Each week, Literary Arts staff will round up news, events, and more happening in the literary community. Let us know if you have any events or book news to share.
Emergency Funds
Poets & Writers Announces COVID-19 Relief Fund
Poets & Writers, the leading national resource for creative writers, has established the Poets & Writers COVID-19 Relief Fund to provide emergency assistance to writers having difficulty meeting their basic needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will provide grants of up to $1,000 to an initial cohort of approximately eighty individual writers in April, with additional grants to be made as funds become available.
Virtual Events
Artslandia: Happy Hour
Every night at 5:00 p.m. Artslandia is live with featured artists at Happy Hour. Previous guests include Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford and Oregon Literary Fellowship recipient Alicia Jo Rabins.
Better Together: Virtual Benefit Concert Series (The Old Church)
Friday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m.
The Old Church, a beloved Portland venue and home to Portland Book Festival’s YA stage, is hosting a series of virtual benefit concerts launched in response to the pandemic’s impact on our collective livelihood. Free to watch, donations welcome.
Ground Truth Book Launch & Earth Day Celebration (Oregon Wild)
Sunday, April 19 at 4:00 p.m. (PST)
Feat. Chandra Legue, author of Hiking Oregon’s Ancient Forests and Peter Brown Hoffmeister, author of The End of Boys and Let Them Be Eaten by Bears. Register here or watch on Facebook Live.
Remembering Oliver Sacks (City Arts & Lectures)
Friday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. (EST)
with Steve Silberman, Kate Edgar, & Temple Grandin
Watch this free upcoming webcast here.
Wordplay Virtual Book Festival (The Loft)
April 6 – May 5, 2020
Author lineup and schedule.
Resources for Writers
The Shipman Agency is offering online workshops, craft seminars, and manuscript consultations. They will donate a portion of all proceeds to the PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund.
Activities for Kids & Teens
A Kids Book About COVID-19
Portland publisher A Kids Book About has released a free guide (in Spanish and English) to help explain COVID-19 to the younger folks in your life.
Online Scavenger Hunt for Students (Multnomah County Library)
Kids bored? Tired of being home? Try this scavenger hunt to explore the library website and catalog.
VIRTUAL IPRC: Teen Poetry Time (IPRC)
Every Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. (PST)
Teen Poetry Time is a weekly creative space for youth to explore free form poetry in a supportive way.
And more…
Literary Subscription Boxes (Bustle)
Send your friends (or yourself) some bookish boxes in the mail.
Poems for the Pandemic (Oregonlive)
Oregon’s poet laureate Kim Stafford shares seven works inspired by the coronavirus crisis.
Portland writer Paul Tobin released a free novel Next Door Dungeon. Tobin is an Eisner award-winning, New York Times bestselling author, and finalist for the Oregon Book Award for Graphic Literature in 2016.
Puzzlewood: The mysterious, fantastical woodland inspiration for The Lord of the Rings. (Atlas Obscura)
Random House’s Instagram
They have a virtual happy hour, live looks into authors’ creative spaces, random pantry picks with cookbook authors, and behind-the-scenes peeks into all things publishing.
