myself), and Sasha LaPointe (Red Paint)—discuss their work with editor John Freeman. More about Freeman’s: Animals Over a century ago, Rilke went to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where he watched a pair of flamingos. A flock of other birds screeched by, and, as he describes in a poem, the great red-pink birds sauntered on, unphased, then “stretched amazed and singly march into the imaginary.” This encounter—so strange, so typical of flamingos, with their fabulous posture—is also still typical of how we interact with animals. Even as our actions threaten their very survival, they are still symbolic, captivating and captive, caught in a drama of our framing This issue of Freeman’s tells…

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Free

Storytime: KINDergarten

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Written by kindergarten teacher and Instagram influencer affectionately known as the Tutu Teacher, comes a picture book about a class that creates a kindness pledge to ensure that their class is the kindest it can possibly be. It’s the first day of Kindergarten and Leo isn’t at all ready. Leo is a quiet kid and would prefer to stay home. Over the summer, his new teacher, Ms. Perry sent a letter asking her students to think about how to show kindness in school. She explained that they would be making a kindness pledge, and each student should bring one way to show kindness on the first day.As it turns out, Leo’s classmates have lots of ideas about kindness: like raising your hand, never leaving anyone…

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Free

Criminal Intent: Fonda Lee & Daniel Nieh

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Action-packed stories of international intrigue, old grudges, valuable gems, and more. Daniel Nieh’s Take No Names is a riveting thriller about a fugitive in search of a quick payday in Mexico City who finds himself in the crosshairs of a dangerous international scheme. “A thriller for the global age, with characters tangled in cross-border conflicts and international intrigues…. The action is brisk, the dialogue snappy…. The story crackles, feeling nicely plugged in to the overheated power grid of an interconnected world.” — New York Times Book Review In Fonda Lee’s Jade Legacy, the Kaul siblings battle rival clans for honor and control over an East Asia-inspired fantasy metropolis, the page-turning conclusion to the Green Bone Saga. “An instantly absorbing tale of blood, honor, family, and magic, spiced with…

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Free

PBF Cover to Cover: Write a Renga, Save the World

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Renga is a form of collaborative Japanese poetry whereby multiple poets create and respond in turn. Join our group of poets from Portland and abroad for an afternoon of renga writing that examines some of today’s most pressing concerns–bodily autonomy, religious extremism, and imminent environmental ruin. We’ll take inspiration from Basho’s popular “haikai” style, which employed a satirical edge and witty playfulness, even while discussing complex topics. Event contact: Heather Brown, heather@mindthebirdmedia.com  

Free

Write a Renga, Save the World – A PBF Cover to Cover Event

Mother Foucault's Bookshop 523 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR, United States

Renga is a form of collaborative Japanese poetry whereby multiple poets create and respond in turn. Join our group of poets from Portland and abroad for an evening of group renga writing that examines some of today's most pressing concerns - bodily autonomy, religous extremism, and imminent environmental ruin. We'll take inspiration from Basho's popular "haikai" style, which employed a satirical edge and witty playfulness, even while discussing complex topics. Guest facilitators - Mira Rosenthal, Becca Wadlinger This events is organized under the umbrella of PBF Cover to Cover

Free
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