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.
Creative nonfiction utilizes non-linear structures to “think” into complex or ambiguous subjects. In this class, we will deepen our practice with the form by working with a new or established draft of a story or essay. Writing prompts and drafting techniques will allow students to experiment with structure and voice. Outside reading assignments and in-class
Join us for an evening with some of the 2022 Oregon Book Award Finalists for the Ken Kesey Award in Fiction and the Stafford/Hall Award in Poetry. Readings by finalists
This event is part of our Portland Arts & Lectures 2021/22 season. Our 2021–22 season is SOLD OUT! A limited amount of single General Admission tickets (no reserved seating) have
Since antiquity, poets have used lyrical techniques to access states of consciousness we associate with grief and trauma. Lyrical writing prioritizes music, rhythm, and emotion over the narrative arc. The goal of this course is to find entry into writing through reading, conversation, and various prompts and exercises to catalyze memory and thinking. We will
Join us for an evening honoring our state's most accomplished writers in the genres of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, young readers, and graphic literature. We are excited to present an in-person awards ceremony for the first time in two years! The ceremony will be hosted by 2020 Ken Kesey Award for Fiction winner Kesha Ajose Fisher.
Celebrate Portland’s youth poets during Literary Arts’ annual Verselandia! Youth Poetry Slam Championship. Cheer on students from Portland and East Multnomah County public high schools competing for poetic glory at this energetic and inspiring event. This program is supported in part by: In order to thrive, this program needs your support! To become a sponsor
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
Are you a working on a writing project and don't know what's next? Do you need tips on creating a better writing routine? Are you wondering if you need an
Here’s an opportunity to meet with publishing experts about your current project or chat about any aspect of the publishing process you have questions about. Sign up for 15 minute
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the man with "the mind on fire," wrote some of the most important and greatest essays in American literature prior to the later twentieth century. Emerson's thought
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 Perrine. This event will take place in-person at Literary Arts' downtown center. Please review our Covid-19 guidelines. The theme
This event is part of our Portland Arts & Lectures 2021/22 season. Our 2021/22 season is SOLD OUT! A limited amount of single General Admission tickets have been released to
Searching for a space to create new work with fellow BIPOC writers? This two-hour workshop meets on Zoom. A variety of prompts will be presented as avenues for generating and sharing new work in an informal setting. Open to BIPOC writers at all levels writing in poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Scholarships are available. Contact Susan
Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month. 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 safer space for poets to read their own poetry, witness others, and participate
Join us for a reading and conversation with Susan Rich and John Sibley Williams, to celebrate the launch of Susan Rich's new book. A Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems collects the essential and award-winning poems from Susan Rich’s four books of poetry along with a generous selection of unpublished work. Rich’s
The first sentences of a work can connect instantly to your character and their dilemma so that your reader is immediately hooked into your story. In this 3 hour class, we'll unpack the beginnings from our favorite books and movies to understand how everything you release in the first paragraphs is vital for your story arc.
An evening with writers who took part in Margaret Malone’s Short Story Intensive class, from September 2021 to May 2022. Join us as they share pieces from the story collections
Join us on Thursday, May 26 to celebrate the writers-in-residence and host teachers who make Literary Arts' Writers in the Schools program possible. Each year, Youth Programs hires local, professional writers to teach creative writing residencies in public high school classrooms. Our writers are so devoted to sharing their time, craft, and knowledge with students
How do you find literary magazines that want your work? What's the best way of getting an editor's attention? This workshop will give you the tools to set up your submission process so you can easily track submissions, learn when to follow up, and how to improve your chances of being published. Access Program We
In partnership with Alano Club of Portland, "The Break is a monthly virtual gathering of writers and artists lead by Kaveh Akbar, celebrating amongness, collaboration, and interdisciplinary creative experimentation. Though many of the activities and discussions orbit or are inflected by recovery themes (Akbar has been in active recovery for eight years), participants are not
One of the most talented and prolific writers of her (or any) generation, Virginia Woolf published novels, short stories, plays, essays, reviews, a biography (of Roger Fry), and an impressionistic,
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
An unforgettable live multimedia experience. “Sweeping the nation with live performances of human interest stories…like an emotionally intellectual rock concert.”—Playbill Tickets to Pop-Up Magazine’s Spring Issue are on sale NOW!
