Learning & Tech

YWCA Clark County will host the 2026 BIPOC Youth Summit, Vibe and Thrive, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 7-8. This free, two-day event brings together BIPOC youth ages 13-18 to celebrate identity, build connections, explore leadership and discover the power of joy. Enjoy workshops led by local BIPOC leaders, interactive activities, creative expression, and conversations about social justice and personal growth. The event includes free food, games, prizes and a block party.
Learn more and register at www.ywcaclarkcounty.org/bys.

Kennedy School turns 111 this year. What would those kids from the first class think if they could see their school now? Beer in detention, cocktails with honors, sleepovers in classrooms and cloakrooms. Come celebrate this institution.

Birthday fun:

• Face painting
• Fairy hair tinseling
• Food and drink specials
• History and Art Tours (ticketed events)
• Live music in the Gym

Join us for a lovely afternoon of fresh fermented wine, soup, vineyard talks, vine weaving, & storytelling at Hecate's Key Estate Vineyard — AniChe's vineyard down the hill!

Free for Hecate's Key Club members, all others $35 (Family club members can use their points for half off!). Tickets are available at https://anichecellars.com/product/vineyard-tour-august-30th-duplicate and all are welcome.

21+ · <p><strong><em>UMBRAE NOCTIS​ 2026 - WEEKEND PASS</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>onsale Sept 1- Sept 30</em></strong></p><p><em>single day passes will be available Oct 2</em></p><p></p><p><strong><em>FRIDAY NIGHT HEADLINER:</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>*MOSCATO SKY</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>FRIDAY NIGHT FEATURE:</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>*ASTERIA ATOMBOMB</em></strong></p><p></p><p><strong><em>SATURDAY NIGHT HEADLINER:</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>*THROB ZOMBIE</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>SATURDAY NIGHT FEATURE:</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>*HALO AS HELL</em></strong></p><p><br>We will gather in the glorious confines of The Coffin Crypt to witness a spectacular showcase of resplendently decadent performance art by creatures from all walks of life.</p><p>You will find gloriously ghoulish drag and burlesque performances that will transfix your senses all weekend, all set to the feelings and sounds of darkwave, post-punk, goth, deathrock and punk. Artists from all walks of life and from all parts of the world will gather to share their beauty with you with performances that will leave you breathless.</p><p></p><p>- Friday and Saturday, November 13 & 14 at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://thecoffinclubpdx.com/"><u>The Coffin</u></a> (421 SE Grand Ave) - performances from 8pm-11pm each night (doors at 7), with after party and dancing til 2 AM.<strong><em>​</em></strong></p><p></p><p>- Sunday, November 15 we will hold a Dark Market at THE COFFIN<strong><em>​</em></strong></p><p></p><p>- Saturday & Sunday you will have the opportunity to take <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.umbraenoctisfestival.com/workshops"><u>workshops </u></a>with our special guests, including our headliner Throb Zombie!</p>

• Tango — Sandy Ninh (Portland)
• Kiz — Marietta Villalobos (Seattle)
• Bachata — Malik Delgado (Portland)
• Zouk — Parker Wells (Portland)
• Fusion — Grey Armstrong

• 3 days of dancing
• All workshops
• Evening socials

• $25 — Individual workshop
• $35 — Individual evening social
• $100 — Day workshop pass
• $90 — Only Dance Socials

Calling all lindy hoppers, balboa-heads, Charleston nuts, and shag enthusiasts! Come on out to Portland's longest-running swing dance, bringing you fantastic live jazz music on Norse Hall's magnificent floor.

Be ready for a night of four-to-the-bar swing tonight with Portland's own Rhythm Wrecker Dance Band!! ​ The band is formed by dancers for dancers, and they know a thing or two about music. ​ Known for their solid swing sound, this band is committed to making danceable music for all you swing dancers. ​ The band is inspired by vintage sounds with an emphasis on 1940's "transition era" sound that blends swing, jump blues, and vintage rock n' roll. ​ The band loves to play tribute to the Black and African American bandleaders and musicians of the time with adapted arrangements of well-known classics and lesser-known cuts during this masterful era of jazz music.
​
Our Foundations Lesson is an hour-long beginner lesson from 6:45PM-7:45PM (and is included with the dance cover!). ​The lesson is great for folks who are new to dancing, curious about dancing, or just love dancing! ​Topics will lean more towards Lindy Hop or Charleston depending on the band playing each Thursday night. ​We hope to see you there before the dance starts at 8pm and we kick off another fun night!

Cover $20 | All Ages
Beginning swing dance lesson included in dance cover

*Schedule*
6:30 Doors open
6:45 - 7:45 Beginning swing dance lesson w/ Dianne and Dan
8 - 9 Rhythm Wrecker Dance Band
9 - 9:30 DJ Break w/ Dianne
9:30 - 10:30 Rhythm Wrecker Dance Band

The downstairs bar and lounge will be open. You may bring your drinks upstairs into the ballroom.

If you have accessibility concerns, please contact PLS.

