• May 7, 2024
          Josephine Woolington
          May 8, 2024
          Josephine Woolington
          May 8, 2024
          Incite: Queer Writers Read – May
          May 9, 2024
          Lauren Kessler
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  1. Events
  2. Free Events

Events, Classes, and Seminars

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 downtown Literary Arts space, online, and at partnering venues across Portland and Oregon.

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Friday

Nov 4

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Friday

Nov 4

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Cover to Cover   Free Events  

PBF Cover to Cover: “The Bookstour”: Literary Documentary and Bookseller Panel

Calling all lovers of indie bookstores for the Portland Book Festival’s two-part event: a screening of a new literary documentary and a panel of the city’s foremost booksellers.

When an author crosses the country visiting bookstores and promoting his online-only novel, he discovers a community of readers who buy their books locally. These readers make their case for local bookshops in the short documentary film: "The Bookstour."

Find out more
Friday

Nov 4

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Saturday

Nov 5

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Saturday

Nov 5

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Sunday

Nov 6

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Sunday

Nov 6

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Sunday

Nov 6

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Sunday

Nov 6

The logo for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program, featuring an umbrella and an open book.
Cover to Cover   Free Events  

PBF Cover to Cover: Lit-Mondo

Lit-Mondo is an improv comedy show inspired by prose, poetry, and other writing by local and traveling authors. A team of experienced improv comedians listen to short readings by authors and pull from the themes and ideas in their work to create hilarious original comedy scenes on the spot! 

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Saturday

Nov 12

Saturday

Nov 19

Wednesday

Dec 7

Thursday

Dec 8

Wednesday

Jan 4

Friday

Jan 13

Free Events   In-person  

Ruby McConnell and Char Miller

Join us for an evening with Ruby McConnell and Char Miller discussing their latest books, Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of Life and Natural Consequences: Intimate Essays for a Planet in Peril. Ruby McConnell is a registered geologist and outdoor adventurer. She is a recipient of numerous honors, including the Literary Arts Oregon Literary Fellowship, and

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Tuesday

Jan 24

Tuesday

Jan 24

Free Events   online  

Joy Castro & S. Tremaine Nelson

Join us for a conversation with Joy Castro, author of One Brilliant Flame, and S. Tremaine Nelson of the Northwest Review. This is a virtual event. Click here to register in advance. If you have any questions, reach out to Jessica Meza-Torres at jessica@literary-arts.org.    

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Thursday

Feb 2

Wednesday

Mar 1

Free Events   In-person  

One Page Wednesday- March

One Page Wednesday is back in-person at our downtown center! 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 to listen and prepare to be inspired. Our host is

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Friday

Mar 3

Free Events   In-person  

Mary Szybist & Laurel Nakanishi

Join poets Mary Szybist and Laurel Nakanishi for an interactive evening of poetry that will consider the concept of place. After a discussion and reading, the audience will be invited to write in response to a series of poetry-inspired prompts. Bring a journal and pen for a generative evening of writing. Everyone welcome!

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Wednesday

Mar 15

Free Events   In-person  

A Discussion with Kamala Sankaram & Susan Yankowitz

In partnership with the Portland Opera, join us for a discussion with Thumbprint composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Susan Yankowitz, moderated by Portland Opera Artistic Director Priti Gandhi. This event is free and open to the public. Thumbprint is inspired by the true story of Mukhtar Mai—a trailblazing Pakistani activist whose fight for justice and safety reminds

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Saturday

Mar 18

Monday

Mar 20

Thursday

Mar 23

Friday

Mar 24

Saturday

Mar 25

Saturday

Mar 25

Wednesday

Mar 29

Wednesday

Apr 5

Saturday

Apr 8

Wednesday

Apr 12

Free Events   In-person   Oregon Literary Fellowships  

Oregon Literary Fellowship Reading

A reading featuring some of the 2023 Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients: Trevino Brings Plenty Elanor Broker Grace Chao Matthew Dickman Dustin Hendrick Margaret Malone Deb Miller Landau Sofia Molimbi Julie Morris Stephan Nance Emily Shetler Kim Thompson Cecily Wong and Takahiro Yamamoto reading a piece from berm magazine, one of the publishing fellowship recipients.

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Saturday

Apr 15

Wednesday

Apr 26

Free Events   In-person  

Lit from Below: An Evening of Poetry & Prose from Portland’s Underground

Eight Portland authors come together for a night of poetry and prose in celebration of the vibrant indie-lit scene thriving in the City of Roses. Crossing, fusing, and demolishing genres, these writers and performers will demonstrate the amazing variation and complexity that is literature in the Portland underground. Authors will have books for sale and

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Friday

Apr 28

Wednesday

May 3

Friday

May 12

Tuesday

May 23

Friday

Jun 2

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