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.
In this Delve seminar we will explore three extraordinary literary lightning bolts that Woolf produced during the later years of her life, from the 1930’s through to the first years of World War II and the Battle of Britian.
In this class, we will look anew at our manuscripts or rough drafts. We’ll locate the symmetries that already exist and expand them, push them to their fullest potentials. We’ll find themes and ideas that are intuitively central to our stories and ask whether they’ve been examined enough.
Does what you write or how you write it change with the seasons? In these quarterly gatherings we’ll meet to be inspired by the turn of the world.
This four week Delve will focus on two early novels from Barbara Kingsolver. Both of these books take place in a southwest dealing with environmental impacts, poverty, and the choices people make within those contexts.
Join us for an afternoon of festive winter fun for kids at The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe! We’ll have oodles of sugar cookies to decorate, a coloring/craft corner, and a cozy winter story time. It’s fun for all ages! Plus, it’s not all cookies. Parents and Adults, grab a heartier bite of lunch from
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 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
Join us at the Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe for a write-in celebrating 250 years of Jane Austen! We’re channeling our inner Jane and writing the night away. Whether you’re writing the next great romance novel or just soaking up the vibe, all are welcome. Featuring a special Jane Austen-themed drink at the cafe! About
The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe is thrilled to partner with SCRAP PDX for a winter-themed crafting event. Hand-sew decorative winter plush ornaments to adorn your tree, home, bag, or whatever else. Make a gift for a loved one this season! ✨ Bring a friend! Make a friend! Grab a beverage, browse the books, and
Escape from the cold with a book and a beverage at Literary Arts! Join us for a special happy hour. Spend $20 or more at the bookstore and take a dollar off a beverage from the cafe! Mulled wine, hot cider, free gift-wrapping, good books, good company... what more could you ask for? Come celebrate
In this 3-hour course, we’ll learn how, where, and with what to begin our memoirs. We’ll discover that our first chapter is more than just the sturdy foundation to a life recorded, it’s a guide for you, the writer—both a map and its key.
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. December's featured reader is RJ
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. The featured reader for December is Amelia Ralston-Okabayashi. This event is open to everyone, but only people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color will be invited
This four-week poetry class will focus on the practice of keeping a commonplace book and how that practice can lead to a more generative poetic life.
Literary Arts with Queer Cute PDX are hosting a Literary Matchmaking Event! Queer Cute is a local organization that hosts social gatherings in the queer community. Bring your favorite book (or book that you feel best describes you) and put it on the designated shelf at the bookstore- the person who picks up your book
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 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
Join us for a special harvest write-in at the Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe! This month we’re celebrating the Three Sisters, as always with a curated playlist and drink special for our writers. The Three Sisters refer to corn, beans, and squash, three of the main agricultural crops of North and Central American Indigenous groups.
Sarah Weinman, author of The Real Lolita, returns to Literary Arts with her latest release, Without Consent, a deep dive into the historic case that defined marital rape and consent in America. Weinman will be in conversation with Sarah Marshall. About the book: From Sarah Weinman, author of Scoundrel and The Real Lolita, comes an eye-opening story about the
The Literary Arts Bookstore is pleased to welcome Chris Kraus to celebrate the release of her latest book, The Four Spent the Day Together! Kraus will be joined in conversation by Lydia Kiesling. About the book: “The intelligence and honesty and total originality of Chris Kraus make her work not just great but indispensable…I read
Stephen Crane lived a short and intense life, and wrote short and intense fiction. Regardless of the genre—he was a muckraking journalist, an author, and a poet—Crane never shied from an ugly truth, never spared his readers’ feelings. Whether depicting the sordid streets of lower Manhattan or fictionalizing his own experience of shipwreck, Crane’s remarkable
Literary Arts is excited to welcome Ritual Dyes into the space for their weekly crafting circle, hosted by Chin Matthews (Instagram: @chin2tog). This event is BYOC (Bring Your Own Craft). Learn more about the weekly crafting circles here.
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 (JP) Perrine. The featured readers for November are Stephanie Adams-Santos, Courtney Gould, and Anthony Hudson. The theme is
Join Ooligan Press to celebrate the launch of their latest title, Cepka by Leah Altman. About the Book For Leah Altman, growing up as an adoptee outside of her culture meant growing up without her cekpa, the Lakota connection to family and homeland. Now an adult, Leah departs her life in Portland, Oregon, to
The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe is thrilled to partner with SCRAP PDX for a special event. Hand-sew decorative fall plushies and felt garlands. Grab a beverage, browse the bookstore, and gather round to sew some leaves, mushrooms, acorns, and more in this seasonal celebration! This is a ticked event. Click here for more
In this one day class, we'll work to demystify the submission process. We’ll discuss how to find publications you’re excited to send your work to, set up personalized submission goals and to-do lists, and organize our own systems for keeping track of our submissions.