Search and Destroy (S.A.D. for short) is a multimedia variety show happening on the last friday of every month featuring artists and local leaders sharing their craft and talking about what matters most to them. Through storytelling, live conversations, audience interaction, and heavy doses of honesty and humor, S.A.D. seeks to give hope and to be an entertaining and informative space for all to have fun, let loose, and be reminded that we as a people have the agency and ability to initiate change by working together as one.

S.A.D. was partly inspired by late-night television talk shows and variety hours and follows a similar format: an eye-catching opening number, a charming Emcee willing to play the fool, and a shared evening of dance, music, film, comedy, and conversations/interviews, all loosely tied to a theme of the night. The show ends with a dance party where the audience is invited to join the party on stage.
One of the main goals of each S.A.D. show is to dissolve the separation between artist and audience by directly engaging, conversing, and interacting with the audience, inviting them to participate in their seats as well as on the stage.
 Every show features dance movement, improvisation, visual imagery and soundscapes, conversations and spoken word, and various bits that play with the blurring of boundaries between the scripted and unscripted, all through an honest and humorous lens and the intention to entertain, educate, and inspire. Each episode of S.A.D. showcases different artists and acts than the previous one, guaranteeing that every iteration is unique and can only be experienced once.
S.A.D. is a show for everybody and every body, regardless of their identity, background, age, and anything else used to describe oneself.

*Revenue generated from each show is split evenly amongst the contributing artists

You’re warmly invited to celebrate the season at our Holiday Mixer. As the year draws to a close, we’d love for you to share in the joy of the season and meet the people who make Terwilliger Plaza special—our Members. Enjoy live music, seasonal fare, and signature holiday beverages as you explore Parkview and Tower apartment homes and experience the spirit that makes this community shine.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• Mix and mingle with current Members to learn about community life and living at Terwilliger Plaza

• Enjoy live music by pianist Linda Smith and delicious refreshments, including apple cider and mulled wine

• Opportunity to tour a selection of Parkview and Tower apartment homes

Date: Tuesday, November 17
Time: 2:00PM - 4:00PM
Location: Parkview Auditorium
575 SW Sheridan St, Portland, OR 97201

RSVP required. Please call 503-808-7870 or send us an email at[email protected]

Come on out young and old, newbie or experienced! Have fun, meet new people, and learn a new dance or two. We teach the dance by walking everyone through it first, so you don’t have to be experienced. Do as many or as few dances as you like. There are usually 40 – 80 people in attendance. You could be one of them! Suggested donation of $5 per person, or $10 per family. All proceeds go to the Fern Prairie Grange to keep it functioning for our community! Hope to see you soon!

Annual release party celebrating New Deal Distillery's small-batch Nocino Green Walnut Liqueur. Features a signature fall cocktail menu, behind-the-scenes look at the production process, and bottles available to purchase. Free entry, 21+ only.

Order some grub and grab a drink for this super fun and easy paint party experience!

We’ve got the long tables reserved for us as you walk in. This venue holds 15 painters.
Please arrive 10 minutes before start time.

Carrie will be guiding you step-by-step to create this beautiful painting of a Van Gogh inspired cat and moon.

Check out Lazy Days Beaverton menu here
All materials for your painting are included!
Tickets $40
No experience necessary, judgment free zone!
(*Food and Drink NOT provided, but you are welcome to buy)
EXTRA TICKETS HERE: https://www.paintandsipportland.com/

This will be a special night for all dance lovers!

Come at 8PM and get a Forró Dance class!

Josephina Del Norte: The Argentinian DJ, singer and multi-instrumentalist Josefina Del Norte will start the night playing a mix of Latin American Cumbia and Forró music from Brazil.

Forró Beleza: Led by Pyata Penedo, a Brazilian lead singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and owner of Figure 8 Sound Recording Studio, the band performs a variety of music from Northeastern Brazil known as forró.

Forró is a lively Brazilian music and partner-dance tradition rooted in Northeastern Brazil, where it developed through community gatherings centered around music, dancing, and social connection. Popularized nationally by legendary artists such as Luiz Gonzaga, its distinctive sound is traditionally created by the accordion, zabumba drum, and triangle, producing rhythms that feel both grounded and flowing.

The dance brings people together through a warm embrace, shared movement, playful turns, and a close connection to the music. Although it may remind newcomers of the intimacy of tango, the energy of salsa, or the grounded feeling of blues, forró has a joyful and welcoming character entirely its own.

More than simply a style of music or dance, forró is a celebration of Brazilian culture and community—and the best way to understand it is to come experience it for yourself!

All dances taught, no need for a partner, gender free calling, all skill levels welcome, tickets $15.92, 21+ (doors open at 6 pm, dance at 7). Oct 26 (Mon): The Old Time String Band with calling by Bex Bee Nov 2 (Mon): Old Time Highway with calling by Amy Hofer Nov 9 (Mon): calling by Steph Noll Nov 16 (Mon): Probably Polly String Band with calling by Andy Grummon Nov 23 (Mon): Miss Praline‘s Whip Lodge Tenderstrokes with calling by Tighe Hauze Tickets can be bought in advance on-line at the Showdown‘s website. Come out and support the dance, so Pickathon and the Showdown will support more dances into the future! Sponsored by Pickathon and The Showdown.

