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So the Story Begins

January 26 - February 16, 2026, Mondays, 6:00-8:00 p.m. (four sessions)
716 SE Grand Ave Portland, OR 97214

$225

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.

Access Program
We want our writing classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.

Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts. Apply here for the liaison position.

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So The Story Begins
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John Gregory Brown

John Gregory Brown

Born and raised in New Orleans, John Gregory Brown is the author of the novels Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery; The Wrecked, Blessed Body of Shelton Lafleur; Audubon’s Watch; and A Thousand Miles from Nowhere. His honors include a Lyndhurst Prize, the Lillian Smith Award, the John Steinbeck Award, a Howard Foundation fellowship, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Book of the Year Award, and the Library of Virginia Book Award. His visual art has been displayed in individual and group exhibitions and has appeared online and in print in Hayden’s Ferry Review, the New England Review, Flock, Gulf Stream, and elsewhere. For thirty years he was the Julia Jackson Nichols Professor of English at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. He now lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, the novelist Carrie Brown. More information about his novels and visual art can be found at johngregorybrown.com.

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