Arts & MediaReadingsPoetry

Active

Anywhere except Elsewhere andtagged any of Courses orPoetry
THUNOV 5
10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Live Podcasts & RadioVarietyStand-UpMuseumsPoetryAuthor TalksHip-HopTalks & Lectures

Free First Thursday with Live Wire Radio

Overview

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!

Free First Thursday + Museum pop-ups

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.

tickets for free first thursday Live Wire Evening Recording

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.

tickets for 7pm Live Wire recording Performers

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.

About Free First Thursdays

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.

Learn more about other discounted and free opportunities.
SATOCT 31
OCT 31–NOV 1 · Hours not provided
Drop-inCultural HeritageMusicHolidays & SeasonalPoetryFood & DrinkCraft FairsStreet FestivalsPerforming Arts

Dia de los Muertos Celebration

Celebrate Día de los Muertos at M&M Marketplace with two days of culture, music, food, and family fun. Join us on Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1 from 2 PM to 7 PM for a free community celebration in Hillsboro.

Enjoy live music, traditional altars, Calenda, Calaveritas Literarias, a Concurso de Catrinas, food, shopping, and family entertainment. Bring your family and friends as we come together to honor loved ones and celebrate Día de los Muertos traditions.

Dates: Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1
Time: 2 PM to 7 PM
Location: M&M Marketplace, 346 SW Walnut St., Hillsboro, OR 97123
Admission: Free

¡Acompáñanos con toda la familia para celebrar nuestras tradiciones, recordar a nuestros seres queridos y disfrutar un fin de semana especial en comunidad!

THUNOV 5
Hours not provided
💰 $5+Cultural HeritagePoetry

Oregon Jewish Voices

Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education724 Northwest Davis Street

Started in 1999 and organized by writer Willa Schneberg, this annual event features readings by prominent Oregon Jewish poets and writers. The writers in the 2026 program span a range of genres, including fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and essays. Each author will share selections from their work.

Multi-day events

10
THUNOV 5
4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
💰 $15+Drop-inMuseumsPoetryAuthor TalksLive Podcasts & RadioVarietyStand-UpHip-Hop

Live Wire: Dessa, Mac Barnett, Ed Park, and Mx. Dahlia Belle

Portland Art Museum1219 Southwest Park Avenue

Live Wire joins forces with the Portland Art Museum for an afternoon of roving performances ahead of an evening recording of the program. The event coincides with PAM's monthly Free First Thursday and the Portland Book Festival's expanded programming. Performers will include poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle.

Free pop-up performances will take place throughout the Museum’s galleries, giving visitors a chance to catch live performances and storytelling while moving through the PAM spaces. Completely free through PAM’s Free First Thursday general admission. Also, 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.

Visitors can take in the afternoon gallery pop-ups, the evening show, or both.

TUENOV 3
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Talks & LecturesAuthor TalksPoetry

Gavin Van Horn and Brittney Corrigan

We are delighted to welcome Gavin Van Horn, editor of the new anthology Sensoria: Attending to the Wonder and Vitality of Nature to Broadway Books. He will be joined by poet Brittney Corrigan, one of the contributors to the anthology.

A stunning gathering of creative nonfiction, research, and poetry, Sensoria transports readers into compelling stories and ethical reflections that stretch the limits of the moral imagination, calling attention to the wondrous ways in which humans and other-than-human beings experience and perceive the world. By exploring the sensorium among all forms of life endowed with different kinds of consciousness and communicative abilities, this volume highlights ecologically and socially diverse ways of touching the world with mind, and touching mind with the world.

TUENOV 3
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Faith & WorshipClassicalChoralPoetry

Election Night Service

Join us for a contemplative service of Scripture readings, poetry, prayers, and choral music on Election Day. The Cathedral Schola will sing music by Edward Elgar, Horatio Parker, and Katie Webb. (Livestreamed)
SATNOV 7
11:30 AM – 11:45 AM
PoetryBooksMuseumsTalks & LecturesCultural Heritage

Pop-up: Tina Chang

Tina Chang reads from her new poetry collection Lion at Portland Art Museum in the Native American Art gallery (Level 2, Room 215), paired with Sara Siestreem, fastened to the rock (blood, sweat, and tears).

About Lion:

In Lion, Tina Chang mines personal and collective memory to explore safety and danger, visibility and invisibility as an Asian American woman. Throughout the collection, Chang responds to multi-hyphenate women artists, including Haena Yoo, Hồng-An Trương, Astria Suparak, and a collective whose work paid tribute to the life of Christina Yuna Lee, a young woman who was killed during the height of anti-Asian hate crimes. Responding to art across various media—text, illustration, painting, video, and sculpture—Lion sparks cross-disciplinary dialogue on Asian American perspectives, surveillance, and the myth of the model minority.

As the aftermath of the pandemic is examined, so too are the structures of bias, racism, and violence that continue. The collection’s title explores the word’s cultural history, composite Chinese iconography, and lion-centered explorations of strength and mastery. Lion traverses the closeness and distance between the racialized self the world views and the perceived self who endures and survives.

“An urgent exploration of Asian American identity from a poet with a ‘fearless imagination.’”–Tracy K. Smith, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

SUNNOV 1
10:30 AM
ChamberPoetry

Kindled: Brahms & Piazzolla

Astor Piazzolla OblivionJohannes Brahms Piano Trio No. 2Searmi Park violinPansy Chang celloMonica Ohuchi piano Laura Weeks spoken word Tickets: Adults $20, students and under 30 $10, and 18 and under $5
SATNOV 7
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
PoetryAuthor TalksTalks & Lectures

A Thousand Flames: Book Launch and Signing

Up Up Books1452 NE 28th Ave

Celebrate the release of A Thousand Flames, the debut poetry collection by Corey S. Pressman. Corey S. Pressman's debut collection, A Thousand Flames, offers poems of secular devotion in which a bird feeder can stand as the axis mundi and the bees have a god of their own. Across twelve sections, they travel from a Rockland County childhood to a hilltop in the fog, and as far back as the rooftops of Neolithic Çatalhöyük. Each poem asks you to slow down and stay a little longer than expected.