Community Dance Odd Fellows Hall 11/20/2026 7:00 – 9:30, upstairs above LaHaie’s Men’s Wear,
Let’s have some fun! Come get acquainted with BALFOLK, the dance craze from Europe. Traditional dances have been revived in new ways in every country in Europe. We will feature Balfolk dances from Gascogne, Bretagne, and other regions of France. All ages and skill levels welcome. Dance instruction will be provided. You will be accompanied by a 9 piece acoustic band, Raspberry Bourrée, featuring violins, accordion, nyckelharpa, mandocello, string bass, harp, clarinet and more! Donations accepted, but the dance is free.

Nothing’s better than bubbly for celebrations. We’ll help you pair a bottle to whatever’s on your table this holiday season. As you taste, you’ll learn about our favorite sparkling styles from Spain, Italy, Burgundy and, of course, Champagne.

Join us in the Kennedy School Gym for Country Night and learn line dancing basics in a fun, welcoming environment. An experienced instructor from the PNW Stompeders will guide you step-by-step through beginner-friendly dances with music to keep the floor moving. Whether you've never tried line dancing before or just want to sharpen your skills, this class is designed to make it easy and enjoyable for everyone. Singles, couples, and dancers of all ages are welcome. Come with a partner, bring friends, or show up solo-line dancing is one of the easiest ways to meet people and have a great time. Food and drinks will be available for purchase throughout the evening, so you can grab a bite, relax, and make a night of it. No experience necessary, just come ready to learn a few steps and have some fun on the dance floor.

Calling all lindy hoppers, balboa-heads, Charleston nuts, and shag enthusiasts! Come on out to Portland's longest-running swing dance, bringing you fantastic live jazz music on Norse Hall's magnificent floor.

Portland's own vintage jazz band, Puddletown Stompers, will be performing this week at our weekly LIVE music dance party! ​ The band will be performing hot jazz tunes from the 'fabulous fives' era and beyond. ​ We'll be keeping things swingin', so join us for a dance this week!
​
Our Foundations Lesson is an hour-long beginner lesson from 6:45PM-7:45PM (and is included with the dance cover!). ​The lesson is great for folks who are new to dancing, curious about dancing, or just love dancing! ​Topics will lean more towards Lindy Hop or Charleston depending on the band playing each Thursday night. ​We hope to see you there before the dance starts at 8pm and we kick off another fun night!

Cover $20 | All Ages
Beginning swing dance lesson included in dance cover

*Schedule*
6:30 Doors open
6:45 - 7:45 Beginning swing dance lesson w/ Austin Neverman
8 - 9 Puddletown Stompers
9 - 9:30 DJ Break w/ Austin
9:30 - 10:30 Puddletown Stompers

The downstairs bar and lounge will be open. You may bring your drinks upstairs into the ballroom.

If you have accessibility concerns, please contact PLS.

This class is designed for dancers who are already comfortable with two-step fundamentals, and want to build their range. Beginning fundamentals will not be reviewed.

Calling all lindy hoppers, balboa-heads, Charleston nuts, and shag enthusiasts! Come on out to Portland's longest-running swing dance, bringing you fantastic live jazz music on Norse Hall's magnificent floor.

Lone Fir Hot Club will be performing tonight at Thursday Swing. ​ The band's sound leans heavily on Jazz Manouche or the "Gypsy Swing" songbook offered by the original Hot Club featuring Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli. ​ The band takes additional inspiration from the Jazz Manouche of both sides of the Atlantic and dabbles in 1940's American swing to bop traditional era music. ​ Come out and dance to their playful stylings this week at Thursday Swing!
​
Our Foundations Lesson is an hour-long beginner lesson from 6:45PM-7:45PM (and is included with the dance cover!). ​The lesson is great for folks who are new to dancing, curious about dancing, or just love dancing! ​Topics will lean more towards Lindy Hop or Charleston depending on the band playing each Thursday night. ​We hope to see you there before the dance starts at 8pm and we kick off another fun night!

Cover $20 | All Ages
Beginning swing dance lesson included in dance cover

*Schedule*
6:30 Doors open
6:45 - 7:45 Beginning swing dance lesson w/ Katie and Tristan
8 - 9 Lone Fir Hot Club
9 - 9:30 DJ Break
9:30 - 10:30 Lone Fir Hot Club

The downstairs bar and lounge will be open. You may bring your drinks upstairs into the ballroom.

If you have accessibility concerns, please contact PLS.

NEW STEEPLEJACK LOCATION! ON BROADWAY.

We love hosting our paint parties with Steeplejack! So now we're excited about their new location!

We will be meeting in the Fireside Room

Join us for this beautiful sunset lake and loon paint and sip (inspired by the hit TV show, Heated Rivalry).

Kincaid will be guiding you on how to create this easy yet beautiful painting!

All levels welcome!

All materials for your painting are included.

(*Food and Drink NOT provided, but you are welcome to buy)

Join us for a fun-filled evening of creativity, laughter, and relaxation at Paint and Sip Portland's pop-up events. Order your favorite drink and a delicious bite to eat as you unleash your inner artist surrounded by friends and family.

