Events, Classes, and Seminars

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.

Tuesday

Jun 24

Saturday

Jun 21

Tuesday

Jun 17

Tuesday

Jun 17

In-person   Summer 2025   Writing Classes  

Creative Clarity, Focus and Momentum

Learn creative process skills for sticking with a writing project from initial idea to completion. If you dream of writing that novel or finishing that poem, but you feel scattered, overwhelmed, or stuck with many beginnings but no finished product, this workshop will offer you gentle and effective ways to work through creative blocks so you can finally share your creative expression with your readers.

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Saturday

Jun 14

Saturday

Jun 14

Thursday

Jun 12

Delve Readers Seminars   In-person  

Annie Dillard: Holy the Firm

Known for her “fearless and unbridled” writing about the natural world, Annie Dillard’s first three non-fiction books conjure lyrical insights so vivid that they seem to burn. So much more than a “nature writer,” Dillard’s observations of whatever she’s looking at—the transient effects of an eclipse viewing in a small town, a near-deadly airplane crash on an island in the Pacific Northwest, the unraveling of a tangled snake-skin she finds wandering through the woods—reveal the living textures of things: their ordinary strangeness and transcendent beauty.

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Wednesday

Jun 11

Wednesday

Jun 11

Local KidLit Social at Literary Arts

Join us at Literary Arts for a social event to meet local children's authors and learn about their work! It's the middle of Portland Book Week AND The American Booksellers

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Friday

Jun 6

Wednesday

Jun 4

Tuesday

Jun 3

Monday

Jun 2

Saturday

May 31

Saturday

May 31

Friday

May 30

Thursday

May 29

Wednesday

May 28

Saturday

May 24

Saturday

May 24

Thursday

May 22

Wednesday

May 21

Wednesday

May 21

Tuesday

May 20

Tuesday

May 20

Sunday

May 18

Saturday

May 17

Saturday

May 17

Thursday

May 15

Wednesday

May 14

Saturday

May 10

In-person   Writing Classes  

Where Do I Go From Here: Writing the Novel

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 your novel.

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Saturday

May 10

Delve Readers Seminars   In-person  

Herman Melville: Moby-Dick

In this seminar, we will tackle Melville’s whale of a book, exploring its philosophical insights, its debts to other writers (especially Shakespeare and Hawthorne), its commentary on US politics and culture, and (of course) its cetology, the chapters about whales and whaling. Across six weeks, we will take up Melville’s challenge—“Read it if you can”—and join the Pequod’s crew on their quests for knowledge, for friendship, and for revenge.

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Saturday

May 10

Wednesday

May 7

Monday

May 5

Saturday

May 3

Saturday

Apr 26

Saturday

Apr 26

Saturday

Apr 19

In-person   Poetry   Writing Classes  

The Things Themselves: Poetry

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

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Saturday

Apr 19

Thursday

Apr 17

Wednesday

Apr 16

Monday

Apr 14

Saturday

Apr 12

Thursday

Apr 10