"Corey Pressman is a magical human - magical art, magical writing. His finely made poems are bells of vision and clarity to help us 'stay the same changing.'" - Naomi Shihab Nye

THUNOV 5
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Talks & LecturesPoetryAuthor Talks

Brian Doyle Celebration and Book Release

Join Mary Miller Doyle and friends for a presentation of Wonder Is a Lovely Place to Be: 365 Days of Wit, Wisdom, and Irrepressible Imagination by Brian Doyle and Mary Miller Doyle. Drawing from both beloved and previously unpublished Brian Doyle works, this collection of essays, poems and sketches invites readers to notice holiness woven through ordinary, everyday moments.

Mary Miller Doyle and John and Cindy McPhee will read passages from Wonder is a Lovely Place to Be and retired Lake Oswego Public Library director Bill Baars will host. We'll also be serving apple and marionberry pie, Brian's favorite flavors.

Brian Doyle (1956-2017) was the author of many books, including the novels Mink River and The Plover; The Grail, his account of a year in a pinot noir vineyard in Oregon; and The Wet Engine, a memoir about his infant son’s heart surgery and the young doctor who saved his life. He edited Portland Magazine at the University of Portland.

This program is supported by the Friends of the Lake Oswego Public Library. Participation is free, and no registration is required. Please note, seating is limited due to the size of the space. Seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.A livestream will be available.

Lake Oswego Public Library is located at 706 Fourth Street, Lake Oswego. For more information, contact Alicia Yokoyama at 503-534-4228 or [email protected]

(link sends e-mail)

THUNOV 5
7:00 PM – 9:30 PM · Doors 6:30 PM
MuseumsPoetryAuthor TalksLive Podcasts & RadioVarietyStand-UpHip-HopTalks & Lectures

Live Wire x Portland Art Museum: Dessa, Mac Barnett, Ed Park, and Mx. Dahlia Belle

Live Wire teams up with the Portland Art Museum during First Thursday and the Portland Book Festival. From 4:30 to 6 p.m., complimentary pop-up performances roam the museum galleries, no ticket needed. At 7 p.m., host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello lead a seated, ticketed taping with poet and rapper Dessa, children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.. Portland Book Festival passholders get 10% off.

WEDNOV 4
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
WorkshopsCourses

Phishing & Computer Basics

Learn essential computer skills in this beginner-friendly class, from logging in to personalizing settings. In the second hour, focus on how to protect yourself from email scams, malicious software, and identity theft. Perfect for first-time users.

THUNOV 5
7:00 PM · Doors 6:30 PM
💰 $10 general admission, $5 for members with code on back of membership cardPoetryCultural HeritagePerforming ArtsLGBTQ+

Oregon Jewish Voices 2026

Oregon Jewish Voices 2026 November 5, 2026 Admission: $10 general admission, $5 for members with code on back of membership card Location: OJMCHE Auditorium Share × " class="share-btn"> Share on Facebook &text=Oregon Jewish Voices 2026" class="share-btn"> Share on Twitter Email Thursday, November 5 | 7pm start time, doors open at 6:30pm Started in 1999 and organized by writer Willa Schneberg, this annual event features readings by prominent Oregon Jewish poets and writers. The writers in the 2026 program span a range of genres, including fiction, poetry, playwriting, and nonfiction. Each author will share selections from their work. About the Speakers Ayelet Amittay is a poet and psychiatric nurse practitioner in Eugene, Oregon. Her first book, The Eating Knife , is an extended Midrash on the Akedah—the binding of Isaac. It was published by Fernwood Press in 2025. Her chapbook, Therapy Room , won second place in the 2024 3-Day International Chapbook Contest. Ayelet’s poems appear in Gulf Coast , Michigan Quarterly Review , Rattle , Critica Press , Tupelo Quarterly , Pleiades , and others. She received fellowships from the Yiddish Book Center and the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing . Find her at www.ayeletpoet.com or on Instagram @ayeletpoet. Rachel Attias is a writer, educator, and editor based in Portland. Her writing has appeared in n+1 , Porter House Review , X-R-A-Y, and more, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. She holds an MFA from Oregon State University, and teaches writing at Portland Community College and around the Pacific Northwest. She is also part of Art/Lab’s 2026 Fellowship Cohort, which empowers Portland-area Jewish artists and culture bearers. Her writing is concerned with present and ancestral relationships, our changing natural world, memory, time, and everyday absurdity. Find Rachel at www.rachelattias.com . Daniel Isaiah Elder Daniel Isaiah Elder writes fiction and nonfiction. He was awarded a 2026 Susan Kamil Emerging Writers Prize and received a Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ Writer fellowship, as well as an Art/Lab fellowship for Jewish writers. He works as a bookseller at a small independent bookstore, and at Lidia Yuknavitch’s alternative workshop organization, Corporeal Writing. His essays and fiction have appeared in The Rumpus, Catapult, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Witch Craft Magazine, and many more. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his partner and their blended family

SUNNOV 1
3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
RPGs & D&DCourses

Gateway to Adventure: D&D with Jordan M.

Gateway to Adventure is a premium D&D learning experience. Been interested in trying out Dungeons & Dragons but didn't know where to find a group or how to get started? Let us take care of that for you!

You (and your friends) can embark on a curated adventure, played out over 3 weekly sessions. You will learn all the basics from character generation to combat and roleplaying in a safe space with pro Dungeon Master Jordan (aka @gendergolemdm ).

Sessions require a minimum of 4 players to run and can accommodate up to 6 players.

If you have any questions at all about the experience or how to book please give us a call or shoot us an email at [email protected]

MONNOV 2
4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Cooking ClassesDiningTeensWorkshopsCourses

The Teen Table

The Teen Table is a relaxed, hands-on cooking experience for teens who want to feel more comfortable in the kitchen, learn to cook for themselves, and spend time with other teens who enjoy good food.