Join us in celebrating Shay Mirk and Eleri Harris for the debut of their new graphic novel, Making Nonfiction Comics! About the book: The definitive guide to writing, drawing, and publishing nonfiction comics from award-winning creators Shay Mirk and Eleri Harris Making Nonfiction Comics is an accessible guide to nonfiction comics perfect for graphic novel readers,
You're invited to a special One Page Wednesday in collaboration with the Portland Book Festival's Cover to Cover program of events! ONE PAGE PRESENTS: ASK ME ANYTHING WRITERS' EDITION WITH MARGARET MALONE Join us on November 5th for a very special One Page Wednesday. Prior to the reading and open mic, we will host an author
In this four-week class, we’ll read and discuss ekphrastic poems by a wide selection of writers, creating our own definition of ekphrasis, pushing the boundaries of what an ekphrastic poem can be. We’ll engage with several essays by poets to get us asking questions and diving deeper into our craft.
Join us in welcoming John Freeman to discuss his latest book, California Rewrtitten. Freeman will be joined in conversation by Deborah Miranda. This is a Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover event. Check out the full line up here. About the book: Dive into the revelatory worlds of California's most exciting writers, and discover how
At this three-hour class, we will read the beginnings of short stories, discuss their effectiveness, tone, and structure, and discuss whether they encourage us to keep reading and why.
In this three hour interactive workshop, you’ll refine your nonfiction book concept and clarify what your book is really about, who it’s for, and how it stands out. Whether you’re writing a memoir, self-help, personal growth, or thought leadership book, this session will help you focus your purpose and shape your message.
The David P. Thompson Elk Fountain has been a Portland icon for 125 years. Removed from its home downtown due to collateral damage from community protests in 2020, the Elk has been out of sight but not out of mind as it makes its return this fall. The Elk is not just a fountain. It’s
This foundational series is for personal nonfiction writers ready to shape real-life experiences into engaging stories with intention and clarity. Over four sessions, you’ll learn how to identify your memoir’s deeper message, build a strong narrative arc, and make structural choices that serve both your story and your reader.
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. The featured reader for October is Jenny H. Lee. This event is open to everyone, but only people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color will be
Join us for a very special spooky story time with local author A.A. Livingston and her book, Grizelda the Green Hates Halloween! Costumes encouraged! About the book: Told in silly, rhyming text, this is a not-so-scary Halloween tale about a grouchy old witch named Grizelda the Green who tries to destroy Halloween! Perfect for fans
This six-week seminar is designed for writers interested in doing deep reads of contemporary literature from a craft perspective. We will dissect the structure and language from five very different short stories so that we can apply some of the same tools these writers use in their work to our own. Delve for Writers is an occasional series of seminars designed to help writers improve their craft through close readings of contemporary poetry and prose.
Join us for GHOSTLY ENCOUNTERS, a spooky storytelling event at the Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe! There will be a sign up for the open mic where readers will have five minutes to enchant us with their ghoulish tales! Our only requirement is that these stories are true—or at least, true to you. Audience members
Learn the craft of narrative writing. Participants will learn to write perceptively – deploying their five senses and delving into feelings as they write. They will learn how to leverage narrative distance, writing between their ideas and the immediacy of their experiences to see how distance can affect the emotional weight of the work. They will learn how to use metaphors as a means of discovery, to harness verbs, and to modify sentences for focus and impact.
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,
Join us at the Literary Arts Bookstore for a special interview with visiting Portland Arts & Lectures author Elizabeth Gilbert, with OPB's Dave Miller, as it is broadcast live on Think Out Loud. This event is free and open to the public, however space is limited so we kindly ask you to RSVP below. FROM
Pick a card . . . or don’t! As always, our write-ins are free and open to everybody. Come share space with us as we channel some witchy October vibes with Tarot Card prompts and a special latte. Or just bring whatever it is you’re working on and hang out with us. Bonus points for
The Literary Arts Bookstore is pleased to welcome Victoria Redel in celebration of her latest,I Am You, in conversation with 2025 Oregon Book Award Winner Kimberly King Parsons. An unforgettable love story about sex, art, and politics in 1600s Amsterdam. At age eight, Gerta Pieters is dressed as a boy and put to work
Readers generally considered The Plague, published in 1947 (and a large factor in Camus receiving the Nobel Prize for literature a decade later), to be a superior metaphorical novel about life during wartime and Nazi occupation. As we learned in 2020, it was also a pretty accurate look at how humans react to life during
The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe are thrilled to welcome Lit Mic for a very special immersive writing workshop! Participants will search for clues, interview witnesses, and conduct their own investigation via creative writing prompts and sharing to solve the murder. About Lit Mic: Portland Lit Mic is a community-oriented organization, dedicated to getting writers
Join us in celebrating Jade Chang's latest novel, What a Time to Be Alive. About the book: A deeply moving and often hilarious novel following a woman who becomes an internet folk hero in the most unexpected way, catapulting her into fame and influence just as she’s finally beginning to reckon with her complicated past Lola Treasure Gold can’t figure out her life. She’s broke, unemployed,
Join us in welcoming Omar El Akkad, Jeff VanderMeer, and Crystal Willer for a conversation on the work of Katherine Dunn, celebrating the posthumous release of her short story collection Near Flesh.
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