• April 1, 2024
          Finalists reading: Creative Nonfiction, Fiction and Poetry
          April 3, 2024
          One Page Wednesday: APRIL
          April 4, 2024
          Everybody Reads 2024: Gabrielle Zevin
          April 8, 2024
          2024 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony
  • Box Office

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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Wednesday

May 10

Friday

May 12

For BIPOC writers   Free Events   online  

Oregon BIPOC Publishing Event: Agent Panel

Literary Arts, Ooligan Press, and Portland State University’s English Department partner to present the Oregon BIPOC Writers Publishing Event. This event is designed for writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color to connect to the publishers and authors seeking to hear their voices. Join us for a virtual panel discussion featuring literary agents, DongWon

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Tuesday

May 16

Thursday

May 18

Free Events   In-person  

Slamlandia

Event Series Slamlandia

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

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Thursday

May 18

Ticketed Events  

TOM HANKS IN CONVERSATION

PLEASE NOTE: VENUE CHANGE! This event is now being presented at the Keller Auditorium at 222 SW Clay St., Portland. Portland'5 will issue current ticket holders new tickets to this event. Look for an email from portland5@paciolan.com for your new tickets, and print them at home or save to your phone. Literary Arts presents a special

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Tuesday

May 23

Free Events   In-person   Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships   Oregon Book Awards Author Tour  

Oregon Book Awards Author Tour: Sindya Bhanoo and Eric Tran

Featuring Sindya Bhanoo, 2023 winner of the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction for Seeking Fortune Elsewhere and Eric Tran, 2023 winner of the Stafford/Hall prize for Poetry for Mouth, Sugar, and Smoke. Readings by the authors followed by a Q&A. Presented in partnership with Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.

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Monday

May 29

Free Events   Writing Classes  

The Break with Kaveh Akbar

Event Series The Break with Kaveh Akbar

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

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Tuesday

May 30

Delve Readers Seminars   In-person   Spring 2023  

“Beneath every history, another history”: Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall

With the death of Hilary Mantel in September 2022 we lost one of the greatest writers of our time. Mantel’s books are so original, and so different from one another, that it’s often difficult to believe they were written by the same novelist. Her brilliant language, dark humor, and inventive, impeccable craft make everything she

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Friday

Jun 2

Free Events   In-person  

Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam

Sixteen teams. Two days. One grand prize. The 2023 Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam will be in Portland, OR on June 2nd & 3rd, 2023. The top four teams will receive prize money. Come create your own legend. 2023 Event Schedule Thursday, June 1st Guilder Cafe, inside Powell’s Books (1035 W Burnside St.) ★ 6:00pm -

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Saturday

Jun 3

Wednesday

Jun 7

Free Events   In-person  

One Page Wednesday- June

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. Our featured reader is

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Friday

Jun 9

Free Events   online  

End of Class Reading: Short Story Intensive

Come celebrate the culmination of the Short Story Intensive writing class. Readings by class participants, hosted by the instructor Margaret Malone. Click here to register in advanced. This is a virtual event via Zoom. If you have any questions about this event, please email Jessica Meza-Torres at jessica@literary-arts.org.    

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Saturday

Jun 10

In-person   Summer 2023   Writing Classes  

Autofiction Weekend Intensive

During this weekend autofiction intensive, we will take a deep dive into the unique art of autofiction. Autofiction combines the disciplines of autobiography and fiction. It can be written like memoir or like fiction, but it generally comes down to style: autofiction is often highly introspective and mainly focuses on interior life. For this course,

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Saturday

Jun 10

Free Events   online  

Poetry in Translation: Reading & Conversation with PEN Award Finalists

A reading and conversation with the 2023 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation Winner and Finalists. PEN award poets from Chile, Haiti, Iran, the Slovenian-Austrian border, and Bolivia read by their U.S. translators, followed by Q&A. Click here to register for this event. The Loose Pearl, Paula Ilabaca Nuñez (Coimpress), translated from Spanish by Daniel

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Thursday

Jun 15

Free Events   In-person  

Slamlandia

Event Series Slamlandia

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

Find out more
Tuesday

Jun 20

Delve Readers Seminars   In-person  

Henry David Thoreau: Journals

Thoreau’s Journal is one of the greatest piece of American nature-writing and one of the greatest intellectual achievements in world literature. As Virginia Woolf said, in the Journal "we have a chance of getting to know Thoreau as few people are known." Thoreau considered his journals his central literary endeavor. They are, among other things,

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Wednesday

Jul 5

Free Events   In-person  

One Page Wednesday- July

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 guest host this month is Jessica Wadleigh. Our featured reader is Alayna Becker.

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Thursday

Jul 6

Tuesday

Jul 11

Saturday

Jul 15

Free Events   In-person  

Incite Pride Social

To celebrate the seventh year of the Incite: Queer Writers Read series, we’re hosting a Pride Social for our community on Saturday, July 15. Join us for food, beverages, games, book sales, a showcase of writing by Incite authors, and lots of opportunities to meet and reconnect with other queer writers and readers!

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Tuesday

Jul 18

Wednesday

Jul 19

Thursday

Jul 20

Free Events   In-person  

Slamlandia

Event Series Slamlandia

Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month, 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 own poetry,

Find out more
Saturday

Jul 22

Wednesday

Jul 26

online class   Summer 2023   Writing Classes  

Experiments in Creativity

If you allow them to, ideas for art and writing can come from absolutely anywhere. This creative generation class will put that theory to the test, through a series of experiments in creative problem-solving, spontaneous and chance-based play, and other exploratory prompts that challenge you to work outside your normal modes and investigate how the

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Sunday

Jul 30

Delve Readers Seminars   In-person  

Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past: Within a Budding Grove

Proust’s magnum opus is often considered to be the greatest novel of the 20th century. It richly repays the careful attention it demands, and becomes unforgettable. First-time readers, however, may find the style and size of the work daunting. This seminar is intended for participants who have always wanted to read Proust, but who would

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Monday

Jul 31

Free Events   online class   Writing Classes  

The Break with Kaveh Akbar

Event Series The Break with Kaveh Akbar

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

Find out more
Wednesday

Aug 2

Free Events   In-person  

One Page Wednesday- August

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.  Our featured reader is Leni

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Friday

Aug 4

Sunday

Aug 6

Thursday

Aug 10

Monday

Aug 14

Tuesday

Aug 22

Saturday

Aug 26

Monday

Aug 28

Free Events   online class   Writing Classes  

The Break with Kaveh Akbar

Event Series The Break with Kaveh Akbar

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

Find out more
Wednesday

Sep 6

Wednesday

Sep 6

Wednesday

Sep 6

Free Events   In-person  

One Page Wednesday- September

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. Our featured reader is Alle

Find out more
Thursday

Sep 7

Friday

Sep 8

Friday

Sep 8

Free Events   Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships  

Oregon Book Awards Special Awards: Nomination Deadline

As part of the Oregon Book Awards, Literary Arts offers three awards that recognize significant contributions to Oregon’s literary culture: • The Charles Erskine Scott Wood Distinguished Writer Award is presented to an Oregon author in recognition of an enduring, substantial literary career. Past recipients include George Hitchcock, Ken Kesey, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Barry Lopez.

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