Join community artist, teacher, and storyteller Drea Robideau to learn Native Games and explore the healing power of play!

Made possible by The Library Foundation through support from The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Fund.

Hoku Events on Madison has opened their doors for our new 3rd Wednesday DJ Zydeco nights. Let‘s fill up the dance floor and enjoy some libations and food from the bar. Lots of space for dancing and a great ambiance, $10 Cascade Zydeco members/$15 general admission Join us for our 3rd Wednesday DJ dance at Hoku, centrally located close-in southeast Portland. Full bar, bento boxes & ice cream bars. Watch for an update about tonight‘s dance lesson after our planning meeting earlier in the month. Some fun thangs coming soon! Doors open at 6:30 pm Zydeco lesson 7-7:30 Music & dancing until 9:30

Join us for an informative economic update on the current business climate. Damon Runberg is the Senior Economist at Business Oregon, the State of Oregon's economic development agency. He supports the statewide economic development goals by tracking and analyzing economic indicators critical to Oregon's workers and businesses. He also evaluates the effectiveness of Oregon's economic development strategies and incentives. Prior to working with Business Oregon Damon was a Regional Labor Economist with the Oregon Employment Department for nearly 13 years.

Inspired by Crater Lake National Park, Michael Gordon’s Natural History weaves Native and symphonic music in this paean to the natural landscape. Plus, hear works by two of classical music’s most intrepid pioneers: Stravinsky’s experimental musical essay on wind and brass sounds, Symphonies of Wind Instruments,and Beethoven’s vivacious and dramatic Symphony No. 1. Oregonian Grace Miedziak enhances the program with a new work that celebrates the Pacific Northwest.

• Norman Huynh Conductor
• Steiger Butte Drum and Singers Native American ensemble
• Members of Portland State University Chamber Choir Ethan Sperry, Conductor
• Oregon Symphony

• STRAVINSKY Symphonies of Wind Instruments
• Michael GORDON Natural History
• Grace MIEDZIAK Cascadence (Rizzo-Cummings Emerging Composer Fellow at the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Symphony commission)
• BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21

This concert is part of Classical Series A, and is eligible for the Choose Your Own Series (Portland only). Concert length is approximately 1 hour 33 minutes, with one intermission.

This pre-concert talk takes place one hour before the Sunday matinee performance.

SUN, NOV 1, 1PM: Conductor Norman Huynh and Rizzo-Cummings Emerging Composer Fellow Grace Miedziak with All Classical Radio host Warren Black.

Climate change, especially in recent years, has escalated not only into a global environmental crisis but also into a highly intensified challenge in a time of political divides—often leaving one feeling overwhelmed and powerless. How can better conversations help move individuals, communities, and the planet toward collective solutions?

Called “one of the nation’s most effective communicators on climate change” by The New York Times, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, has an uncanny ability to navigate all sides of the conversation on climate. With a singular balance of scientific rigor and storytelling, patience and empathy, and an abiding adherence to her faith, Hayhoe is often able to reach audiences that other climate scientists have not been able to reach — demonstrating that by finding shared values, we can better connect our unique identities to collective action.

WorldOregon welcomes Katharine Hayhoe back to Portland for this rich conversation exploring how to incorporate climate change into both our public decisions and private conversations at a moment of urgency when climate action and environmental policy are at a crossroads.

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose work bridges climate science, risks, and resilience. As Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), she directs the organization’s global scientific strategy and leads a global community of more than 1,000 TNC scientists and science staff whose work underpins every aspect of TNC’s mission: from conserving lands and waters to developing scalable, science-based solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises.

Featuring special guest Gary Hershberger (Mike Nelson) in person!

Joins us for the complete Twin Peaks series on the big screen for the first time in history! We continue our year-long celebration of the greatest TV show of all time The Missing Pieces. Rarely shown in theaters, this feature film presents deleted scenes from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me assembled together as an untold portion of the story’s prequel. Following a Q&A, we’ll then begin The Return with episodes “My Log Has a Message for You” and “The Stars Turn and a Time Presents Itself.”

Gary Hershberger will be signing autographs and taking photos with fans for an additional fee at the event.

• Thursday, November 5
• The Heathman Lodge | 7801 NE Greenwood Dr., Vancouver
• Doors Open: 6:00 p.m. | Program Begins: 6:30 p.m.

Lewis & Clark College Department of Music and Portland State University’s School of Music and Theater present an afternoon with Grammy Award-winning soprano Audrey Luna on Wednesday, November 4, 2026 from 3pm to 6pm in Evans Auditorium.

In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan, tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history. Interviewed by OPB’s Dave Miller. Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, a mere five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking: learning to swim from Harrison Ford on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, receiving trucks full of toys from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for his birthday, meeting Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, and making lifelong friends on the set of The Goonies.

A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes for directors like Wong Kar Wai. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. It wasn’t until decades later, when he was 49 years old, that he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once, which surprised everyone with its incredible box-office and awards season success. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.

In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight, the resilience that kept him going through his darkest times, and his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never giving up on your dreams.

