Each month, Literary Arts staff will round up news, events, and more happening in Portland, and beyond. Let us know in the form below the blog if you have any events or news to share.
EVENTS
Writing Night (Independent Publishing Resource Center)
Sunday, July 7th, from 4:00–5:30 p.m. | IPRC Classroom, 318 SE Main St., Ste. 145, Portland, OR | FREE to attend
Bring your favorite notebook and pen or pencil, and join the IPRC for a monthly drop-in creative writing community event, with light facilitation, creative writing prompts, and opportunities to share your work. Free and open to the public.
Reading: Joe Wilkins with Scott Nadelson (Annie Bloom’s Books)
Tuesday, July 9th, from 7:00–8:00 p.m. | Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR | FREE to attend
Annie Bloom’s Books welcomes Oregon author and Oregon Literary Fellowship recipient Joe Wilkins for an in-store reading from his new novel, The Entire Sky. Joe will be in conversation with Portland author Scott Nadelson.
Spoke’n Words Bike Ride (Oregon Humanities & Write Around Portland)
Tuesday, July 9th, at 6:15 p.m. | Meet at Arbor Lodge Park, N. Bryant St. at N. Delaware Ave., Portland, OR | FREE to attend
Get inspired! Write! Ride! Share and Connect! Oregon Humanities’ popular Spoke’n Words ride returns, and this time they’re rolling with Write Around Portland! With the help of some of Write Around Portland’s fantastic facilitators, riders and writers of all levels of in/experience can commune with cool prompts and pretty places as we all put pens and pencils to paper, and share our work with each other when the feeling moves us. This year’s facilitators are: Armin Tolentino, Astra Lincoln, Stacy Brewster, and Ari Lombardi.
Free First Thursday (Portland Art Museum)
Thursday, July 11th, from 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. | Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR | FREE
Enjoy free Portland Art Museum admission for the community all day with Free First Thursday—offered this July on the second Thursday, July 11. Special exhibitions on view include the first free opportunity to experience Monet to Matisse: French Moderns and Pissarro to Picasso: Masterworks on Loan from the Kirkland Family Collection, in addition to Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks and Throughlines: Connections in the Collection.
Portland Lit Mic (Portland Lit Mic, Rose City Book Pub)
Friday, July 12th, from 7:00–9:00 p.m. | Rose City Book Pub, 1329 NE Fremont Street, Portland, OR | FREE to attend
Portland Lit Mic is a genre-inclusive literary open mic. Writers of all genres—poetry, fiction, nonfiction— are welcome. Each reader is given five minutes to share their words.
Gresham Arts Festival (Spirit of Gresham)
Saturday, July 20th, from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. | Downtown Gresham | FREE to attend
Celebrate art with free, family-friendly fun at the annual Gresham Arts Festival with more than 125 Pacific Northwest artisans, live music, Kids Village, live music and local cuisine. The Gresham Arts Festival draws thousands from around the region each year to Gresham’s charming downtown streets to meet, browse and shop from a carefully curated selection of Northwest artisans, ranging from painters, potters and sculptors to woodworkers, photographers, jewelers and more.
Booklover’s Burlesque: Banned Books Edition (Lacy Productions & The Alberta Rose Theatre)
Friday, July 26th, at 7:00 p.m. | Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta Street, Portland, OR | $30 General Admission in advance, $40 at the door
With the recent growing efforts to censor books throughout the USA, BOOKLOVER’S BURLESQUE will take a moment to explore some of those books that have been targets for censorship. Show your support for the Right to Read! 21 & over only.
Brainstarring: Meteors & Memory (Corporeal Writing)
Saturday, July 27th, from 2:00–4:00 p.m. | Online via Zoom | FREE to attend
Meteor showers are celestial events that emerge from a radiant point in the sky (by the way: you can find a schedule of upcoming meteor showers here.). These space showers happen when the Earth passes through interplanetary debris, like comet particles. Which reminds us how it feels to enter memory, as if we go back into a kind of giant cosmic debris field filled with pieces, traces, retinal flashes, feelings, dream bits from our experiences. Come play with Corporeal Writing’s Domi Shoemaker, Katie Guinn, and Lidia Yuknavitch in the realm of Meteors and Memory, where we will put our ideas into orbit and into dialogue, traversing cosmic writing portals together.
RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS AND WRITERS
Blessing the Boats Selections (BOA Editions)
Deadline to submit: July 14th, 2024 | No submission fee
BOA Editions, Ltd. is pleased to announce that submissions are now open for Blessing the Boats Selections, an initiative that spotlights poetry collections by women of color. This selection of books, named in honor of Lucille Clifton’s National Book Award-winning collection, Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, seeks to celebrate and amplify the poetic voices of women of color. Submissions are thus open to all women poets of color in the U.S., including poets who identify as cis, trans, and non-binary people who are comfortable in a space that centers on women’s experiences, regardless of citizenship and publication history.