Whether they’re brand new to cooking or already have some experience, we’ll focus on building practical skills and confidence. Rather than following strict recipes, teens will learn how to think like a home cook—how to make decisions, work with what they have, adjust as they go, and turn simple ingredients into food they’re excited to eat.

We’ll also cover meal planning, kitchen organization, time management, using ingredients thoughtfully, making adjustments, and cleaning up. Most importantly, teens will gain the confidence to cook without needing a recipe to tell them exactly what to do.

Every class ends with everyone sitting down together to enjoy what we’ve made—because cooking is more fun when it’s shared, and learning how to feed yourself well is a pretty great skill to have.

The goal is simple: to help teens feel at home in the kitchen, make food they enjoy, and learn how to take care of themselves through cooking.

November Menu:

  • Herb Roasted Chicken

  • Seasonal Vegetable Sides

December Menu:

  • Veggie Chili

  • Cornbread

What to expect:

  • Price is per person and includes the class, all ingredients, and dinner.

  • Each class is hands-on and centered around preparing a meal together. We’ll cook, talk, experiment, ask questions, make mistakes, and figure things out along the way. There’s no pressure to already know what you’re doing or to be a “chef”— just a welcoming space to learn at your own pace.

  • Some food allergies and intolerances can be accommodated, but please note that we may cook with eggs, dairy, nuts, poultry, beef, pork, and fish. If you’re unsure whether the class will be a good fit for your dietary needs, please inquire before registering.

  • This series is for kids aged 13-18

About our Instructor:

Chef Leta Merrill is the founder and Pasta Maia, a seasoned culinary instructor, and also a mom of teens. She loves cooking with families and teaching young cooks in a fun, hands-on environment. Inspired by the Cucina Povera philosophy of simple, resourceful cooking made with love, Leta brings old-world Italian warmth and a love of gathering around the table to every class.

WEDNOV 4
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Talks & LecturesWorkshopsCourses

Tenant Rights Workshop

Learn about your tenant and survivor rights as renters with YWCA Clark County and Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program’s Housing Justice Project during a workshop from 6-7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at YWCA Clark County, 3609 Main St., Vancouver. Participants will learn about their rights and responsibilities as tenants, common housing issues and available legal resources. The workshop will also provide information specifically for survivors of domestic violence, including housing protections and considerations and resources to support housing stability. Register at eventbrite.com/e/tenant-rights-workshop-tickets-2002166313340.

WEDNOV 4
3:00 PM – 10:00 PM
PoetryJazzPerforming Arts

Book Bar: Allen Ginsberg Tribute Night

Book Bar is a five-day pop-up bar, café and cultural clubhouse in the heart of downtown Portland during Portland Book Festival week. Stop in for drinks, food, conversation and a rotating lineup of literary-inspired performances, pop-ups and unexpected happenings.

On Wednesday night, 45th Parallel Universe presents a celebration of Allen Ginsberg, featuring live readings of Howl and other works accompanied by live jazz.

The evening brings together voices from Portland’s literary, music, theater and radio communities for a tribute to one of the most influential figures in American poetry, and to Howl, which Ginsberg first read publicly in Portland while studying at Reed College.

Featured participants include Gregory Scholl, Robert McBride, Fred Child, Alexis Hamilton and additional special guests.

WEDNOV 4
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
+14 dates
TheaterPoetry

An Iliad

Told entirely by two performers, a poet and a musician, Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s An Iliad remixes Homer’s tale, bridging the ancient with the contemporary. In turns humorous and tender, violent and harrowing, An Iliad is a vital examination of the human compulsion towards war, a passionate interrogation of the toll war has on our humanity, and a testament to the power and potential of storytelling.

WEDNOV 4
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
💰 $30MeditationWorkshopsCourses

Let the Leaves Fall: Living the Autumn Life

Vanessa Grace of Soul Amplified will lead a workshop about the spiritual aspects of autumn from 6:30-8 p.m. Nov. 4 at Self Balance Massage, 8301 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave., Vancouver. Autumn is the transition between the outward-focused, fast pace of summer and inward-focused, slow pace of winter. Students will learn how to “live the autumn life” in preparation for winter, the art of releasing and the significance of endings. Grace will lead participants in a guided mediation, leaf release ritual and journaling. The cost is $30, including a digital workbook. For details, email [email protected].

SATNOV 14
10:00 AM
RSVP requiredWorkshopsCoursesTalks & Lectures

Mason Bees Unwrapped: The Art & Science of Cocoon Harvesting

Community Nature Center, Carty Unit — Ridgefield National Wildlife RefugeMap

Master Gardener and Master Melittologist Anne Bulger on native mason bees: why they’re such good pollinators, what’s hiding inside their nesting tubes, and how to harvest and clean cocoons so your bees make it through winter healthy. Good for total beginners and people already hosting bees. Part of the Community Workshop Series. Sign up ahead.

MONNOV 9
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
💰 $90BooksReadingsCourses

Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These and Foster

In rating Small Things Like These 41st on its list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, the New York Times said: “Not a word is wasted in Keegan’s small, burnished gem of a novel, a sort of Dickensian miniature….”

This is an important novella in the vein of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, but with an ending that packs a different punch. At its center is a man torn between family, community, church, and one young woman in a terrible predicament. He must make a choice, and Keegan’s exquisite, concise writing reveals that agonizing choice. It’s a perfect story to ponder and discuss: What would you choose in his situation?

Keegan’s other work, “Foster,” is a long short story with a big impact. No word is wasted as Keegan tells the story of a young girl sent to live with another family when her own mother is fraught with problems of her own. Again, in the New York Times’s glowing review they say: “Keegan makes us complicit in what her characters want, setting us up for utter heartbreak when they don’t get it.”

Foster’s is already considered canonical and is taught as a required text for Comparative Literature in the curriculum for Ireland’s secondary schools.

