January: Incite Queer Writers Read [FREE EVENT]
Wednesday, January 14, 7:00–9:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Incite: Queer Writers Read is a curated, bimonthly reading series for Queer writers. Incite’s hope is to create conversation, connection, and greater understanding both within the Queer community and with other communities. Hosted by Vinnie Kinsella and Jennifer (JP) Perrine. The featured readers for January will be announced soon.
Slamlandia [FREE EVENT]
Thursday, January 15, 7:00–9:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month at Literary Arts on the third Thursday. This mic provides a creative, fun, and welcoming space for all literary communities in Portland. We encourage poets, new and old, to come share their work. We strive towards a safe space for poets to read their own poetry, witness others, and participate in community. Hosted by Julia Gaskill. January’s featured poet will be announced soon!
Sangamithra Iyer: Governing Bodies [FREE EVENT]
Tuesday, January 20, 6:30–7:30 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
The Literary Arts Bookstore is excited to welcome Sangamithra Iyer to celebrate their book Governing Bodies.
January: Monthly Crafts with SCRAP PDX [TICKETED EVENT]
Thursday, January 22, 4:00–7:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe is thrilled to partner with SCRAP PDX for monthly crafting events.More details about this collaborative event will be available soon.
Charise Mericle Harper: Wrong Friend [FREE EVENT]
Sunday, January 25, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Join the Literary Arts Bookstore for a very special event with Charise Mericle Harper for the release of her latest graphic novel, Wrong Friend!
Jude Ellison S Doyle: DILF [FREE EVENT]
Tuesday, January 27, 6:30–8:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Join us for an evening of trans/feminist theory with Jude Doyle, author of DILF: Did I Leave Feminism?
BIPOC Reading Series [FREE EVENT]
Wednesday, January 28, 7:00–9:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Hosted by Kyle Yoshioka and Jessica Meza-Torres, this monthly reading series is intended to prioritize the safety, creativity, and stories of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color.
Writing Classes
Writing Comic Fiction Workshop
Mondays, January 2–February 16, 4:00–6:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
In this six-week workshop-meets-craft class, we’ll dissect five different short stories and figure out: How did the writer do that? We’ll then apply some of those same literary tools to your own stories. Each writer will have the opportunity to have one short story workshopped in this class, with written and verbal feedback from both the instructor and peers.
Instructor: Michelle Kicherer
Advanced Memoir
Mondays, January 12–February 23, 6:00–8:00 p.m. | Online
Designed for writers who have an idea for a memoir in progress and are hoping to focus on character development, narrative energy and structure. In this six-week intensive, participants will generate 10-15 pages of additional material with a keen eye on the narrative bubbling beneath the surface. Several in-class prompts will offer deeper understanding and further refinement of the developing pages. The class will also read and analyze a contemporary memoir of their choice.
Instructor: Radhika Sharma
Yallah! Muslims Write:New Year, New Writing
Wednesday, January 14–February 11, 6:00–8:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Yallah! Muslims Write—New Year, New Writing is a generative writing workshop for self-identifying Muslim artists to join together in a joyful, supportive, and courageous community space to kick off 2026 with some fresh stories.
Instructor: mhd borhan
Your Novel’s First Pages
Tuesdays, January 20–February 24, 6:00–8:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Students will workshop their own first pages with each other and receive instructor feedback on up to 25 pages that begin their novels. Students at any point in the writing process are welcome. Whether you have a full draft or are just beginning your novel, this course can help to inspire your writing, deepen your process, and refine your craft.
Instructor: Miranda Schmidt
Unreliable Historians: Reclaiming Truth and Agency in Creative Writing
Saturday, January 24, 1:00–4:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Who writes our shared histories? Who gets deemed “unreliable?” Through generative writing exercises and discussion of examples from Brody Parrish Craig’s The Patient is an Unreliable Historian, we’ll write poems together that challenge truth, combat erasure, and reclaim space for lived experience. Topics include saneism, gender, queerness & the power of narrative/madness.
Instructor: Brody Parrish Craig
So the Story Begins
Mondays, January 26–February 16, 6:00–8:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
Every story emerges from a prompt: a memory, an image, an historical incident, a song, a family tale. Experimenting with a wide array of such prompts can be a great way of discovering and developing stories, especially the ones that you didn’t know you wanted to tell. In this class students will create, share, and discuss the work that emerges from a range of different prompts.
Instructor: John Gregory Brown
Readers Seminars
Early Works of Barbara Kingsolver
Tuesdays, January 6–27, 6:00–8:00 p.m. | Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland
This four-week Delve will focus on two early novels from Barbara Kingsolver. Both of these books take place in a southwest, dealing with environmental impacts, poverty, and the choices people make within those contexts. Both novels grapple with the health of rural places and people. Discussion will also focus on what Kingsolver leaves out in her version of the West and the way her books approach indigenous characters.
Guide: Pamela Pierce
Classes and Seminars are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, check out our full events calendar.
