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.
One of the central struggles in storytelling is that human beings are, in essence, time travelers. We live in the past of our memories and the future of our hopes. Thus, when we tell stories, we often shuttle around in time. This can be exciting, but more often it winds up confusing the reader, and
The key to any unforgettable work of prose resides in the quality of its scenes. In this class, we’ll look at some of the best scenes ever written and investigate what it takes to write a scene that keeps readers on the edges of their seats. We’ll also discuss how structuring scenes can create a
DELVE FOR WRITERS: An occasional Delve series that offers seminars that focus on close readings of narrative, form, and stylistic choices that writers can incorporate into their own writing practice. Contemporary poetry and prose-poetry is a fabulous place to find rich, novel ideas about both form and content. This year’s final Portland Arts & Lectures
How do you describe the Oregon coast, a garden full of dahlias, or the vibe of your favorite coffee shop? How do you write about a crowd of people? A fictional fishing village? A cold office? Or break down the symbolism of your protagonist’s kitchen junk drawer? The course will help writers currently working in
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,
Literary Arts presents Aimee Nezhukumatathil on April 18, 2024, as part of our 39th season of Portland Arts & Lectures.
Oregon Book Award winner Sindya Bhanoo will be appearing in Cannon Beach library as part of their NW Authors Series. Seeking Fortune Elsewhere features intimate stories of South Indian immigrants and the families they left behind center women’s lives and ask how women both claim and surrender power. Traveling from Pittsburgh to Eastern Washington to
April is National Letter Writing Month! Spend some time writing letters and catching up on your correspondence with like-minded writers and fans of the postal system. Some supplies, snacks, and typewriters will be provided, but feel free to bring your favorite stationery, pens & art supplies. Hosted by Squeezebox Press
We've added a second section! Have you ever wondered how to turn your brilliant idea into a captivating picture book? In this 8-week course, you’ll learn the art of crafting picture books that leave a lasting impression. We'll explore the world of children's literature, studying beloved classics and contemporary favorites, to inspire your creativity. Through
Have you ever wondered how to turn your brilliant idea into a captivating picture book? In this 8-week course, you’ll learn the art of crafting picture books that leave a lasting impression. We'll explore the world of children's literature, studying beloved classics and contemporary favorites, to inspire your creativity. Through engaging lessons and hands-on workshops,
Verselandia! is the annual youth poetry slam championship presented by Literary Arts. It is the Grand Slam for the winners from individual school slams hosted by public high school librarians. Finalist poets compete for five great prizes. Celebrate Portland’s youth poets during our annual Verselandia! Youth Poetry Slam Championship. Cheer on students from Portland and East
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 will be followed by a short community discussion. Hosted by Kyle Yoshioka and Jessica Meza-Torres.
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. The featured reader for May is
This course is for all levels of writers and readers. We will read and discuss excerpts from contemporary authors who write the self (or write from the basis of personal experience) such as Annie Erneaux, Leslie Jamison, Kate Briggs, Emmanuel Carrere, Hilton Als, Melissa Febos, Edouard Louis and others, in addition to weekly craft essays
Join Oregon Book Award winner Josephine Woolington, author of Where We Call Home:Lands,Seas and Skies of the Pacific Northwest, as she sheds light on the diverse species whose populations are slowly declining from the lands, seas, and skies of the Pacific Northwest at the Southern Wasco Public Library, as part of the Oregon Book Awards
Join Oregon Book Award winner Josephine Woolington, author of Where We Call Home:Lands,Seas and Skies of the Pacific Northwest, as she sheds light on the diverse species whose populations are slowly declining from the lands, seas, and skies of the Pacific Northwest at the Southern Wasco Public Library, as part of the Oregon Book Awards
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. The featured readers for May are Liz Asch, Aliya Bree Hall, and Sara Jaffe. The theme is
Oregon Book Award winner Lauren Kessler, author of Free: Two Years, Six Lives, and the Long Journey Home will give a talk at Blue Mountain Community College.
Writers can't decide what to do with grief. It has wrongly been called too sentimental or too cold. Too traumatic or too unoriginal. But regardless of the current writerly opinion about it, grief is going nowhere. So how do we write about it? How do we write with it? This generative class will help writers
Being alive is really a very strange endeavor. Bizarre coincidences, déjà vu, the fallibility of our own memory and perceptions, and inexplicable, seemingly magical occurrences are perhaps all more commonplace than we have the space to acknowledge while contending with our busy days. Fiction allows us to ramp this strangeness up just a notch, to
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,
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
Please join us for a reading featuring recipients of the 2024 Oregon Literary Fellowships: Karleigh Frisbie Brogan Jenny H. Lee Makiia Lucier Kieran Mundy Rosanna Nafziger Ami Patel Ösel Jessica Plante-Curl Eric Simons Joe Wilkins Evan Morgan Williams with special appearances from publishing fellowship recipients, Fonograf Editions and First Matter Press.
Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is the quintessential modern novel. This is the paradigmatic “show don’t tell” writer who, by sheer force of talent, sweat, style, and restraint was able to turn a small, inconsequential notice in a provincial newspaper into one of the greatest stories of the Western tradition. Morally complex, ironic, insightful, and brilliant—if this
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 will be followed by a short community discussion. Hosted by Kyle Yoshioka and Jessica Meza-Torres.
Willa Cather (1873–1947) is one of the most beloved writers in the American canon and is one of those writers whose works are embraced both by a mass audience and by scholars within the academy. Over the course of the past 40 years Cather’s work has been claimed and fought over by such a variety
Sometimes we become so focused on productivity or “doing it right” that we stifle our creativity. In this class we’ll focus on one of the hardest parts of writing: writing.
Some real-life experiences are too bizarre, too painful, too otherworldly, to write about in a straight forward manner. What happens when you can’t or refuse to work from point A
Come celebrate the culmination of the Short Story Intensive writing class. Readings by class participants, hosted by class instructor Margaret Malone. If you have any questions about this event, please email Alexa Winik at alexa@literary-arts.org. Free and open to the public!
The first in a two-night series for the Bigfoot Poetry Festival, this event features poets from all over the Pacific Northwest (and beyond!) who will engage in a battle of words for the enjoyment of an audience. Teams of poets will compete with their spoken word at Literary Arts—the first bout starting at 5:00pm, and
The second in a two-night series for the Bigfoot Poetry Festival, this event features poets from all over the Pacific Northwest (and beyond!) who will engage in a battle of words for the enjoyment of an audience. Teams of poets will compete with their spoken word at Literary Arts—the first bout starting at 5:00pm, and
The Bigfoot Poetry Festival returns to Literary Arts with an all-day celebration of the written and spoken word, featuring poetry slams, a poetry market, open mics, and writing and performance workshops. All events are FREE and open to the public. Accessibility Note: The Poetry Market, Youth Poetry Slam, and New Sh*t Open Mic will take
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. The featured reader for June is
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,
Spend some time writing letters and catching up on your correspondence with like-minded writers and fans of the postal system. Some supplies, snacks, and typewriters will be provided, but feel free to bring your favorite stationery, pens and art supplies. Hosted by Squeezebox Press. Note: Due to construction on the street, please enter Literary Arts through
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. For the month of June, YOU are the featured reader! Join us for an open mic night with some writing prompts and fun! This event is open to
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. The featured reader for July is
This Delve explores two texts that are modern retellings of Korean folklore. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is a retelling of Simcheongga, one of the five surviving stories of the Korean pansori storytelling tradition. The original story takes place in the Joseon Dynasty and deals with a daughter (Shimcheong) who sacrifices herself for
Questions about applying to this year's Oregon Literary Fellowships? Join us at this information session! The deadline to apply for a 2025 Oregon Literary Fellowship is Friday, August 2, 2024. Register in advance Please contact Alexa Winik (alexa@literary-arts.org) if you have any questions.
“The simplest answer is that a writer who gardens is sooner or later going to write a book about the subject–I take that as inevitable,” writes Eleanor Perenyi in her forward to Green Thoughts, her collection of essays on gardening. In this course, we’ll explore literature of the garden, using Olivia Laing’s book The Garden
Have you ever wondered how to turn your brilliant idea into a captivating picture book? In this 8-week course, you’ll learn the art of crafting picture books that leave a
Gabriel García Márquez began his writing career as a journalist & once referred to the profession as "the best in the world." While the international literary community celebrated him as one of the greatest-ever fiction authors, he never ceased writing journalism. The Scandal of the Century was first published in English in 2019, & this
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. The featured readers for July are David Ciminello, Shelley Gaske, and Charlie J. Stephens. The theme
Ideal for those who have completed "From Idea to Manuscript" or have a foundational understanding of picture book creation. Take your picture book projects to the next level. This class
Summer is the season for sizzling flings with short forms. This generative class will offer prompts linked to weekly themes—road trips, mix tapes, romances, adventures in nature—mashed up with a
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