Join us in this two-week exploration of these incredible short works by an Irish writer of spare prose and mmense talent.

Access Program
We want our writing classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at [email protected] if you have questions.

Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.

Apply here for the liaison position.

SATNOV 7
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
PoetryBooksPerforming Arts

Householding: Poetry Reading with Tom Blood, Shannon Baird

Join us for a poetry reading from Householding with Tom Blood, Shannon Baird, and Brian Hebb.

Tom Blood is the author of the sky position which was awarded the Oregon Book Award for Poetry. Published the raccoon, dot dot, the act, if ever then always, exp, and exp3. He also performs as the lead vocalist in the bands rob walmart, Tom Blood and Jordan Dykstra and Dream Center. Tom is Published in journals in NY, SF, Portland, London, Seattle and elsewhere. He believes the only purpose in life is to communicate love.

Shannon Baird is a Portland native, real estate broker, and award-winning designer whose work reflects a longstanding appreciation for architecture, art, and the character of place. With more than 24 years in real estate and as the founder of SBaird Design, she brings a distinctive perspective to the relationship between people, homes, and the stories they hold.

Shannon conceived the idea for this collection of poetry, originally written to accompany actual real estate listings. What began as an unconventional approach to presenting homes evolved into a book celebrating the character, atmosphere, and individuality of the places we inhabit.

Working closely with book designer Fredrik Averin, Shannon guided the creative development and design of the publication. The collection features poems primarily by Tom Blood, with additional contributions from Shannon Baird and Brian Hebb. Charlotte Moore wrote the foreword and afterword, and Rory Sparks produced the foil-stamped covers.

The book reflects an appreciation for the ways poetry can reveal something beyond the physical details of a property—offering a more personal evocative perspective on the meaning of home, a subject of perennial longing.

Brian Hebb is a failed capitalist, former journalist and chronic penman for hire, furnishing other people’s ad copy and speeches with his favorite daydreams. For these sins, and others less relevant, he is at work on his first novel, The Last Days of Fake Bears, and a short story collection, Target Audience. He lives with his wife in Portland, Oregon where fleeting glimpses of their dead pets are most persistent.

THUNOV 5
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
BooksPoetry

BOOK LAUNCH: Transformations: Wood / Metal / Stone / Sundry

Join us for Transformations: Wood / Metal / Stone / Sundry, from Raven Chronicles Press's celebrates the discovery of, and connection with, found objects that hide within landscapes of urban decay and nature. Objects that, when revealed, stand as testaments to time, place, and the transformative effects of nature and the elements. Editor Scott Martin, local poets dan raphael and Allison Green, plus other readers.

MONNOV 2
6:00 PM
+4 dates
CraftsCourses

6-Week Crafting Cohort at Treebeerd's PDX

Mondays, November 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, and Dec 7th from 6-8 pm (with exception on Nov 9th— start time will be 7 pm due to a private event prior.) 15 spots available. Select dates have a limited number of drop-in seats! $200 for six 2 hour sessions across six weeks on Mondays. All materials included. Rotating craft each week— giftable and practical items, perfect for bringing cheer to your home in winter, or knocking out some christmas gifts and stocking stuffers early. We will start with some icebreaker activites to build friendship and connection, but no stereotypical, topical, awkward stuff. I’d love it if some of you remained friends after you left me, and I will facilitate building lasting connections. :) Photo Samples coming soon. Monday, November 2nd, 6-8 pm, Session 1: 1” and 2” Buttons and magnets (make 6+ each using collage, watercolor, or personal photos) GUEST COHOST: AFISHFORTHEO Monday, November 9th, 7-9 pm, Session 2: on Nov 9th— start time will be 7 pm due to a private event prior.) Mini block printing (make five 1” x 2” stamps and one 2×3” stamp, then stamp tradeable and giftable mini prints, cards, bookmarks, and more) Monday, November 16th, 6-8 pm, Session 3: USB “Magic Charm” Lantern Monday, November 23rd, 6-8 pm, Session 4: Beaded crystal suncatcher dangles (make as many as you want in session) Monday, November 30th, 6-8 pm, Session 5: Poetry writing session, draft a few poems with guided inspiration prompts, then take turns typing on the typewriter and framing them Monday, December 7th, 6-8 pm, Session 6: Framed multimedia trinket bricolage— arrange colorful and nostalgic trinkets in a frame, adding accents of sparkle, paint, etc to taste. GUEST COHOST: ISPYJUNK

TUENOV 3
10:00 AM
Registration requiredTalks & LecturesWorkshopsCoursesWellness55+ / SeniorsBoard Games

Resource & Support Classes

Lake OswegoMap
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Strengthen your household readiness through the "Be 2 Weeks Ready" program, presented by PrepLO. Learn how to prepare for disasters like earthquakes, storms, and wildfires. This essential training includes hands-on CPR/AED instruction provided directly by the Lake Oswego Fire Department (LOFD).

Fee: FREE (Pre-registration is required)

Evening Workshops (Held at the Adult Community Center - ACC)

Thursday, September 10 • 5:30–8:30 p.m.
Course ID: 33840 • Register Online

Thursday, December 10 • 5:30–8:30 p.m.
Course ID: 33841 • Register Online

Weekend Workshops (Held at Lake Oswego Recreation & Aquatic Center - LORAC)

Saturday, September 5 • 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
Course ID: 33842 • Register Online

Saturday, December 5 • 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
Course ID: 33844 • Register Online

HEALTH & WELLNESS EDUCATION Evidence-based community seminars covering healthy aging, functional physical safety, and behavioral well-being. Evidence-Based Fall Prevention Masterclass

Tuesday, October 20 • 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
Course ID: 35016
Fee: FREE

Join clinical experts from Providence Health & Services to learn how age-related changes in balance, physical strength, and general medical health affect daily mobility. Discover concrete ways to minimize risks by modifying everyday medications, assessing footwear choice, and addressing common home environment hazards. Includes a short, participatory tai chi balance demonstration.