Broadway Books is thrilled to welcome Anthea Kreston with her debut memoir Crescendo: Chronicles of an Adventurous Violinist (Paul Dry Books, 2026). She will be joined in conversation with Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty and Immaculate Conception.

When American violinist Anthea Kreston, called “An Indomitable Spirit” by Yo-Yo Ma, is selected as the fourth member of Germany’s Artemis Quartet, it is the culmination of decades of dedication. In Crescendo, her enchanting and deeply personal memoir, Kreston writes about growing up in a well-to-do but difficult family in Chicago, leaving home at age sixteen, studying at the ultracompetitive Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (Hilary Hahn was a classmate), then burning out and leaving it all behind for a commune in Oregon.

Join an intimate evening featuring a pre-show discussion and Q&A with Soccer Mommy and special Guest Interviewer, followed by a local opener and solo performance by Soccer Mommy. This event is hosted by Papertrees Creative, in partnership with Literary Arts and the Portland Book Festival 2026.

Sophie Allison has always written candidly about her life, making Soccer Mommy one of indie rock’s most interesting and beloved artists of the last decade. Allison has used Soccer Mommy’s songs as a vehicle to sort through the thoughts and encounters that inevitably come with the reality of growing up. After all, Soccer Mommy began as a bedroom-to-Bandcamp exercise with teenage Allison posting her plaintive songs as demos. Over the years, though, she has often enhanced that sound, using the endless production possibilities, newly at her fingertips, to outstrip singer-songwriter stereotypes. The records would start with songwriting’s kernels of truth, and she would then imagine all the unexpected shapes they could take. Every Soccer Mommy record has felt like a surprise.

On Soccer Mommy’s fourth album, the tender but resolute Evergreen, Allison is again writing about her life. But that life’s different these days: Since making her previous album, 2022’s Sometimes, Forever, Allison experienced a profound and also very personal loss. New songs emerged from that change, unflinching and sometimes even funny reflections on what she was feeling. (Speaking of funny, this is a Soccer Mommy album, so there’s an ode to Allison’s purple-haired wife in the game Stardew Valley, too.) These songs were, once again, Allison’s way to sort through life, to ground herself. She wanted them to sound that way, too, to feel as true to the demos—raw and relatable, unvarnished and honest—as possible. The songwriting would again lead where the production would follow. Nothing overindulgent, everything real.

Portland Book Festival welcomes Molly and Meherwan Irani, the husband-and-wife team behind Asheville’s nationally celebrated Chai Pani Restaurant Group. Their flagship restaurant, Chai Pani, was named Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation in 2022.

This year, Molly and Meherwan each bring a new book to the table. Meherwan has written No. 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World: At-Home Recipes from the Streets, Truck Stops, Villages, and Palaces of India. Molly’s Service Ready: A Story of Love, Restaurants, and the Power of Hospitality was published earlier this year. Together, the books offer two very different—and deeply connected—perspectives on food, restaurants, and hospitality.

In celebration of Diwali—the Hindu festival of lights, marked by food, gathering, and celebration—Molly and Meherwan will join their longtime friend Chef Troy MacLarty at Bollywood Theater on Alberta Street for a collaboration. Bollywood Theater will serve a special menu inspired by recipes from Meherwan’s book alongside its own Diwali-inspired menu. It’s a gathering of longtime friends, great food, and two books that reflect different sides of a shared life in restaurants.

Both books will be featured at Portland Book Festival, and Molly and Meherwan will be on hand at Bollywood to meet guests and sign copies.

Embark on a spooky voyage aboard the Explorer Jetboat to the famous Spirit of Halloweentown in St. Helens. Skip the hassle of driving, with the dock less than a block from the festivities. Along the way, a guide will share chilling tales of St. Helens and Portland's seedy past. Once ashore, you'll have about 4 hours to explore, including access to the paid attractions. Whether you're a fan of the iconic Disney movie “Halloweentown" or seeking Halloween family fun, this cruise has something for everyone.

Alexis Nikole Nelson, best known to millions of fans as Black Forager, invites you on an adventure to discover the delicious and wild foods hiding in plain sight. Alexis captivates people with her joyful enthusiasm and deep knowledge of foraging and inspires them to explore the bounty of their own backyards, parks, and trails, and now she does the same in her eagerly awaited first book.

Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! is a one-of-a-kind collection of recipes and foraging wisdom that teaches you how to turn common plants, flowers, and fungi into yummy, plant-based meals. This unique work is almost like two books in one—foraging plant guide and vegan cookbook—organized by season to guide you through a year of appetizing discoveries. In spring, you’ll learn to pickle Magnolia flowers and turn Japanese Knotweed into a refreshing granita. Summer is for frying up Milkweed Buds, making Juneberry Hand Pies, and crafting Rosewater Baklava. When fall arrives, you’ll be making savory mushroom dishes (a.k.a. chicken of the woods) like Maitake steak and bacon. And in winter, cozy up with Pine Shortbread Cookies and Oyster Mushroom Chowdah.

Sign up for the poster session here!

The 2026 Pauling Medal will be presented to Professor Wooley at the 2026 Pauling Medal Symposium on November 7, 2026, at Portland State University in Portland, OR, in recognition of her pioneering studies.

