Free Events In-person Writing Classes
Writing with Tarot: Independent Book Store Day
Come celebrate Independent Bookstore Day at Literary Arts and take part in a free, two-hour condensed version of Miranda Schmidt's Writing With Tarot class.

ON THE TENTH SEASON OF THE ARCHIVE PROJECT, ENJOY DISCUSSIONS FROM PORTLAND ARTS & LECTURES, PORTLAND BOOK FESTIVAL, AND OTHER COMMUNITY EVENTS FROM OUR HOME IN PORTLAND, OREGON AND BEYOND.
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.
Come celebrate Independent Bookstore Day at Literary Arts and take part in a free, two-hour condensed version of Miranda Schmidt's Writing With Tarot class.
Join us at The Literary Arts Bookstore and Cafe on Independent Bookstore Day for a special storytime featuring local author Leslie Barnard Booth. Saturday, April 25, is Independent Bookstore Day!
Participants in this one day class will read, draft, and collaborate in revising letter poems that balance the public with the private, the close-to-bone with the common. Through generative, constraint-based prompts, participants will explore the tension between forms of direct address and forms of poetic allusion to speak to, or point towards, what’s been left unsaid in their poems.
Join us for a day of giveaways, free workshops, food and drink specials, and more as we celebrate indie bookstores! Saturday, April 25, is Independent Bookstore Day! Come celebrate with
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is thrilled to welcome Kanako Nishi, author of the Japanese language novel Sakura and Allison Markin Powell, the English translator of the best-selling novel.
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
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is excited to welcome local poets Rebecca Clarren, Margot Kahn, and Daniela Naomi Molnar for an evening of readings and conversation!
The three novels in this seminar all overlap in time and space with the mid-twentieth-century world of Gilead, while offering whole other stories and lives that offer perspectives on the great themes of race and racism, faith and family, punishment and reconciliation, love and loss and forgiveness. Set in the American past, Robinson’s novels nevertheless offer challenging insights and hope for today—hope for art, for the nation, for each other and individual selves.
Join us at the Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe for our monthly write-in. April is National Poetry Month, so we are celebrating our poets. Whether you write poetry, prose, or
David Foster Wallace was uniquely prophetic in his ability to diagnose the ills of America and where they were headed in the early 2000s. Toxic masculinity, mental illness, authenticity, empathy, and dopamine exhaustion though media are constants in his work and are best showcased through his short fiction and nonfiction.
In this one-day class, we will learn about the history of the sijo, its relevance to Korean literature, and the unique sensibilities and affordances of the form, while also getting several opportunities to write our own with guided instruction.
Join us to hand-sew decorative plush to celebrate the rain! Sew felt raindrops, umbrellas, crows, and more. ✨ Bring a friend! Make a friend! Grab a beverage, browse the books,
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is thrilled to welcome Robyn Saunders Wilson to celebrate her debut, Junkyard Princess! Saunders Wilson will be in conversation with Michelle Kicherer. About Junkyard
Try a tarot reading for a character or write a poem inspired by tarot images! Tarot is both deeply symbolic and highly narrative, creating a system that can inspire and guide many forms of writing. This multigenre workshop will introduce techniques for using tarot in one’s writing practice.
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe cordially invites you to the first annual meeting of the Dead Poets Society, an open mic for dead people and their enthusiasts. This National
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.
In this three week class, participants will diversify approaches to place-based writing by following the auditory threads within their poems and worlds alike. Each week, we’ll identify and write with sound-oriented devices to channel the sensuous qualities of our chosen environments.
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is pleased to welcome Emergency Horse for the launch of their latest issue. Join us for an evening of readings and celebration. This event
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is excited to welcome Graywolf Press for a special discussion on non-profit and independent publishing in the modern age. This event will feature Carmen
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
Are you writing a novel? Do you want company? Writing a novel is an intensive and often lonely experience. This course brings novel writers at all stages of the process together to support each other for 8 weeks.
Go beyond recounting events—discover how to write with emotional honesty and depth. This
class helps nonfiction writers translate lived experience into meaningful stories that resonate
with readers.
Join us to celebrate 2026 Pacific Northwest Book Awards Winner Karen Russell, and the paperback release of The Antidote. ABOUT THE BOOK Set in Nebraska during the Dust Bowl, trouble and
In this short story-specific workshop we will read, discuss, and critique each other’s complete short stories in a supportive environment. We will also read published stories, and practice craft and editing techniques. We will close with an emphasis on radical revision practices so that you may continue polishing your work.
The Literary Arts Bookstore is thrilled to welcome poet Maggie Smith to celebrate her latest collection of poetry, 'A Suit Or a Suitcase'. Tickets are required for this event, and include a copy of the book.
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
Feeling stuck or scattered in your writing project? This class helps you find direction, reconnect
to your creative purpose, and create a sustainable plan for momentum and flow in your work.
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
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend us your pens—and join us for our monthly write-in! We'll be listening to some instrumental music inspired by the Ancient Romans as we lock-in for two
Join us for an evening of celebration and readings from this year's Oregon Book Awards finalists in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Graphic Literature. This event is the second of two
In this four part class, we will consider the what, why, who, and how of form: what form is, why we might choose to write in an inherited form, alter an inherited form, or write in a made-up form, and how we might go about doing so.
Join us to hand-sew decorative plush to welcome the new leaves with our friends from SCRAP PDX! Sew spring flowers, birds, raindrops, and more. ✨ Bring a friend! Make a
Join us for an evening of celebration and readings from this year's Oregon Book Awards finalists in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Graphic Literature. This is the first of two finalist
The Literary Arts Bookstore is excited to welcome Scott Broker to celebrate their debut book, The Disappointment. Broker will be joined in conversation by Peter Rock. About the book: Set
Have you ever felt like playing Dungeons and Dragons but didn’t know how to start? Join us at Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe for a D&D character building workshop. We
The Literary Arts Bookstore is excited to welcome Kim Fu to celebrate her latest book, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts. Fu will be joined in conversation by local author Emma
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
The Literary Arts Bookstore is excited to welcome our colleague and friend Paige Thomas to celebrate her debut poetry collection, Person Under! Paige will be in conversation with her sister,
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
Join us in celebrating an evening of readings from local QTBIPOC poets Ally Ang, Genevieve DeGuzman, Jae Nichelle, Ami Patel, and Christopher Rose!
What makes a funny story more than just an elbow jabbing good time? In this class, we’ll read several humorous short stories and figure out what makes them impactful, lasting and literature.
In this six-week, workshop-meets-craft class, we’ll dissect five different short stories and figure out: How did the writer do that? We’ll then apply some of those same literary tools to your own stories. Each writer will have the opportunity to have one short story workshopped in this class, with written and verbal feedback from both instructor and peers.
This six-week course is designed to help students finish a draft of a manuscript. We'll read craft essays about drafting a book, set aside time each week to discuss problems we're having with manuscripts, and design a schedule for each student to ensure everyone addresses the issues specific to their draft.
Thomas Pynchon’s novels are chaotic combinations of ideas, puns, characters, subplots, facts, fictions, and words. Set in the eighteenth century, Mason & Dixon includes all of the above plus a talking dog.
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
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
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