How do I decide what to write about? What if my memory is flawed? How much research do I need to do? What details are the most important? What’s the best way to give and receive feedback to writers in a workshop setting? This class invites you to explore the fundamentals of creative nonfiction, including
Written when she was only 25 years old, White Teeth catapulted Zadie Smith into renown as one of the most exciting authors in the English language. This profound & humorous
Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month. 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 safer space for poets to read their own poetry, witness others, and participate
In partnership with Alano Club of Portland, "The Break is a monthly virtual gathering of writers and artists lead by Kaveh Akbar, celebrating amongness, collaboration, and interdisciplinary creative experimentation. Though
This class, held outdoors at Mt. Tabor Park, will guide you in practicing skills associated with shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing—a gentle, meditative approach to being with nature. The class will include several invitations to explore your senses and your relationship with nature, time for written reflection, and opportunities to share your observations and your writing,
Author Emily St. John Mandel told The LA Times in March 2020, “I would not recommend reading Station Eleven in the middle of a pandemic.” Now as we are firmly
This seminar is for BIPOC participants only Celebrating the 40th anniversary of this seminal publication, we will study Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee along with some of its academic critique. This work in many ways defies categorization--with its mixture of French and English, text and images, and the poetic and political. Though it has been described
This bimonthly 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
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung and Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park have just been translated into English from the original Korean by Anton Hur and have recently been shortlisted and longlisted (respectively) for the Booker Prize. Though very different from one another, by reading both we can get a taste of the exciting landscape that is
This 4 -week short fiction workshop will focus on generating new work and simply getting words down on a page. We will read excerpts, share just-written work aloud, and sometimes discuss assigned weekly readings together. We will investigate ways to unearth material together and share strategies for maintaining a regular writing practice. Participants will leave
How to handle time can be challenging to master when writing in any genre. When should we slow down and dwell in a scene? When should we summarize and move rapidly through weeks, years, or even decades? Should we go back in time to unpack and understand a character's motivation? How does the manipulation of
This class, held outdoors at Hoyt Arboretum, will guide you in practicing skills associated with shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing—a gentle, meditative approach to being with nature. The class will include several invitations to explore your senses and your relationship with nature, time for written reflection, and opportunities to share your observations and your writing, if
Questions about applying to this year's Oregon Literary Fellowships? Join us at this information session! Drop-in anytime between 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Register in advance for this meeting here. Please
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 Perrine. This event will take place in-person at Literary Arts' downtown center. Please review our Covid-19 guidelines. The theme
As modern life and literature focus more on material gains and martial conflicts, the work of Ursula K. Le Guin stands out for her commitment to depicting pacifism and environmentalism in her speculative fiction. Join Becky Chambers (A Prayer for the Crown-Shy), Juhea Kim (Beasts of a Little Land), and Michelle Ruiz Keil (Summer in
Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month. 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 safer space for poets to read their own poetry, witness others, and participate
Questions about applying to this year's Oregon Literary Fellowships? Join us at this information session! Drop-in anytime between 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Register in advance for this meeting here. Please
This 8-week class is focused on holding yourself and your classmates accountable to your writing goals. Each week, plan to share your work-in-progress with the group, set or revise goals for your weekly writing practice, and share successes and challenges with fellow writers. You’ll also learn strategies for keeping focused and staying on track. Occasional
Creative nonfiction utilizes non-linear structures to “think” into complex or ambiguous subjects. In this class, we will explore the relationship between form and content in memoir, deepening our practice by working with a draft of a story or essay. Outside reading assignments and in-class writing and revision exercises will encourage experimentation and writing play. We will
This is a three-hour, one-day intensive discussion on the unique genre of autofiction. This course will provide insight into the many nuances of autofiction, or autobiographical fiction. This “genre” involves writing that is based on real life experiences, but also utilizes fictional literary devices, makingit a very unique form. I will provide craft essays and
Apply online for 2023 Oregon Literary Fellowships. Deadline to apply is Friday, August 5, 2022. Literary Arts will award 12 fellowships in the amount of $3,500. One of these fellowships
Tarot, the ancient card system, is having a 21st century renaissance. With more and more artists improving upon the medieval straight, white, thin and able-bodied imagery, today everyone can find a deck that speaks to them. Whether you are a curious newcomer to tarot, an burgeoning beginner or a pro, this lecture-style workshop will walk
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