Presented by: Providence Health Leaders
Register Online

Aging Well: A Longevity Series

Thursdays, October 22 – November 12 • 12–1:30 p.m.
Course ID: 34887
Fee: Resident $36 / Non-Resident $54 (4-week course)

This structural, evidence-based series features weekly presentations by Providence clinical directors focused on optimizing physiological health as you age. Learn actionable, science-backed lifestyle habits designed to promote everyday brain fitness, strengthen emotional resilience, and maximize lifetime physical vitality rooted in the latest senior medical research.

Presented by: Providence Clinical Directors
Register Online

Mental Health First Aid (QPR Training)

Tuesday, November 3 • 10–11:30 a.m.
Course ID: 34823
Fee: FREE

Join representatives from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for an invaluable QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide prevention training session. Participants will learn how to recognize early situational warning signs, ask supportive, compassionate direct questions, and safely guide neighbors, friends, and family toward life-saving community crisis resources.

Presented by: NAMI NW Advisors
Register Online

COMMUNITY INTEREST & RECREATION Interactive workshops and group programs designed to build technical skill, improve home spaces, and foster connection. Bridge – Supervised Play

Tuesdays • 9:30–11:30 a.m.
Fee: Resident $20 / Non-Resident $25 per multi-week section

Elevate your card game in a supportive, structured environment! Curated for enthusiasts who possess standard background play experience, this community class weaves short, technical lessons with real-time coached table play. Refine card play execution, clarify bidding options on the fly, and share the friendly table camaraderie of fellow players.

Section A (Sept 8 – Oct 27): Course ID: 35364 • Register Online
Section B (Nov 3 – Dec 15): Course ID: 35365 • Register Online

Home Repair, Accessibility & Weatherization Workshop

Thursday, October 29 • 2–4 p.m.
Course ID: 35370
Fee: FREE

Learn how to optimize your living space to be safer, energy-efficient, and structurally accessible using public county support systems. Experienced case managers from Clackamas County will detail application criteria for free residential weatherization upgrades, low-cost deferred maintenance home improvement loans, and localized senior accessibility renovation grants.

Presented by: Clackamas County Program Coordinators
Register Online

Past Educational Programs Archive The following informational lectures and multi-week series have successfully concluded. Thank you to our regional partner organizations and guest instructors!
  • Life’s Final Chapter Series (May/June): A thoughtful practical exploration covering end-of-life logistics, medical directives, and grief support, facilitated alongside Death Doulas NW and End of Life Choices Oregon.
  • Estrangement & Reunion Workshops (May/June): Multi-session mental health family guidance led by the licensed marriage and family therapists of Family Ties Counseling Center.
  • Caregiver Support & Resilience Intensives (May/June): Specialized, four-hour professional workshops covering dementia communication habits and chronic caregiver burnout prevention, led by Dr. Andrea Holzner.
  • Healthy Legs as You Age (May 6): A cardiovascular educational forum addressing vein health, modern treatment options, and leg circulation, led by Dr. Toshio Nagamoto of Inovia Vein.
  • Estate Planning Basics (May 20): A legal resource class reviewing wills, asset protection vehicles, and common probate filing pitfalls, presented by Michael Rose, Attorney at Rose Elder Law.
  • Paying for Long-Term Care (June 10): A community seminar providing legal guidance on qualifying for public Medicaid benefits and managing long-term institutional residential costs, presented by Rose Elder Law.
SATNOV 7
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
PoetryAuthor TalksTalks & Lectures

The Body Has Teeth: A Reading and Conversation

Bold Coffee & Books1755 Southwest Jefferson Street

BOLD is thrilled to host The Body Has Teeth: A Reading and Conversation with Amy Baskin, David Loring Nash, Anthony DiPietro, and Summer Stewart.

Four writers enter the dark from different doors. Anthony DiPietro’s poems move through gay love, sex, and the strange repetitions of desire. Amy Baskin gives Lilith—the first woman, cast as a demon—her fierce voice. Summer Stewart’s poems and essays expose the scripts written onto women’s bodies and lives. In David Loring Nash’s Northwoods, witchcraft, revenge, and human folly wait just beyond the treeline. Join them for a reading, followed by a conversation led by Summer Stewart.

SATNOV 14
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Registration requiredCoursesWorkshops

(HA) Wilderness First Aid (WFA): Nov 14, 2026

VariousMap

The Mazamas is partnering with Base Medical to offer Wilderness First Aid (WFA) classes. WFA is a nationally recognized certification, and this course follows nationally set standards. This particular WFA is a hybrid course format consisting of:

  • 8 hours of online work to be completed at least 2 days prior to the practical
  • 3-4 hours of self-directed Patient Assessment (PAS) skills practice at home to prepare for the practical
  • an 8 hour in-person practical session
  • an online final exam passed with a score of 80% or higher within seven days of completing the practical portion of the course

*Please note the online course work must be completed 48 hours prior to the practical session to attend and pass the class. (No reschedules or exceptions can be accommodated). Following acceptance into the course you will receive a time-sensitive email with a link to the online coursework. Please check your junk folder and reach out to the registrar if you do not receive this link within a week of your acceptance.

The practical portion of the course will be held at the MMC from 8 AM to 5:30 PM. More information about the practical course, including course expectations and guidelines, will be sent via email closer to the course date.

Prerequisite: Laptop or desktop computer (this is for the online section, only. You do not need to bring this material to the in-person course)

Thank you for your interest in this program! Please be aware that your application will not be reviewed or accepted until after registration closes. Please note the registration close date above. Do not hesitate to reach out to our registrar with any questions or concerns. [email protected]

WEDNOV 4
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
+1 dates
LanguageCourses

Pre-Beginner ESL Class Provided by Goodwill Industries

Designed for adults with little to no prior knowledge of English. This class focuses on the English alphabet, basic phonics, numbers and survival vocabulary. Preparing students for Beginner ESL Class.
No class on September 16 or November 11.

