Our events, classes, and seminars bring the community together to hear, learn, and discuss the most compelling issues and ideas of our day. We hope you will join us in our community space and bookstore at 716 SE Grand Avenue, Portland, OR, online, and at partnering venues across Portland and Oregon.
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is thrilled to be a part of Portland Book Week 2026! Come on down to the store, buy a Portland Book Week tote bag, and check some items off your Bingo card. Also, check out these events at Literary Arts during Portland Book Week: Tuesday, June 9 at 5:30
To celebrate Portland Book Week, the Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is hosting a special write-in. The evening's theme is roadtrip! Put pen to paper and write about your next cross-country adventure. Need inspiration? Try our gumball machine full of thoughtful writing prompts. About write-ins: Write-ins are community gatherings where writers come together to share
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is excited to welcome author Brianna Jett to celebrate the release of their book, Under a Carnivore Sky. Jett will be in conversation with 2026 Oregon Book Award finalist Courtney Gould. I’m the only one left hunting the monster, the only one left with a chance of saving us
NEW DATE! The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe is thrilled to partner with SCRAP PDX for monthly crafting events. Join us at The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe to hand-sew
Lyrical writing prioritizes music, rhythm, and emotion over the narrative arc. In this course, we will find entry into writing through reading, conversation, and various prompts and exercises to catalyze memory and insight.
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is honored to welcome Illuminated Cities founder zehra imam for an evening of conversation with National Book Award-winning author and Literary Arts board member Omar El-Akkad. About Illuminated Cities:Â Since 2012, Illuminated Cities has worked with communities impacted by systemic violence to offer: Creative healing tools for expression through
To celebrate the Mendoza Cafe’s first chapter, Literary Arts is inviting the community to join us from June 14 through July 4 for food and drink specials inspired by the literary spirit of the cafe. Visitors can enjoy special menu offerings, vote for their favorite in-house syrup flavor, and take part in anniversary promotions throughout the celebration. Whether
One of the most compelling figures of modern thought, Simone Weil (1909–1943) was a brilliant, often startling, and visionary thinker. She was a philosopher (one of first two women in France to earn a PhD, along with her classmate Simone de Beauvoir), teacher, writer, factory worker, pacifist, soldier, marxist, anarchist, Jewish, Christian, mystic, exile, playwright, translator, and mathematician.
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is thrilled to welcome Melissa Febos to celebrate the paperback release of her book, The Dry Season. Febos will be joined in conversation by Genevieve Hudson. About the book: In the wake of a catastrophic two-year relationship, Melissa Febos decided to take a break: For three months, she would
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
This workshop will center transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming writers in all workshop materials and its approach.This Pride month, join TGNC+ writer Brody Parrish Craig (they/them) to celebrate contemporary trans poetry, generate new creative work & share our stories with one another.
This generative summer writing class will be a journey through all five senses. Each week we will read and/or view published pieces that focuses on a specific sense, then develop our own sensory work through discussion and generative prompts. Open to writers of all genres and experience levels.
Octavia Butler’s final novel, Fledgling, is a powerful, disturbing book about humanity and Otherness that is also a vampire coming-of-age story. Delve guide Nisi Shawl, a friend of Butler’s during her lifetime, adds unique perspective drawing on their personal experience of the author’s joys, struggles, triumphs, and frustrations.
Join us at the Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe for our monthly write-in. This month's theme is Pride. Enjoy a night of community writing and light socializing. All are welcome! About write-ins: Write-ins are community gatherings where writers come together to share space, write, and make connections. Whether you’re here to hit word count or make
Turn lived experience into a compelling memoir. This four-week course helps writers shape personal stories with clarity, structure, and intention. You’ll explore narrative arc, voice, and emotional truth while learning how to craft a story that resonates without losing your thread along the way.
Each week, we will read and discuss short pieces and excerpts from contemporary authors who are known to weave their pasts into the present including Annie Erneaux, Joan Didion, Ayad Aktar, Sonya Walger, Aysegul Savas, Rachel Cusk, Emmanuel Carrere, and others. There were also be to weekly craft essays on various genres (memoir, personal essay, autofiction and hybrid).
***NEW START TIME*** Starting in June, the BIPOC Reading Series will begin at 6:30 PM. This monthly reading series is intended to prioritize the safety, creativity, and stories of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Come listen to our featured readers, or sign up to share your work in our open mic. Readings
Questions about applying to this year's Oregon Literary Fellowships? Join us at this information session! Drop in any time between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.; register at this link.
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is pleased to welcome Michelle St. Romain to celebrate her debut novel, Song of Belonging. Michelle will be in conversation with Sandra Freels. About the book: For fans of Kate Morton, Amy Harmon, and Sally Page comes a multigenerational novel infused with touches of magical realism about a woman’s
In this one-day workshop, we’ll review practical, applicable revision tools for each stage of the revision process. Then, we’ll take some time to reflect on what parts of your work-in-progress to tackle next.