Information about the symposium is posted at the Pauling Medal web page. The symposium includes lectures by eminent scientists and the awardee, a student poster session, a reception, and an evening banquet with presentation of the Pauling Medal to Professor Wooley.

The symposium is free and open to the public. The Awards Dinner is open to the public but requires advance purchase of a banquet ticket. Please visit the Pauling Medal web page for event details and banquet tickets.

Schedule:

• 11:00am - 1:00pm: Poster Set-up Time
• 1:00 - 5:30pm: Symposium in Hoffman Hall
  Symposium speakers
  • Prof. Geoff Coates, Cornell University
  • Prof. Craig Hawker, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Prof. Doug Keszler (emeritus), Oregon State University
  • Pauling Awardee, Prof. Karen Wooley, Texas A&M University
• 5:30 - 7:00pm: Reception and poster session in SRTC lobby
• 7:00 - 10:00pm: Banquet and award lecture in Hoffman Hall

Parallel Worlds Bookshop and the Hollywood Theatre present a special author conversation with Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu, celebrating the release of Jane’s debut novel, Public Access Afterworld, followed by a screening of Schoenbrun’s acclaimed film I Saw the TV Glow.

When: November 5, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Where: Hollywood Theatre 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97212
Tickets: $18 sold via Hollywood Theatre
Ticket price does not include a copy of the book. Preorder Here!

A mysterious realm waits on the other side of our screens. A dark force draws victims into its static. An unlikely hero must save them, and herself, from an electric hell.

Spanning decades and realities, Public Access Afterworld follows an unforgettable ensemble of outcasts and obsessive television viewers whose lives become entangled with a surreal pirate network. At the center is Bethany Peters, a trans content moderator working the night shift at a sprawling tech corporation. When a young streamer begins appearing in her feed and calling out to Public Access Afterworld, Bethany is pulled into a conspiracy stretching across screens, timelines, and realities.

A mesmerizing collision of speculative fiction, horror, conspiracy, and queer transformation, Public Access Afterworld marks the literary debut of the celebrated filmmaker behind I Saw the TV Glow and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.

Jane Schoenbrun is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Their films include I Saw the TV Glow and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Their newest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder, releases in 2026. Public Access Afterworld is their first novel.

Tickets for the screening and conversation are sold through the Hollywood Theatre. Copies of Public Access Afterworld will be available for purchase onsite from Parallel Worlds Bookshop.

Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu will not be signing books. Pre-ordered books or books purchased at event will be pre-signed.

Still photography is permitted. Audio and video recording are not permitted unless approved in advance.

1. Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun - Signed Edition
   (Pub Date: October 27, 2026)
   A mysterious realm on the other side of our screens. A dark force that draws victims into its static. The unlikely hero called to save them and herself from this electric hell. Public Access Afterworld is the profound, binge-all-night, headrush of a novel by the celebrated filmmaker of I Saw the TV Glow and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

2. Alchemised by Senlinyu Signed Edition (Out Now)

3. Alchemised by Senlinyu 3 Volume Deluxe Boxset(Pub Date: October 13)
   In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.

Would you like to experience the finest expression of Scotch whisky produced today? Would you like to expand your knowledge of Scotch and the many styles and flavours that make up quality whisky? Do you love smoky whisky?!

Join The Scotch Malt Whisky Society for a rare single malt Scotch whisky tasting experience at The Scotch Lodge! Attendees will be among the first to taste six (6) unique single malts from our upcoming November Peated Outturn in a seated, guided tasting format designed to expand your knowledge and appreciation for Scotch whisky.

Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is the world’s largest whisky club of whisky lovers. More than just a club, the Society is known for offering the finest expression of Scotch whisky produced today. It acquires exceptional whisky casks from distilleries across Scotland and beyond. Each cask is then bottled and offered exclusively to its community of members through the Society’s online shop smwsa.com.

While Society whisky is available for purchase by members only, this event is open to anyone eager to taste and learn in the company of fellow whisky lovers. Members enjoy a reduced price for admission and all attendees who order tickets before 2pm PT on October 15th will get the early bird special pricing.

Slàinte Mhath!

Join an essential lecture by the acclaimed Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath. Jared Cooney Horvath (PhD, MEd) is a neuroscientist, educator, best-selling author and expert in the field of human learning. His new book, The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kid's Learning - And How to Help Them Thrive Again, pulls back the EdTech curtain and explains the research showing how digital tools in the classroom consistently undermine learning. It also explains how parents, teachers and schools can push back with purpose.

As a leading expert in learning and technology, Jared testified before the US Senate on EdTech and is an internationally sought-after speaker.

Sponsored by the Institute for Families and Technology and OR Unplugged.

Portland Art Museum invites the community to join a Free First Thursday event, offering free admission to the museum for all, plus a Live Wire event as part of the Literary Arts Portland Book Festival. Visitors can take in the afternoon gallery pop-ups, the evening show, or both!

4:30 – 6 p.m. — Free, pre-show, pop-up performances will take place throughout the Museum’s galleries. Performers are poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle.

Free First Thursday tickets can be reserved online one week in advance and are also available at the door.