MONNOV 9
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
+1 dates
Cultural HeritageTalks & LecturesCoursesLanguage

INFO SESSION: PSU Faculty-Led Spain: Oviedo - Third Year Spanish Language and Culture in Context

Location FMH 333Map

Spanish Language & Culture in Northern Spain

What can Asturias teach us about Spain’s history, culture, and identity?

Join us for an immersive summer program in Oviedo, Spain, exploring the rich history, art, literature, and contemporary culture of Asturias. Through cultural experiences, course discussions, and exploration of northern Spain, you’ll examine how Spanish identity has evolved from pre-Roman times to today.

Along the way, you’ll strengthen your Spanish language skills, building fluency, vocabulary, writing, and confidence while engaging with authentic Spanish-language materials and everyday life in Spain.

Designed for students ready to go beyond the typical study abroad experience, this program is ideal for students interested in Spanish language, literature, history, art, culture, and international studies.

Program Dates: June 27–July 30, 2027
Course: SPAN 301, 302, 303 (12 credits)
Prerequisite: SPAN 203 or equivalent proficiency

View Program Details

WEDNOV 4
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
💰 $360CoursesWorkshopsTalks & LecturesArts & Media

Journalism for Every Writer

Journalism isn’t only for journalists. The practice involves skills that are useful to any and all writers across genres and levels of experience. At its core, reporting is the process of asking questions and seeking answers, which is something all writers do in one form or another. In addition to interviews, research is a valuable tool for any writer to deepen and expand their understanding of a chosen subject and fact-checking can heighten the rigor and truth of any work, even the most fantastical fiction.

As part of their training, journalists learn how to distill a story down to its core components, make it legible to a wide audience, and structure information to maximize impact. These are skills and practices that all writers can benefit from. Whether there’s a journalist character in your novel, a historical component to your memoir, a narrative aspect to your academic work, or a poem that provides a glimpse into an unknown world, this class will provide a basic understanding of journalism that any writer can apply to any project.

Course outcomes:
● Writers are introduced to the fundamentals of reporting, research, writing, editing and fact-checking
● Writers explore how to incorporate these skills into their writing practice
● Writers gain confidence applying these skills in their own projects, outside of the classroom

Class schedule:
Week 1: The Journalist Mindset—Week 1 provides an overarching introduction to the key concepts of journalism and how it can be applied to any writing project. Concepts include the “5 Ws + H” and newsworthiness.

Week 2: Reporting and Research—Students will learn interview techniques; discuss other ways to access information, like court documents, public records and archives; and review best practices for research, like relying on primary source documents and vetting journal articles.

Week 3: Writing & Structure—How to write and structure a basic news story, with a discussion of how those core principles (like the inverted pyramid) can apply to any writing project. It will also address how to approach writing a feature story, which requires using information to build scenes and character development.

Week 4:
Ethics & Accuracy—How to fact-check and why it matters. Students will learn what goes into fact-checking and how to ensure that the information they have gathered is accurate. They will also learn core ethical principles of journalism, such as objectivity, independence, as well as how to handle attribution (on vs off the record) and how to handle sources requesting anonymity or who are not telling the truth.

Week 5: Organization and Pitching. In this session, students will get tips on how to keep all their reporting notes and material organized to help streamline the writing, editing and fact-checking process. The class will also cover the basics and best practices of pitching so students feel empowered to send their ideas out into the world.

Week 6: Workshop. The final class will be dedicated to discussing each student’s ideas and providing collective guidance and feedback. Whether it’s a question about a story’s angle or a full-fledged pitch, this session will be a forum for everyone to take their journalistic aspirations to the next level, incorporating what they’ve learned over the past five weeks.

Access Program
We want our writing classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at [email protected] if you have questions.

Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.

Apply here for the liaison position.

TUENOV 3
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
+4 dates
RSVP required55+ / SeniorsMeditationBooksCoursesClubs & Meetings

Wise Aging: Exploring Life’s Next Chapter Together

Wise Aging: Exploring Life’s Next Chapter Together
Tuesdays, October 13–November 17 | 10:00–11:30am
Register Here

Growing older isn’t just about adding years; it’s about discovering new ways to find meaning, connection, and joy. Join a welcoming community of adults 60+ for a six-week journey of reflection, conversation, and personal growth. Together, we’ll explore this stage of life with resilience, purpose, and wisdom.

​Through guided conversations, mindfulness practices, journaling, and shared experiences, you’ll gain practical tools and fresh perspectives for navigating life’s transitions. Together, we’ll explore topics such as embracing change, cultivating meaningful relationships, enhancing well-being, and creating a lasting legacy.

​Based on the book Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Spirit by Rabbi Rachel Cowan and Dr. Linda Thal, this series uses the book as a guide for discussion and reflection.

Because each session builds on the last, participants are asked to commit to attending all six weeks, allowing the group to develop trust, meaningful connections, and rich conversations together.

​The series is facilitated by Laura Ziegler, an experienced trainer and group facilitator who is passionate about helping older adults embrace the opportunities and transitions of the Third Act.

​This series is free to attend, but registration is required. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Participants are asked to purchase a copy of the Wise Aging book prior to the first session. If the cost of the book is a barrier, please let us know — we’re happy to provide a copy.

THUNOV 5
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Poetry

Reading From Transformations Anthology

Mother Foucault’s Bookshop715 Southeast Grand Avenue

Readings from Transformations: Wood/Metal/Stone/Sundry (Raven Chronicles, 2026). Transformations celebrates the discovery of, and connection with, found objects that hide within landscapes of urban decay and nature. Objects that, when revealed, stand as testaments to time, place, and the transformative effects of nature and the elements. Readers include Dan Raphael, Allison Green, Nora Martin, and Scott Martin.