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is thrilled to welcome 2026 Oregon Book Awards finalist Rowan Kingsbury to celebrate the release of their latest book, Avery and the Squirrel Delivery. This event includes a presentation by Kingsbury and a special craft. About the book: A charming and sweet easy-to-read fairy adventure comic that touches on
Join us at the Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe for a celebratory evening of readings from the 2026 Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients. The following fellows will be joining us: Devon Fredericksen Jeremy Klemin Amy Marcott Jeffree Morel Jae Nichelle Pooja Nukala Diana Oropeza Molly Reid Jason Sepac Casey Walker Airlie Press Provecho Magazine This event
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is pleased to welcome Ari Koontz, author of Just Ask Elsie, and 2026 Oregon Book Awards finalist Sara Ryan, author of The Mountain Upside Down, for a special Pride celebration featuring book discussions, community conversations, and fun group activities. This event is free and open to all.
***REMINDER NEW START TIME*** One Page Wednesday will begin at 6:30 PM, with open mic sign-ups opening at 6:00 PM. Here is an opportunity to share or listen to one page of work in progress from talented writers from everywhere. Come with a single page of work and sign up to read – or come
This class is for fiction writers who have already made significant progress on novels, novellas, or short stories. This six-week workshop will offer in-depth guidance to students on their fiction writing projects.
This Delve for Writers will use Machado's short stories and memoir as a jumping off point for our own horror and fairy tale infused fiction and non-fiction writing. We will find the surreal within the mundane details of life and celebrate that.
You’ve worked hard on your writing and you want to bring it to your readers beyond the page. As writers, we don’t often get much instruction in performing our work. Even as we give public readings, make audio recordings, and film our excerpts for the internet, we’re often left to our own devices. In this course, we’ll practice reading our work aloud, incorporating theatrical techniques and exercises, and experimenting with performance styles to bring our words to life for an audience.
What does it mean to make art in a moment when democracy itself is under threat, and why do authoritarians always come for artists first? In this urgent presentation, strategist and democracy defender Scot Nakagawa, co-founder of the 22nd Century Initiative, makes the case that artistic freedom is not a cultural amenity but democratic
In this generative writing workshop, we will explore a slice of Portland as flâneurs, or writers who walk and observe as part of their practice.
Write about difficult experiences with honesty and control. This six-week course helps you navigate vulnerability on the page without feeling exposed or stuck. Through guided exercises and discussion, you’ll develop strategies to approach sensitive material with clarity, emotional safety, and intention so you can tell the truth while staying grounded.
Edith Wharton documented the Gilded Age with an unsurpassed clarity. Born into one prominent family and marrying into another, she knew better than most what it meant to be numbered among the elite—and she drew on this knowledge in her writing, both fiction and nonfiction alike. Her account of the ethical consequences of the era’s
In this generative writing class, we will explore meaning via the mortal body—the foundation of what it means to be human—as a fruitful landscape for creative reflection, risk-taking, and art making.
This class will provide an introduction to journalism for every writer. Learning the fundamentals of reporting, researching, writing, editing and fact-checking can enhance any writing practice. In five, two-hour sessions, students of all levels will learn basic journalistic skills they can apply to their own projects, whatever the genre.
Are you writing a novel? Do you want company? Writing a novel is an intensive and often lonely experience. This course brings novel writers at all stages of the process together to support each other for 8 weeks. From first draft through revision, this course is a weekly check in, a community gathering, a discussion group, an accountability buddy, a toolkit, a troubleshooting session, and a place for us to talk about our novels and writing processes.
Consider the Picture Book invites adults to reexamine great literature hiding in plain sight: the children’s picture book. What makes for a great picture book? Why are they so fun
Together we will read & write creative writing on substance abuse, addiction & recovery, with an emphasis on harm reduction, healing, and reclamation. We will look at poems, short stories, and essay writing centering themes of addiction by their loved ones and by those with lived experience.
Literary Arts is pleased to present George Saunders as the first speaker of the 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures series. Please note: a subscription to the entire 2026-27 Portland Arts
Literary Arts is pleased to present Ayad Akhtar as part of the 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures series. Please note: a subscription to the entire 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures
Literary Arts is pleased to present Isabel Wilkerson as part of the 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures series. Please note: a subscription to the entire 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures
Literary Arts is pleased to present Ben Rhodes as part of the 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures series. Please note: a subscription to the entire 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures
Literary Arts is pleased to present Kiran Desai as the final speaker of the 2026-27 Portland Arts & Lectures series. Please note: a subscription to the entire 2026-27 Portland Arts
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