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 and Cafe is thrilled to partner with SCRAP PDX for a special event. Hand-sew decorative fall plushies and felt garlands. Grab a beverage, browse the bookstore, and gather round to sew some leaves, mushrooms, acorns, and more in this seasonal celebration! This is a ticked event. Click here for more
Join Ooligan Press to celebrate the launch of their latest title, Cepka by Leah Altman. About the Book For Leah Altman, growing up as an adoptee outside of her culture meant growing up without her cekpa, the Lakota connection to family and homeland. Now an adult, Leah departs her life in Portland, Oregon, to
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 November are Stephanie Adams-Santos, Courtney Gould, and Anthony Hudson. The theme is
Percival Everett appears on November 12, 2025 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall as part of the Portland Arts & Lectures series.
Literary Arts is excited to welcome Ritual Dyes into the space for their weekly crafting circle, hosted by Chin Matthews (Instagram: @chin2tog). This event is BYOC (Bring Your Own Craft). Learn more about the weekly crafting circles here.
Stephen Crane lived a short and intense life, and wrote short and intense fiction. Regardless of the genre—he was a muckraking journalist, an author, and a poet—Crane never shied from an ugly truth, never spared his readers’ feelings. Whether depicting the sordid streets of lower Manhattan or fictionalizing his own experience of shipwreck, Crane’s remarkable
The Literary Arts Bookstore is pleased to welcome Chris Kraus to celebrate the release of her latest book, The Four Spent the Day Together! Kraus will be joined in conversation by Lydia Kiesling. About the book: “The intelligence and honesty and total originality of Chris Kraus make her work not just great but indispensable…I read
Sarah Weinman, author of The Real Lolita, returns to Literary Arts with her latest release, Without Consent, a deep dive into the historic case that defined marital rape and consent in America. Weinman will be in conversation with Sarah Marshall. About the book: From Sarah Weinman, author of Scoundrel and The Real Lolita, comes an eye-opening story about the
Join us for a special harvest write-in at the Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe! This month we’re celebrating the Three Sisters, as always with a curated playlist and drink special for our writers. The Three Sisters refer to corn, beans, and squash, three of the main agricultural crops of North and Central American Indigenous groups.
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
Literary Arts with Queer Cute PDX are hosting a Literary Matchmaking Event! Queer Cute is a local organization that hosts social gatherings in the queer community. Bring your favorite book (or book that you feel best describes you) and put it on the designated shelf at the bookstore- the person who picks up your book
This four-week poetry class will focus on the practice of keeping a commonplace book and how that practice can lead to a more generative poetic life.
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. The featured reader for December is Amelia Ralston-Okabayashi. This event is open to everyone, but only people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color will be invited
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 the one and only, Emme Lund. December's featured reader is RJ
In this 3-hour course, we’ll learn how, where, and with what to begin our memoirs. We’ll discover that our first chapter is more than just the sturdy foundation to a life recorded, it’s a guide for you, the writer—both a map and its key.
Escape from the cold with a book and a beverage at Literary Arts! Join us for a special happy hour. Spend $20 or more at the bookstore and take a dollar off a beverage from the cafe! Mulled wine, hot cider, free gift-wrapping, good books, good company... what more could you ask for? Come celebrate
This December, The Moth’s anticipated Mainstage season comes to Portland in partnership with Literary Arts. When’s the last time you did something… daring? This Fall, The Moth Mainstage is coming to Portland for one unforgettable evening. Five storytellers will explore the theme of “DARING,” with true and personal stories told live and without notes.
The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe is thrilled to partner with SCRAP PDX for a winter-themed crafting event. Hand-sew decorative winter plush ornaments to adorn your tree, home, bag, or whatever else. Make a gift for a loved one this season! ✨ Bring a friend! Make a friend! Grab a beverage, browse the books, and
Join us at the Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe for a write-in celebrating 250 years of Jane Austen! We’re channeling our inner Jane and writing the night away. Whether you’re writing the next great romance novel or just soaking up the vibe, all are welcome. Featuring a special Jane Austen-themed drink at the cafe! About
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
Join us for an afternoon of festive winter fun for kids at The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe! We’ll have oodles of sugar cookies to decorate, a coloring/craft corner, and a cozy winter story time. It’s fun for all ages! Plus, it’s not all cookies. Parents and Adults, grab a heartier bite of lunch from
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.
