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.
Novels of ghosts and haunted landscapes can open the door to discussions of sociology and repression, trauma, and the cathartic function of horror. In this seminar, we will examine themes
This event is part of our 38th season of Portland Arts & Lectures. Subscription sales to the lecture series have now closed. All lectures will be held in person at
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
“Screenplays…are primarily a narrative blueprint for cinematic interpretation. They require certain beats, certain layouts, and certain terminology to communicate the visual and audio needs of an eventual production — a production that hundreds of professionals will collaborate on.” - Ken Miyamoto, Screencraft “The challenge of screenwriting is to say much in little and then take
The Symposium by Plato asks: what is love? It is the story of a banquet in classical Athens, attended by Socrates and his friends, at which each person tells a story about the origin of Love. These stories are full of deep psychological insight, powerful mythic imagination, and profound philosophical reflection that have made The
The American novelist Walker Percy described The Brothers Karamazov as “maybe the greatest novel of all time . . . . almost prophesies and prefigures everything—all the bloody mess and the issues of the 20th century.” It’s fair to extend Percy’s observation to include the mess of the present century as well. The Brothers K
The Oregon Book Awards honors the state’s finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, graphic literature, drama, literary nonfiction, and literature for young readers. Finalists will be announced on our web site on January 24, 2023. Oregon Book Award winners will be announced at the Oregon Book Awards ceremony on
Join us for a conversation with Joy Castro, author of One Brilliant Flame, and S. Tremaine Nelson of the Northwest Review. This is a virtual event. Click here to register in advance. If you have any questions, reach out to Jessica Meza-Torres at jessica@literary-arts.org.
Autofiction is a unique genre (or non-genre) that combines the autobiographical with the fictional. In this course, we will take a close look at the craft of autofiction. We will read novel excerpts, short stories and novellas. We will also look at craft essays on the form. The goal over the twelve weeks is to
Writers often use musical techniques to access states of consciousness we associate with grief. 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 consider how writers crafting stories
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
Though published many decades apart, these two texts share similarities both in their subject matter and their experimental qualities. Just as Dictee cannot be merely labeled as a memoir and DMZ Colony cannot be labeled purely as a poetry collection, both texts expand our understanding of genre by weaving together prose, poetry and photographs. Moreover,
Literary Arts is proud to present an evening with #1 New York Times bestselling author Amor Towles (Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow) in celebration of his third novel, The Lincoln Highway. COMMUNITY TICKETS: Free and reduced-priced tickets are available to this event. Learn more here. Praise for The Lincoln Highway: “Towles’ third
Literary Arts and Sony Pictures Classics invite you to a special screening of the new documentary Turn Every Page.
In 2020, Perrin offered a class with Literary Arts on writing about joy inspired by Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights. She's back in 2023 with a “take two” on this rich subject inspired this time by Ross Gay’s most recent book, Inciting Joy. This is a generative writing class where most of our time
Memoir is a unique and exciting format in which the writer has the creative freedom to tell some portion of their life’s story in a captivating way. We don’t necessarily need to read your story from birth up to the present day but like any good novel, a good memoir should have a story arc,
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
This event is part of our 38th season of Portland Arts & Lectures. Subscription sales to the lecture series have now closed. A limited amount of single tickets have been released for this lecture only. (Purchase tickets below). All lectures will be held in person at The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland, OR.
This unique course is designed for creative aspiring writers with no prior experience, as well as those with screenwriting experience, wishing to break into television writing. Learn in an interactive environment the basics of creating, writing, and presenting your first television script for both drama and/or comedy, including how to take your idea to the
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. Access Program We want our
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 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 February is "Disappearing/Appearing." Our
One Page Wednesday is back in-person at our downtown center! 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
Join poets Mary Szybist and Laurel Nakanishi for an interactive evening of poetry that will consider the concept of place. After a discussion and reading, the audience will be invited to write in response to a series of poetry-inspired prompts. Bring a journal and pen for a generative evening of writing. Everyone welcome!
Micro-essays, much like poetry, rely on compression, constraint, and exacting language. In this generative course, participants will test the capacity of this miniature form, proving how much can be conveyed in a small space. Here, all the usual craft questions are present (what gets included, and what gets left out? Where to begin? How to
Presented as part of the 2023 AWP Conference. A conversation on storytelling, environmental racism, and activism.
What is a border? Who does it serve? Who gets to draw it? This seminar will interrogate our understanding of the border as a static entity by witnessing its creation, listening to those who have documented its development and studying how ever-changing policies continue to influence the lives of those on all sides of the
In partnership with the Portland Opera, join us for a discussion with Thumbprint composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Susan Yankowitz, moderated by Portland Opera Artistic Director Priti Gandhi. This event is free and open to the public. Thumbprint is inspired by the true story of Mukhtar Mai—a trailblazing Pakistani activist whose fight for justice and safety reminds
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
Celebrate the power of books to create a stronger community by attending the 2023 Everybody Reads author event with Ruth Ozeki! In partnership with Multnomah County Library and The Library Foundation, Literary Arts is proud to present a lecture by bestselling author Ruth Ozeki as the culminating event of Everybody Reads 2023. Everybody Reads is
In this six-week class, students will work on creating a narrative structure that will allow them to embark on the journey of the creation of their memoir. Through short and long readings, the class will study and develop characterization, setting, and narrative voice besides learning to mine memory and research for detail. A 10–15-page project
Jacob Darwin Hamblin, 2022 Oregon Book Award winner for The Wretched Atom, will be appearing at the Monmouth Public Library as part of the Oregon Book Award Author Tour. This event includes refreshments, an author talk, and time for questions from the attendees. "The Wretched Atom is packed with discoveries that will interest author Jacob
Join us for an evening with the 2023 Oregon Book Award finalists for the Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction. Readings will be followed by an audience Q&A. This is a virtual event. Click here to register in advance. If you have any questions, contact Jessica Meza-Torres at jessica@literary-arts.org.
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 March is "Subversion." This event will take place in-person at Literary Arts' downtown center.
Join us for a panel discussion with the 2023 Oregon Book Award finalists for the Angus Bowmer Award in Drama. The panel will be moderated by Conor Eifler, the 2021 winner of the Angus Bowmer Award for "You Cannot Undo This Action." Register in advance for this event
Join us for an evening with the 2023 Oregon Book Award finalists for the Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction. Readings will be followed by an audience Q&A. This is
Join us for storytime with the 2023 Oregon Book Award finalists for the Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children's Literature. This is a virtual event. Click here to register in advance. If you have any questions, contact Jessica Meza-Torres at jessica@literary-arts.org.
Join us for a reading featuring the 2023 Oregon Book Award finalists for the Leslie Bradshaw Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Literature. This is a virtual event. Click here to register in advance. If you have any questions, contact Jessica Meza-Torres at jessica@literary-arts.org.
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
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,
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