7 p.m. — Enjoy a fully seated, ticketed Live Wire taping hosted by Luke Burbank with announcer Elena Passarello, featuring a blend of interviews, comedy, and music performed live for the audience, then edited into an episode for broadcast to over 200 public radio stations nationwide. Performers are poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle. Doors will open at 6:30pm.

GA Tickets are $15. Preferred Seating is $40. Discounts available to Portland Book Festival passholders.

Dessa is a singer, rapper, and writer who fell in love with language as a toddler—and just never got over it. Now, she works in fields that traffic in words: she’s recorded rap bangers as part of the fiercely independent Doomtree collective, released a live album with the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra; contributed to The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler; delivered a TED Talk on the intersection of romance and neuroscience that’s notched more than 4 million views; hosted 2 seasons of behavioral science podcast Deeply Human (BBC/American Public Media); and published a memoir recounting most of the above called My Own Devices (Penguin Random House).

Mac Barnett, the 2025–2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is a New York Times bestselling author of stories for children. Mac’s books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book Awards, three E. B. White Read Aloud Awards and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, as well as several international prizes. He lives in Oakland, California. His latest book, illustrated by X. Fang, is Tom Nancy: The Sheep Who Swapped Brains with a Boy. From two of the most exciting picture book makers today comes a hilarious trickster tale and Freaky Friday switcheroo story: a sneaky, cheeky sheep named Tom Nancy has a brain swap proposal for an innocent farm boy named Felix that will change both of their lives forever. Laugh-out-loud, subversive, and totally unexpected.

Ed Park is the author of the novels Personal Days and Same Bed Different Dreams. He is a founding editor of The Believer, and has worked in newspapers, book publishing, and academia. His writing appears in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Profound, wily, and beautifully wrought, his new book Three Tenses: A Transmission from the Nineties is a meeting of memory and myth, confession and obfuscation, coalescing to offer a singular picture of creativity in action.

The princess of Portland comedy, best known for her breakout performance on the popular Netflix special Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda, Mx. Dahlia Belle has been compared to a Swiss Army knife—different tools to extract sharpness, softness, vulnerability, hope, and wicked wit. She’s been declared one of “11 Trans Comedians… Funnier Than Dave Chappelle” by Out Magazine, repeatedly featured on NPR, and has written for Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Guardian, The Stranger, and Portland Mercury. Her live performances have included NW Black Comedy Festival, Upper Left Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest, and an awkward conversation with John Waters and Piers Morgan. In the upcoming live taping of her comedy special Affirmed at Polaris Hall on November 22nd, Mx. Dahlia Belle delivers 60 new minutes of stand-up to celebrate and affirm being human in the modern world through a combination of the wholesome and mundane, anecdotes about house cats, liscivious foibles of the LGBT community, and an unapologetic account of her personal journey with gender-affirming care, all delivered with her trademark free form wit.

Free First Thursdays at the Museum and PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater aligns with the revitalization of the long-standing Portland art galleries’ tradition of opening their doors for openings, receptions, and events on the first Thursday of each month. In recent months art and culture organizations have joined to bring back this popular activity, including the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in the North Park Blocks.

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

Young adult authors, Maggie Stiefvater (The Dream Thieves) and Isabel Cañas (The House of Gardenias) come together for a conversation on the hauntingly enchanted worlds in their latest releases. In the newest installment of the graphic novel iteration of The Raven Cycle, Stiefvater and adapter Sas Milledge bring the original text to life with rich illustrations and suspenseful panels. Like Stiefvater, Cañas expertly constructs a gothic world threatened by an unimaginable ancient power. Moderated by Alicia Tate, these authors discuss the mythical worlds they built and the characters that try to understand them.

The second book in Maggie Stiefvater‘s #1 NYT bestselling series The Raven Cycle, now gorgeously illustrated as a graphic novel!

Ronan Lynch is made of secrets. His longest kept one? He can pull impossible things out of dreams. It’s a secret that’s nearly killed him more than once. Waking the corpse road should have led Blue and the Raven Boys straight to Glendower, the Whelsh king rumored to be sleeping beneath the mountains of Henrietta. But instead, the forest of Cabeswater has disappeared, energy hums and sputters beneath the town, and the Raven Boys’ search is at a dead end.

Ronan’s dreams may be the key to finding Glendower, but none of the Raven Boys are prepared for what will be unleashed in Ronan’s desperate attempt to finally control his power. Reimagined as a stunning full-color graphic novel adapted and illustrated by Sas Milledge, Dream Thieves blurs the line between reality and nightmare until they are one and the same.

A debut gothic YA from the USA Today bestselling author of The Hacienda and The Possession of Alba Díaz Sixteen-year-old Minerva has endured hunger, violence, and unrest in a capital city inspired by colonial Mexico.

Determined to escape her father’s cruelty, she reinvents herself in a wealthy loyalist enclave, becoming lady’s maid to the formidable widow Encarnación del Valle.

For the first time, Minerva knows stability with regular meals, warm light powered by magical chispa, and a measure of protection. When a ruthless regime rises to power, the household withdraws to the del Valle family’s secluded estate, Casa de las Gardenias. There, amid resentful heirs and rigid social hierarchies, something far older than the nation’s turmoil waits in the shadows.

