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.
Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remains one of the most widely read and studied texts in the American literary canon, as well as the subject of recent reappraisals in
In this combination workshop and craft class, we’ll examine several short stories together and look at how those stories were made. With that inspiration, we’ll look at our own stories and figure out how to get unstuck and what kinds of tweaks our stories could use.
This weekend 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, Sarah Manguso, Leslie Jamison, Rachel Cusk, Edouard Louis, Garth Greenwell, Claudia Rankine and others, in addition to discussing the craft of writing on self.
As John Gardner remarks in The Art of Fiction, “What the beginning writer ordinarily wants is a set of rules on what to do and what not to do in
Olufunke Grace Bankole reads and discusses her debut novel The Edge of Water, in conversation with Margaret Malone. Join us as we celebrate the debut novel from Portland author and Oregon Literary Fellowship recipient Olufunke Grace Bankole, published by our friends at Portland’s own Tin House. Set between Nigeria and New Orleans, The Edge of Water tells the
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,Carmen Maria Machado, Kate Briggs, Emmanuel Carrere, Zadie Smith, Rachel Cusk, Hilton Als, Melissa Febos and others, in addition to weekly craft essays on various genres (memoir, personal essay, autofiction).
There will be an opportunity to submit either one or two short excerpts of your writing (can be from a short story or novel-in-progress) to be workshopped during the class.
This course is generative, so participants should plan to write at least 1500 words per week. Most importantly, the goal of this course is to be inspired and to feel supported in your writing.
Join local AANHPI community organizers and groups Ajumama Workshop, Studio Yellow, Liminal Bodies, and PDX Queer Asian Social Meetup as we welcome Bianca Mabute-Louie to Portland for the launch of
Glowing tentacles from another dimension breach realms in multiple Southeast Portland locations, including Literary Arts! Try to locate all eight intricate sculptures! This art installation by Jonas Hartley is part
Do you write poetry and wonder if you could turn your poems into picture books? Do you write picture books and want to make them more poetic? Explore the wavy grey line between poem and lyrical picture book.
In this collaborative workshop, we’ll study some masters of the lyrical picture book, look at some new picture books coming out by well-known poets, and explore the roles of language, perspective, page turns and “illustratable moments” in separating these two closely related crafts.
Participants will come away with tools to help their picture book texts read more lyrically, as well as tips to help an editor or agent see the visual potential in your poetry.
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett is one of the most loveable and pleasure-giving novels in the American canon: the story of a writer who leaves her home in Boston for what she thinks will be a solitude-filled summer-long “working” vacation at Dunnet Landing, a (fictional) “Down East” Maine fishing village.
In recent years, authors have become inspired to conjure modern takes on ancient Greek myths in best-seller ready, cinematic novels as well as in more explorative, poetic forms. Many of these bring out the inherent juiciness of these perennial tales, while unveiling feminist, queer, and ecstatic undertones buried in the original texts.
Bring the whole family for a magical Story Time at the Literary Arts Bookstore! Sing, play, and dive into the world of Spanish storytelling hosted by Adventures in Spanish. Join
This six-month course is designed to prepare writers for every stage of the novel writing process from beginning the first draft to finding an agent/editor once the manuscript is complete. The purpose of this course is two-fold: to discuss the novel-writing process and to create a community of writers working alongside one another.
This course invites students to dig deep, observe the world around them, slow down, bask in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, and discover how their own unique stories can spring from nature.
By reading great writing and engaging with the natural world from a personal standpoint, students will develop their understanding of ecology and our human connection to it as a species.
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.
This four-week class offers an in-depth exploration of how to optimize writing habits and routines for productivity and mental health. This class will have two main components. The first component will be a review of the resources available to writers who wish to refine their creative practices. The second component will be in-class writing, reflection, and discussion exercises. These exercises will help us hone our creative practices to feel happy and productive throughout our most arduous creative undertakings. Subjects will include: managing goals and deadlines; when, how, and who to ask for feedback; writing alone vs. working together. After four weeks, students will have composed a clear, concise, personalized work plan, including goals, routines, resources, and assigned reading.
Ideal for writers looking to develop a memoir idea or take an existing draft to the next level, this class will employ the art of observation as a core skill to mine memory and the present. Participants will generate 10-20 pages of a memoir in-progress. The class will also explore unconventional narrative structures and work extensively on imagery and creating authentic character development on the page.
In flash fiction, the whole is a part and the part is a whole. The form forces the writer to question each word, to reckon with Flaubert’s mot juste, and move a story by hints and implications. Flash stories are built through gaps as much as the connective tissue of words, so what’s left out of a story is often more important than what’s included.
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
In this two-part workshop, we’ll explore elegies, or poems of lament, through the lens of spirals. We can use these curved paths to structure poems, such as through recurring phrases or imagery, and to relax the brain while creating literary responses in conversation with death, loss, and transformation.