FRINOV 13
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
BooksPoetryMusicPerforming ArtsTalks & Lectures

Book Launch: Junebug by Paul Maziar

Join us for a reading and celebration of Paul Maziar’s Junebug. The evening with feature musical guests Kelli Schaefer and Drew Grow.

When asked for eight words to describe Junebug, Maziar channeled Agent Cooper: “Everyday, once a day, give yourself a present.” But did he mean the present? Either way, Junebug is a gift.

Junebug situates Paul Maziar’s latest acts of listening and attending, transmission and transcription. He’s built a modular space suggestive of both the theatre and the gallery, performance and (inter)play. The aphoristic title sequence hones sharp accessibilities — we find words available to us, for our limbs and limbics to hold, hurrumph, to slap our knees and share. A mysterious dramatis personae pervades Junebug’s expanse across the mental maps Maziar graphs as he organizes streets of words and questions what their design might reference. We encounter, among others, Toulouse-Lautrec, Agnes Martin, Eva Hesse, Jack Whitten, Colette, Robert Walser. Who are all these characters in Maziar’s parade? Maybe there’s some insight in the final serial sequence, “Hives,” which states that “The real thing is inside of what everything appears as.” The real in Junebug asks us to admire the distance between the surface and the subject. We already have the right tools.

Advance praise for Junebug:

Charles North: From short poems to prose poems to the wonderful fragments collected in its title poem, Paul Maziar’s writing revels in imaginative discontinuity. Junebug is smart, witty, surprising—and inspiring—throughout.

Merrill Gilfillan: These works step up in the name of Poetry and its heartwood, its ever-salvational “What’s on the river today?”

Tetra Balestri: Maziar manages to resurrect a conversation started sometime in the early to mid-20th century that cuts through the present-day pandemonium with polish and swagger. Junebug is a pair of pants worth trying on.

Simone Kearney: Reading Paul Maziar’s Junebug, I feel the tightrope walker’s high-wire balance between the forces of levity and gravity, the contexts of interior and exterior, the concocted and the perceived, thought and overheard speech. These poems make me wonder how it is that we move through the world, which is also a moving-through language.

I’m reminded that language bears a strange mystery. It’s always received and always being made at the same time; it’s a material we inherit and get to play with. In Maziar’s work, overheard phrases and sayings arrive solidified, brick-like things. The language resembles the fragments of familiar tunes — an echo, or memory of one — appearing as the freshest, strangest thing newly imagined.

I feel the intimacy and elusiveness of unspoken thought in the poems: words not yet uttered, still inside the mind. This makes me feel the dynamics of inside and outside that are part of the human drama. Am I looking at something the poet is looking at, or am I inside his head? Maziar lets us inhabit uncertainty. This is living language just being breathed, catapulted from lips, cemented into freshly-thought speech.

Junebug lets me delight in the way language can tend to trip over itself: “I’d rather stimulate than simulate”; “a certain vigor (or vinegar?).” Decontextualized, speech is absurd, funny, strangely moving: “I’m not going anywhere until I see a horse.”

What emerges is a tour de force composed of song, slogan, slip of the tongue, reverie, note, advertisement, fragment, nonsense, musing, hiccup, rupture, tidbit, epiphany. “The only faith he had was in the confusion of his experiences,” Maziar writes, suggesting that one thing we can do amid such confusion is continue to place words onto the page — in relation to ourselves, to others, to images, and to other words. And those words keep coming to meet us: flat, full, flowing, tired, zippy, and ready for more.

Musical guests

Kelli Schaefer's latest record, Even Still, could be the soundtrack to a modern gothic, a playlist for a trudge through a muddy forest or the accompaniment to a subconscious mantra. She demonstrates deftness in refusing to confine herself to a single genre. Schaefer excavates her past while planting herself deeper into the avant-garde, offering a fresh take on the age-old singer-songwriter trope, delivering haunting melodies over swirling woodwinds, piano, classical guitar, and upright bass.

The Pacific Northest's beloved troubadour, musician/artist Drew Grow (Slang, Modern Kin, Pastor's Wives) is back with new songs and a new stripped down method. Spotted playing solo shows around Portland this summer, he is out on his own, debuting new music and packing a wall of little guitar amps. It's new digs for the artist. Drew's solo approach, raw and exposed, is even more striking than the bands of his past. His powerful voice still ringing through as ever, magnetic and arching over the solo guitar and twisted old amps. The sound is momentous and vulnerable, seeming to come from a deeper place. What have you brought us?

A $10 ticket supports our musical guests, Kelli Schaefer and Drew Grow.

THUNOV 5
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
💰 $45Registration requiredWorkshopsCoursesCrafts

Rose Salves Workshop

Vampire Unicorns, 3510 N.E. Third Ave., Camas, will offer a Rose Salves Workshop from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5. Students will explore folklore surrounding roses and their gentle herbal properties, then create a rose petal salve to soothe the skin and spirit. The cost is $45. Register at vampireunicorns.xyz.

TUENOV 10
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Tech HelpWorkshopsCourses55+ / Seniors

Smartphone or Device Help

Beaverton City Library12375 SW Fifth St

Do you know how to remove apps? What to do if your phone memory is full? How to improve battery life? Learn these skills and more for your Apple, Android, or Microsoft devices in a focused, 1:1 session with volunteers from SeniorTechPals, and bring your phone or tablet.

Registration strongly encouraged, but drop-ins can wait to receive help.

WEDNOV 18
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
PoetryTalks & Lectures

Mountain Writers Series - Gerald Costanzo & Michele Glazer

Join us for the Mountain Writers Series readingswith:
Gerald Costanzo & Michele Glazer

Gerald Costanzo’s Badlands: First Poems, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 1973, and in 1974, In the Aviary, won the Devins Award. Other of his poetry collections include Nobody Lives on Arthur Godfrey Boulevard (BOA, 1992), The Laps of the Bridesmaids (Bits Press, 1992), and most recently, Regular Haunts (Nebraska, 2018). Founder of the Carnegie Mellon University Press (1972), Costanzo served as Director of the Press, also teaching writing and literature courses at Carnegie Mellon University, until he retired in 2024. Costanzo has edited numerous anthologies, among them Three Rivers, Ten Years: An Anthology of Poems from Three Rivers Poetry Journal, and American Poetry: The Next Generation. He has received two N.E.A. Creative Writing Fellowships as well as two Pushcart Prizes for his poetry. He divides his time between Mt. Lebanon, PA and a home on the Oregon Coast.