The Sewanee Review Contest (The Sewanee Review)
Open for submissions from July 1st–31st, 2024
This July, the Sewanee Review will hold its seventh annual Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction contest. Submit a short story or creative nonfiction piece of up to 10,000 words, or a selection of one to six poems. Winners receive $1,000 and publication in the Spring 2025 issue of the magazine. All entrants receive a one-year subscription to the Review. Lorrie Moore will judge the fiction category, Shane McCrae will judge poetry, and John Jeremiah Sullivan will judge nonfiction.
Call for Writers: International Dublin Writers’ Festival (International Dublin Writers’ Festival)
Friday, September 20th–Sunday, September 22nd | $45–$149
This event is an opportunity for all writers, everywhere, to connect with the literary culture of Dublin and to learn from experts and peers. Their mission is to help writers excel and to provide opportunities for writers to learn from key industry professionals, aiming to provide community, inspiration, and learning opportunities for authors in all genres. Their program includes sessions on editing, (self)publishing, and marketing for authors, and includes a varied panel of renowned authors and industry experts. The featured speakers this year include Doug Richardson (Screenwriter, Author, & Literary Consultant) and A. Keith Carrero (Award-winning Author & Educator).
Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award (Red Hen Press)
Deadline to submit: October 31st, 2024 | $25 entry fee
Established in 1998, in honor of the poet Benjamin Saltman (1927–1999), this award is for a previously unpublished original collection of poetry. The awarded collection is selected through an annual competition that is open to all poets. Winner awarded $3000 and $3000 book publication by Red Hen Press.
FOR KIDS / TEENS
The Little Prince Live (Northwest Children’s Theater)
Weekends, July 20th–August 4th, at 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm | The Judy, 1000 SW Broadway T-100, Portland, OR | Pay-what-you-will
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved book flies from page to stage in The Little Prince! Unlock your imagination and embark on a journey through the galaxy with two unlikely companions: The Aviator and the mysterious Little Prince. When his plane crashes in the desert, the disenchanted Aviator is desperate to repair his aircraft when The Little Prince, who is on their own extraordinary adventure, suddenly appears. Intergalactic stories of a very special flower on a tiny planet, a fox that wishes to be tamed, and a snake swallowing an elephant come to life, reminding us that “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.”
Emily Arrow Camp (Emily Arrow & Northwest Children’s Theater)
July 8th–August 9th | The Judy, 1000 SW Broadway St., & Rose City Park Methodist, 5830 NE Alameda St., Portland, OR | Scholarships available through June 14th
Join Emily Arrow for a series of week long camps for 4–8 year olds beginning July 8th. Themes are “Books! Books! Books!” and “Nature Sings!”. Camp registration includes four tickets to a special concert with Emily Arrow at The Judy on Sunday, August 11 at 1pm. During the concert, campers will have a chance to get on stage and perform one of the songs they learned in camp!
Toddler Storytime & Play (Sunrise Books)
Thursdays, at 10:00 a.m. | In person at Sunrise Books | FREE to attend
Join Sunrise Books every Thursday at 10:00 a.m. for toddler storytime! They’ll sing, dance, do a read aloud, and have a rockin’ good time. Perfect for ages 18 months–4 years. This storytime is free; however, they accept donations to keep it going.
Kids’ Story & Art Class at Awake Coffee & Art!
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10:00 a.m. | In person at Awake Coffee & Art | $8
Bring your little ones Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at 10:00 a.m. for a storybook reading and art session! They’ll have a hands-on art project after the reading. It could be watercolor painting, making and playing with play dough, or another creative project to engage the young artists’ talents! All materials included!
Kids’ Storytime (Powell’s)
Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. | Powell’s City of Books | FREE
Join Powell’s every Saturday for kids’ storytime.
IN THE NEWS
You Could Write in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Former Portland Home Studio (Smithsonian Magazine)
Mark Pomeroy’s New Novel, “The Tigers of Lents,” Was Inspired by Marshall High School Students (Willamette Week)
In ‘skin & bones,’ Renée Watson Writes for Her Devout Readers’ Parents (Portland Monthly)
Embracing intimacy and uncertainty: At work with Oregon’s poet laureate (OPB)
Portland nonprofit expanding with new Central Eastside headquarters (Portland Business Journal)
New Literary Arts headquarters will include bookstore and café in Southeast Portland (Oregon Live)
2024 Oregon Book Award Winners Announced (Willamette Week)
RECOMMENDED READING
A Booklover’s Guide to Portland (Travel Portland)
10 New Books From Around the World (Powell’s)
Local Resources for Writers (Multnomah County Library)
Community News Submissions
Let us know if you have any events, news to share, or opportunities for writers for the In the Community blog and we will consider adding it to the next blog post!