Families are invited to join us weekly on Saturday mornings from 10:30-11:00 a.m. at the Literary Arts Bookstore for story time! Each week our booksellers will read from picture books
In partnership with Multnomah County Library and the Library Foundation, Literary Arts is proud to host an evening with Javier Zamora as the culminating event of the Library's Everybody Reads program. This year's selection is Zamora's memoir, Solito. Everybody Reads is an annual community-wide project that promotes shared reading and discussion around a single book.
Please join us in celebrating the artwork of second grade students at Margaret Scott Elementary School! Featuring paintings inspired by the work of Nigerian American artist Odili Donald Odita. Family
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 they do that? As they say, writing is a muscle, and no matter what your experience level, you have to continually exercise that muscle and practice new tools to keep your writing nimble and moving.
This seminar offers an in-depth exploration of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg, 1924). The novel invites the reader to multiple trajectories of reading: As a modernist epic, The Magic Mountain intimates the tradition of the Bildungsroman, only with an ironic twist. It draws an unforgettable portrayal of a lost world, the cosmopolitan European society before the First World War.
In this seminar we will read Marx both for his ideas and and for the pleasures of his prose. We will observe his use of Greek myths and other legends, the inspiration he took from European fiction and poetry, his journalistic reports of life in his own day, his lively historical accounts, his vast range of allusions from literature, his critiques of the arts, and his refined expression of his sense of the tragedy and the hope in life.
Please join us for the first of two readings featuring the 2025 Oregon Book Awards finalists in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Nonfiction: Fiction Miriam Gershow Kimberly King Parsons Poetry Valerie Witte Charity E. Yoro Creative Nonfiction Tim Palmer Becky Ellis This event is FREE to attend and open to the public. A second finalists reading
Students can work on one or two stories in greater depth, or come away with a handful of starts to many different stories. For beginner and intermediate writers looking to get their work off the ground in a supportive, creative community.
The Break is a monthly virtual gathering of writers and artists lead by Kaveh Akbar, celebrating amongness, collaboration, and interdisciplinary creative experimentation.
Han Kang recently made history by becoming the first Korean and first Asian woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature. As a writer, Han Kang is preoccupied with
Join us as we celebrate the launch of Jonathan Hill's Lizard Boy 2: The Most Perfect Summer Ever . Book two in this acclaimed graphic series explores intolerance through a relatable—and
Join us in celebrating local author and Literary Arts faculty Michelle Kicherer's debut novella, Sexy Life, Hello. Michelle will be joined in conversation by Portland Radio Project's Executive Director Veronica
Join us for a very special storytime with author/illustrator team Fern Wexler and Kelsey Buzzel to celebrate their new book, Families of a Feather!
Please join us for the second of two readings featuring the 2025 Oregon Book Awards finalists in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Nonfiction.
Yallah! Muslims Write is a monthly workshop with the expressed intent to foster a joyful, supportive, and courageous space for self-identifying Muslim artists.
Join us for a celebration of National Poetry Month with local Fernwood Press poets Ayelet Amittay, Casey Killingsworth, Emmett Wheatfall, and Sherri Levine! The poets will share pieces from their
Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month at Literary Arts, on the third Thursday. This mic provides a creative, fun, and welcoming space for all
Join us on Saturday, April 19th at 10:30am in the Literary Arts Bookstore for a very special story time featuring a puppet presentation and tree treasures to explore, with local
The title of this workshop is a line from a Lucille Clifton poem. We’ll use this poem and a range of others as lenses to consider the ways our cultural and ecological moment is an invitation to widened wonder and love. This workshop is open to everyone. No prior experience with writing or reading poetry is needed or expected. We will talk, read, and write together
An evening with four of the Oregon Book Awards finalists for fiction at the Corvallis Museum, as part of the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour: Miriam Gershow Victor Lodato Kimberly
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 across the Portland region. Finalist poets compete for five great prizes. Members of the public are invited to cheer on the youth poets as they
This Saturday, April 26, is Independent Bookstore Day! Come celebrate with us at 716 SE Grand Avenue from 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m for a day full of books, community,
In this 1-hour workshop, participants will review three different types of writing prompts and explore how each of these types of prompts can serve their writing. Participants will then choose the prompt that speaks to them and complete a short writing exercise, with room to share reflections at the end.
Join us for an evening honoring our state's most accomplished writers in the genres of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, young readers, and drama.
This 8-week class is focused on helping each writer push one story, essay or poem through the drafting and revision stages on over the finish line. We'll meet weekly to share accountability updates, read some work-in-progress with the group, set or revise goals for your weekly writing practice, and share successes and challenges with fellow writers.
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