Does what you write or how you write it change with the seasons? In these quarterly gatherings we’ll meet to be inspired by the turn of the world.
In this class, we will look anew at our manuscripts or rough drafts. We’ll locate the symmetries that already exist and expand them, push them to their fullest potentials. We’ll find themes and ideas that are intuitively central to our stories and ask whether they’ve been examined enough.
In this Delve seminar we will explore three extraordinary literary lightning bolts that Woolf produced during the later years of her life, from the 1930’s through to the first years of World War II and the Battle of Britian.
What makes a funny story more than just an elbow jabbing good time? In this class, we’ll read several humorous short stories and figure out what makes them impactful, lasting and literature.
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 instructor and peers.
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.
Join us at The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe for our first write-in of 2026! This month, we're channeling growth and change by celebrating metamorphosis. Whether it's you emerging from the soft blanket of the holiday season, a caterpillar shifting into a butterfly, or a salesman who inexplicably awakens as a bug, all stories welcome.
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.
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 are Brody Parrish Craig, Milo Muise, and Jaye Nasir. The theme
In this 8-week, in-person class, we’ll focus on one of the hardest parts of writing: writing. If you’ve taken Get Writing before, in January 2026 we’ll use all new writing prompts and exercises. If you’ve never taken it, we encourage you to get writing! This class is open to all writers wanting to generate new work and learn more about the craft of writing.
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
Colm Tóibín appears at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on January 15, 2025 as part of the Portland Arts & Lectures series.
This class is intended to get you started on your novel, get you feedback, and keep you going. We’ll workshop excerpts of novels-in-progress, if you have them, but we’ll also work through low-pressure exercises intended to generate ideas and make narrative sparks fly.
In this workshop, we’ll read the first pages of novels by writers like Virginia Woolf, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich, Celeste Ng, Julia Armfield and more. We’ll consider the craft of a novel’s beginning and ways this can fit into the process of writing the full manuscript. Students will workshop their own first pages with each other and receive instructor feedback on up to 25 pages that begin their novels.
The Literary Arts Bookstore is excited to welcome Sangamithra Iyer to celebrate their book Governing Bodies. Iyer will be joined in conversation by David Naimon. About the book: A beautifully rendered debut memoir of family, legacy, conservation, the natural world—and those who inhabit it. As a civil engineer, Sangamithra Iyer knows about resilience from studying
The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe is thrilled to partner with SCRAP PDX for monthly crafting events. Join us to hand-sew decorative plush charms in the stylings of: tiny books! Plush pencils and pens! Wintery motifs! And more... ✨ Bring a friend! Make a friend! Grab a beverage, browse the books, and gather round to sew some
Join the Literary Arts Bookstore for a very special event with Charise Mericle Harper for the release of her latest graphic novel, Wrong Friend! About the book: What happens when your BFF is no longer forever? A fresh and honest graphic novel about friendships lost and found. Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier! Charise and
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.
Join us for an evening of trans/feminist theory with Jude Doyle author of DILF: Did I Leave Feminism? Doyle will be joined in conversation by Katherine Cross. About the book: In this sharp manifesto, veteran author and activist Jude Doyle reunites feminist and trans politics through a common belief: that all people deserve to have
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. The featured readers for January are none other than the long-time hosts and co-creators of this reading series . . . Kyle and Jessica! This event is open to
Join us for a special evening honoring the legacy of Langston Hughes and the 100th anniversary of The Weary Blues. Featuring critical commentary by PSU Professor and Chair of Black Studies Maude Hines, and award-winning performance poet Emmett Wheatfall. This event is free and open to the public. This event is a precursor to The
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 the one and only, Emme Lund. February's featured reader is Canisia
Join National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett and Caldecott Honor artist Carson Ellis for a grown-up conversation about kids’ books and new tellings of old tales. About the book: Once upon a time, there was a clever girl with a not-so-clever father. When her father claims she can spin straw into gold,
Scenes are the heartbeat of storytelling. This class explores how to craft vivid, purposeful scenes that immerse readers and move your story forward. Through examples, exercises, and feedback, you’ll learn to build tension, reveal character, and balance showing and telling across fiction and nonfiction.
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