2,000 WRITERS SUPPORTED
From Literary Arts’ 2023/24 Annual Report
We celebrated and recognized exceptional work being created by local writers and publishers through awards and fellowships. We promoted the work of local and national writers at free events at our downtown community space. We also hired local and national authors to teach writing classes to adults and youth. Classes were offered in person at Literary Arts, and online for students outside Portland and across the country.
Oregon Book Awards
We celebrated and recognized exceptional work being created by local writers and publishers through awards and fellowships. We promoted the work of local and national writers at free events at our downtown community space. We also hired local and national authors to teach writing classes to adults and youth. Classes were offered in person at Literary Arts, and online for students outside Portland and across the country.
Oregon Book Awards Author Events
The Oregon Book Awards Author Tour visited Astoria, Cannon Beach, Fossil, La Grande, Maupin, McMinnville, and Pendleton for readings and discussions.
Books Distributed to Libraries
Literary Arts shipped 265 books by Oregon Book Awards authors, donated by their publishers, to 19 libraries across the state.
Oregon Literary Fellowships
We received 527 applications from writers and 28 applications from publishers for the 2024 fellowships. Recipients were selected by a panel of out-of-state judges that spent several months evaluating these applications, using literary excellence as the primary criterion.
“I think so many of us write as a way to eventually facilitate connection, despite the loneliness of it. This Fellowship feels like a realization of these efforts to be in conversation with or a part of something outside of my day-to-day practice, in a way that’s really special.”
— Kieran Mundy, Oregon Literary Fellowship recipient
Writers Forums with Portland Arts & Lectures Authors
Portland Arts & Lectures visiting authors met with current and former fellowship recipients and book awards authors for one-hour Q&A sessions.
“I so appreciate how you convene writers for conversation with visiting luminaries. Aimee is so
undiminished in her open connections by her fame and success. So refreshing.”
— Kim Stafford
@LiteraryArts Events
We hosted our ongoing resident series: INCITE, One Page Wednesday, Slamlandia, and the BIPOC reading series. We also partnered with the Alano Club and PEN America, and local and national authors for events for readers and writers.
Writing Classes
Writers honed their craft and explored a variety of topics in our classes, including autofiction, memoir, novel writing, and poetry. Classes met in-person and online. Over half of our students were from outside Portland.
Committed to Equity
- 25% of 2024 OBA judges are BIPOC.
- 20% of writing teachers are BIPOC.
- 50% of 2024 OLF judges are BIPOC.
- 54 writing class and Delve students received an access tuition scholarship, which covers 50% of the class tuition.
Read the full report below.
Click here for a PDF version of the report.
