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!

Grace Paley’s Life Stories with Judith Arcana

Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education 724 NW Davis Street, Portland, OR, United States

To ensure that you are able to join us for the event, please rsvp for all guests. Guests who are walk in on the day of the event are not guaranteed seats. On September 15, please join Judith Arcana, author of Grace Paley's Life Stories, for a conversation with poet and publisher Carl Adamshick, and for readings by both writers from the book. Grace Paley's Life Stories is the only biography of renowned author and activist Grace Paley and explores the roots of her political consciousness and traces her work as an activist as it grew into her work as a storyteller. It was recently reprinted in a glowing 2nd edition by Eberhardt Press in Portland. Arcana and Adamschick will discuss the importance of this…

$8

Speak / Sing! Musical Theater Writing with Matthew B. Zrebski

Portland Center Stage 128 NW 11th Avenue, Portland, OR, United States

In this class we’ll investigate musical theater writing, including how and when to transition from spoken word to song, successful structuring techniques, collaboration with composers and more! By the end of the class, writers will have had the opportunity to outline and draft large sections of a brand new musical.  No preparation is required.  All material will be developed and written in class.  Bringing an electronic device that can connect to the internet will be helpful so as to access online tools during the class. The class meets for Four Saturdays 9/28 – 10/26  no class on 10/12 Classes meet 10:00a – 1:00p Matthew B. Zrebski Matthew is a founding member of Playwrights West and has had numerous original plays produced locally and nationally. As…

$130

Chuck Palahniuk Booksigning

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

In his spellbinding blend of memoir and insight, Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk shares stories and generous advice on what makes writing powerful and what makes for powerful writing. With advice grounded in years of careful study and a keenly observed life, Palahniuk combines practical advice and concrete examples from beloved classics, his own books, and a "kitchen-table MFA" culled from an evolving circle of beloved authors and artists, with anecdotes, postcards from the road, and much more. Clear-eyed, sensitive, and illuminating, Consider This (Grand Central) is Palahniuk's love letter to stories and storytellers, booksellers, and books themselves. Please note: This event is a booksigning only. A purchase of Consider This is required to join the signing line. Palahniuk will sign books from 12 to…

Free

Online: Critiques with J. Komp and Willamette Writers

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Hurts So Good – Turning painful critiques into productive reader insight Are you an editor, member of a read & critique group, part time beta reader, reviewer of books? This class will turn you into an invaluable resource for yourself and other writers. Become a respected authority with better questions, story specific feedback, and learning the art of counterpoint arguments. J. Komp will show you how to quantify and qualify everyone from beta readers to industry professionals and use the data to elevate your writing. Bring your harshest reviews and leave the class with a soul-cleansing perspective. About J. Komp J. Komp, of Just Key Edits, has been taking apart stories, to explain why we love or hate them, for over 30 years. A Behavioral…

Free

VIRTUAL IPRC: Elementary Art Club

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Zoom meetup link here Sue Pezanoski Browne will be hosting Elementary Art Club meet-ups to lead young artists and writers through activities you can do at home. Sue has a list of fun projects listed at https://lafratneyart.blogspot.com and is asking students to tell us which projects they’d like to try together. Let us know in the comments of the FB event! Some supplies it’s good to have on hand: – old magazines – scissors – glue – plastic grocery bags – paper – pencils and pens for drawing – recycled cardboard boxes (cereal, crackers, etc.) – string/yarn – peeled crayons – watercolors If you’re in need of any supplies & in Portland, an IPRC staff member can deliver them to you! Email info@iprc.org.

Free

VIRTUAL IPRC: Elementary Art Club Extra Hangout

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

An extra hangout session on Fridays at 1pm for participants of Wednesdays’ Art Club! This is not a class, but Sue Pezanoski Browne will be facilitating. It is an opportunity for the kids to visit and make art with each other. The same Zoom code https://us04web.zoom.us/j/140942955 for both days. Sue has a list of fun projects listed at https://lafratneyart.blogspot.com and is asking students to tell us which projects they’d like to try together. Let us know in the comments of the FB event! Some supplies it’s good to have on hand: – old magazines – scissors – glue – plastic grocery bags – paper – pencils and pens for drawing – recycled cardboard boxes (cereal, crackers, etc.) – string/yarn – peeled crayons – watercolors If you’re…

Free

VIRTUAL IPRC: Elementary Art Club

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Zoom meetup link here Sue Pezanoski Browne will be hosting Elementary Art Club meet-ups to lead young artists and writers through activities you can do at home. Sue has a list of fun projects listed at https://lafratneyart.blogspot.com and is asking students to tell us which projects they’d like to try together. Let us know in the comments of the FB event! Some supplies it’s good to have on hand: – old magazines – scissors – glue – plastic grocery bags – paper – pencils and pens for drawing – recycled cardboard boxes (cereal, crackers, etc.) – string/yarn – peeled crayons – watercolors If you’re in need of any supplies & in Portland, an IPRC staff member can deliver them to you! Email info@iprc.org.

Free

World-Building for the Real World: Strategies for Fictionalizing

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

World Building in the Real World: Strategies for Fictionalizing the World We Live In with Bill Cameron ** World building isn't just for science-fiction and fantasy. It's just as important for fiction set in our everyday world. I'll discuss strategies and potential pitfalls when using the settings we know (or want to know) in our fiction. ** When he’s not tending his chickens, W.H. Cameron shapes unruly words into captivating people caught in harrowing situations. As Bill Cameron, he’s the author of the critically-acclaimed Skin Kadash mysteries, and his YA mystery PROPERTY OF THE STATE was named one of Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2016: Teen. His latest, CROSSROAD, introduces prickly apprentice mortician Melisende Dulac as she navigates a new landscape that’s both alluring and…

Free

Portland Art Museum: Journal On!

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

How we journey through this moment, one page at a time. What’s it like being you right now? How has your life been changed? How will you look back on this moment? We want to hear from you! The Portland Art Museum, Portland Public Schools, and Create More, Fear Less are assembling one enduring art journal, made up of many, to capture our shared story of this unique moment in history. How to participate Respond to our prompts below or follow along on Instagram @journal_on_everyone. Then, upload an image of your work to the gallery. Share your drawings, words, or photos. Use any creative expression you want. If you’re a musician, dancer, or other kind of artist that doesn’t fit on a page, we’d love…

Free

Katie Holten in Conversation With David Naimon

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

Inspired by forests, trees, leaves, roots, and seeds, The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape (Tin House) invites readers to discover an unexpected and imaginative language to better read and write the natural world around us and reclaim our relationship with it. In her gorgeously illustrated and deeply thoughtful collection, Katie Holten gifts readers her tree alphabet and uses it to masterfully translate and illuminate beloved writing in praise of the natural world. With an introduction from Ross Gay, and featuring writings from over 50 contributors, including Ursula K. Le Guin, Ada Limón, Robert Macfarlane, Zadie Smith, Radiohead, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, James Gleick, Elizabeth Kolbert, Plato, and Robin Wall Kimmerer, Holten illustrates each selection with an abiding love and reverence for the magic…

Free