It’s a haunting, timely gothic novel that weaves Mexican history, class tension, and supernatural dread.

Choreographer Lai Hung-Chung makes dances of striking beauty and intention. “Birdy,” his captivating signature work for Hung Dance, moves between suspense and explosive energy, between the weight of tradition and the pull toward something new. Hung Dance blends traditional Chinese arts, including tai chi, Peking Opera, and classical Chinese music, with contemporary dance technique and driving electronic music, creating work that is poetic and rhythmic at once. What audiences see on stage is a world in constant transformation, where bodies bend and resist, images linger, and the tension between holding on and letting go becomes the dance itself.

TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN

Birdy

“…a dreamy sensibility with astonishing athleticism in culturally sensitive modern dance performance.” —Charlie Smith, Pancouver

Sponsored by George & Nancy Thorn. White Bird’s Uncaged Series Sponsor: Ronni Lacroute

The Friday and Saturday performances will have pre-show talks. Come early to hear from the dancers from 6:15–6:45 PM. No ticket needed.

Join us November 3rd for the Hung Dance Lecture Demonstration, FREE with RSVP here .

Church of Art's collaborative neurographics is a mindfulness-based creative activity that provides therapeutic relaxation through intuitive mark-making on a grand scale. For this mindfulness-based collaborative art activity, Church of Art will cover a long row of tables with a roll of paper and acrylic paint pens in a variety of sizes and colors. Participants will move freely around the table, filling the paper with sweeping, colorful doodles to the sounds of calming music. The giant scale allows for whole-arm movements, which signal brains to move out of fight-or-flight mode and into a state of mental relaxation and improved focus. The collaborative aspect of this workshop teaches one to let go of perfection and expectation through shared creative exploration, while working large encourages greater freedom of expression.

Neurographic art is a relatively new form of focused, intentional mark-making that uses curved, bold lines, vibrant colors and calming patterns. Physician and neurographics practitioner Ruben Halperin, M.D., will be the guide, co-facilitating this workshop with artist and Church of Art founder, Erika Halperin.

Immerse yourself in this beneficial form of meditative doodling and experience the mood-boosting effect of creativity coupled with community gathering.

Using paper and acrylic markers. All materials and supplies are provided by the studio.

Tickets Include:

• 2 hours of guided creative exploration in a supportive, friendly environment with all supplies included.
• Light snacks and non-alcoholic beverages are included.
• That wonderful feeling of joy and connectedness that comes from a few hours of in-person artistic play with other adults.

The Portland Grief House invites you to join The Lost Table, a welcoming space to gather in community, remember those we’ve lost, and share in the traditions that help us keep them close. Bring a dish, pull up a chair, and make a place at the table for the dead. Grief can be hard to understand, and sometimes what we need most is community, ritual, conversation, and food.

Together, we’ll explore how different cultures and traditions call to, honor, and make offerings to those who have died. In the spirit of Día de Muertos, we’ll create a shared space where the living and the dead can gather around the same table.

We’ll begin with a creative activity led by Mario Mesquita, inviting us to reflect on memory, food, and our relationships with those we’ve lost. Participants will be introduced to the ritual elements that will carry us through the evening.

Laura Green will lead a community conversation about intercultural traditions of Día de Muertos and other ways communities call to and remember their dead. Participants will have an opportunity to share stories, traditions, and memories, and to dedicate an offering to someone they have lost.

Bea Yeh will introduce the tradition of Hungry Ghost and lead us in making an offering to the dead. We’ll set places at our table for those who are no longer with us and share food as an act of remembrance and connection.

Our community offerings and tributes will be gathered at Ximena Morales’s altar, creating a shared space of remembrance that connects the different traditions and offerings brought into the room.

Throughout the evening, we’ll create something together through words, offerings, and remembrance. We’ll dedicate a community poem to the dead and close our gathering with a collective ritual of words, sound, and stillness.

Please bring:

• A dish to share, plus any serving utensils it needs. Consider bringing something that reminds you of a loved one or connects you to a family or cultural tradition.
• Please label your food with a card identifying any allergens or dietary considerations.
• Your own dinnerware (plate, bowl, utensils, napkin).
• A beverage for yourself, if you’d like something other than water.
• A photograph, name, or other small tribute to a loved one for the community altar, if you’d like.
• Please do not bring chips, salsa, or guacamole—Milagro will provide these.

The Portland Grief House is honored to continue this tradition, originally started by Side Yard Farm. El Centro Milagro is excited to partner with Portland Grief House to create a space for English- and Spanish-speaking community members to gather, remember, share traditions, and honor the dead together.

Schedule
4:00–4:30 PM — Opening Ritual & Activity
4:30–5:45 PM — Community Conversation & Offerings
5:45 PM — Dedication & Closing

Estimated Running Time: 3 hours
Age Recommendation: Ages 10+

Join an afternoon with Grammy Award-winning soprano Audrey Luna. Audrey will give a masterclass with L&C and PSU students and present a lecture titled "The Business of Singing."