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.
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
Please join us for a reading with some of this year's finalists in Poetry and Fiction: Sindya Bhanoo Matthew Dickman Michele Glazer Emme Lund Eric Tran
Join us for an evening honoring our state's most accomplished writers in the genres of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, young readers, and drama.
The world is a weird place, and we’re just here to document it. This course is for the scribes, the armchair historians, the miners of weird information — all of you aspiring nonfiction writers who aren’t sure what to do with your ideas, or budding freelance journalists looking to turn your ideas into sellable stories.
In this class, we will drop all worry about being “writers”. Instead, we will simply use writing as a means of grounding our own attention. We will be prompted by writers who have turned their attention to the smallest noticings of life -- observations of what is. Through writing together to prompts during our sessions,
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
Join us in celebrating the launch of Metabolics (University of Chicago Press).Author Jessica E. Johnson will be joined in conversation by Janice Lee, author of Imagine a Death (Texas A&M University Press) and Separation Anxiety (Clash Books). The conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A. This event is free and open to the public,
“It’s the little things that count”; “Good things come in small packages”; “Brevity is the soul of wit”; “The Devil’s in the details”… We’ll put these aphorisms to the test in this Delve Seminar exploring short poems, prose poetry, and short/micro fiction. These compressed forms aren’t lacking for content in their brevity, and we will
“When I sit down and start writing, I feel the given world recede, and I can just play.” —Sam Lipsyte Remember when you were a little kid, playing on the floor for hours and hours? Our best writing days are often imbued with that same sense of timelessness, freedom, wonder, and escape—in other words, our
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.
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 two Oregon Book Award authors for a talk and reading at the Springfield Public Library. John Larison's most recent novel, Whiskey When We’re Dry, was a Los Angeles Times and Seattle Times bestseller, an Indie Next Pick, and a finalist for the Ken Kesey Award and winner of the Will Rodgers Medallion. It was
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
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 up to share your work in our open mic. Readings will be followed by a short community discussion. The theme for April is "Transformation." Our
This event is part of our 38th season of Portland Arts & Lectures. A limited number of single General Admission tickets have been released for this event. All lectures will be held in person at The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland, OR. For more information on the season, please see our FAQs or reach
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
Published in 1936, William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! takes his favored subject--the legacy of slavery and the Civil War--and his imagined setting--Mississippi's Yoknapatawpha County--to new heights of development. Set in the period before, during, and after the Civil War, it focuses on the life of Thomas Sutpen, an aspiring plantation owner and patriarch, and his descendants.
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
Youth Poetry Slam Championship 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. Support provided by: To support this event as a sponsor, please contact Lydah
Join us in celebration of the launch of oh orchid o’clock (Omnidawn Publishing, 2023) by Endi Bogue Hartigan who will introduce her new collection. She will be joined by Brazilian poet Flávia Rocha, who will read from her most recent book Exosfera. Enjoy an evening of lyric investigations into space, time, our time, and orchids,
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
This weekend intensive is designed for writers who have written at least the first two chapters of a novel. Limited to 8 students, each participant will have their work discussed, with feedback from the class and the instructor. Discussions will be focused on character development and plot and how to chart the next steps with
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
The lyric essay is a form that allows many small fragments to be drawn together to create a whole. A lyric essay might hold memories, research, a bit of poetry, a bit of fiction; it celebrates mixing genres. In this workshop, we will write a series of fragments in response to prompts, and then braid
“A list of furniture is not a good beginning to a letter, though I dare say a clever person with a fantastic turn of mind could transform even a laundry list into a poem.” Mildred Lathbury, the “excellent woman” at the heart of Barbara Pym’s 1952 comedy of manners, is full of such opinions and
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 theme for May is "Wildness." Our featured readers are Dean Backus, Karelia Stetz-Waters, and Callum Angus.
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
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. Each week we’ll use new prompts and guided activities to inspire new creation. We’ll look at the work of writers we admire and ask: how’d
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
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
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.
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 contact Jessica Meza-Torres (jessica@literary-arts.org) if you have any questions.
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
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
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 -
Allison Cobb, 2022 winner of the Oregon Book Award for her book Plastic: An Autobiography will be appearing at Eastern Oregon University as part of EOU Arts Fest. "Plastic degrade so slowly, Allison Cobb writes in her exquisitely made hybrid memoir, it is beyond material, it becomes instantly metaphorical. What does it mean to triumph
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
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.
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,
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
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
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,
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 contact Jessica Meza-Torres (jessica@literary-arts.org) if you have any questions.
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.
Join us for a reading by Melissa Febos, author the nationally bestselling essay collection GIRLHOOD. Reading will be followed by a conversation with Kasey Anderson, Director of Development and Community Engagement at the Alano Club of Portland. This event is free and open for all to attend. Space is limited, so please RSVP here.
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