Michele Glazer is the author of four books of poetry, most recently, fretwork (Iowa, 2021). Others include On Tact, & the Made Up World (Iowa, 2010); Aggregate of Disturbances (Iowa Poetry Prize, 2004); and It Is Hard to Look at What We Came to Think We’d Come to See (Pittsburgh, 1997; AWP Award). She has published poems in The New Yorker, Boston Review, and Lo-Ball, among others. Glazer was the founding director of the MFA Creative Writing program at Portland State University and has been a visiting professor at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and at the University of Montana as the Richard Hugo Chair in Poetry. She lives in Portland.

TUENOV 24
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Clubs & MeetingsGamesFood & DrinkPoetry

Garden Gnomes du plume: A Writer's Group

Garden Home Community Library7475 SW Oleson Rd

This is our last meeting of 2026! Because our meeting this month falls the week of Thanksgiving, we'll do a casual and fun potluck in person with some sort of writing game (to be determined).

Please bring some food to share. The library will provide the game.

SUNNOV 8
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
💰 $25WorkshopsCoursesTeensArts & Media

K-Pop Dance Workshops at Metropolitan Performing Arts

Metropolitan Performing Arts will offer K-Pop Dance Workshops on Nov. 8, Dec. 6 and Jan. 17, taught by Caitlin Bui. From 1:30-3 p.m. Nov. 8, kids 12-18 will learn “Iconic by Mistake” by Katseye, Illit and Le Serrafim. From 1:30-3 p.m. Dec. 6, kids 12-18 will learn “The Feels.” The Jan. 17 class from 3:30-5 p.m. is for kids ages 8-12. Each class is $25.

SUNNOV 8
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
💰 $265BooksReadingsCourses

Theodor Adorno: Minima Moralia

When the nation and culture you grew up in and love have been taken over by a war-waging fascist dictatorship, how do you come to understand the nature and causes of what has happened? Perhaps you can do this only after you fled for your life. How then would you look at the ruins left inside yourself? This was the situation faced by one of the most sophisticated and profound thinkers of the twentieth century, Theodor Adorno (1903–1969), when he found himself living in Los Angeles during World War II after escaping from Nazi Germany.

In this Delve we will study Adorno’s Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life—the amazing book he wrote between 1944 and 1949 to explore his feelings about the calamitous situation of a world facing despotism. We will read the entire book and focus on selected essays. The book is made up of 153 very short essays, ranging from 1-3 pages. The essays focus his philosophical genius on deeply observed and subtle aspects of ourselves that contribute to or resist the ways in which we are socialized that result in alienation, loss of will and agency, and unfulfillment. He explores consumer culture, the arts, and politics along with his recollections of the rise of fascism. Each essay is a deep and intricate knot of feelings and ideas, presented by a contemplative, perseverant, unblinking thinker of the highest order Although written in grief, Adorno always seeks hope by confronting, with maximum honesty and penetration, the deep roots of the problems human society faces. Minima Moralia is a monument to the sensitive study of culture and our psyches amidst disaster trauma. Adorno’s brilliant and strong style make this book a pleasure to think with. In this Delve we will read the entire book and focus on selected entries.

Text:
Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life<, Theodor Adorno, translator E. F. N. Jephcott (Verso)

Access Program
We want our writing classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at [email protected] if you have questions.

Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.

Apply here for the liaison position.

FRINOV 6
9:00 PM · Doors 8:00 PM
ChamberPoetry

Chatter PDX : LateWORKS

Chatter PDX takes on the historic and haunting Quartet for the End of Time alongside music by Portland-based composer, Andy Akiho. Special guest Hieu Minh Nguyen presents original spoken word, appearing courtesy of Literary Arts as part of their Cover-to-Cover book festival line-up. About the Series: Chatter LateWORKS is a late-night series that explores modern, experimental, and avant-garde trends within contemporary classical music. Hear local composers alongside rarely heard masters from the past 75 years in a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere inspired by our Sunday morning performances. Doors open at 8pm, show at 9pm.
MONNOV 2
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
CoursesWorkshops

Ritual Design & Spell Casting: Creating meaningful sacred spaces, and effective spells

This two-session class explores the foundations of intentional ritual, sacred space, and spell design. Participants will consider how to create rituals and spells that are personally meaningful, clear, aligned, and ethically grounded, while building confidence in their magical practice. Attendees must be at least 13, and anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

WEDNOV 4
5:30 PM
18+CeramicsCraftsWorkshopsCourses

Intro to Clay (Mini) Series - 3 weeks, Wednesdays 5:30-8:30pm starting November 4th

<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"><strong>Dates</strong>: Wednesdays: 11/4, 11/11, 11/18</p><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"><strong>Time</strong>: 5:30 - 8:30 PM</p><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"><strong>Location</strong>: Bittersweet Studios, 1515 N Rosa Parks Way, Portland, OR 97217</p><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\">This is an abbreviated version of our six week Intro series that concentrates on giving students the basics of ceramics wheel throwing and hand-building without the time commitment of a 6 week course.</p><ul data-rte-list=\"default\"><li><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"><strong>Week 1: Wheel Throwing Basics</strong><br />Learn the fundamentals of working on the pottery wheel, including centering clay, pulling walls, and forming simple vessels. Keep up to two wheel thrown pieces that we will trim for you.</p></li><li><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"><strong>Week 2: Hand-building Techniques</strong><br />Explore coil, slab, and pinch methods to build forms by hand—great for sculptural or functional pieces.</p></li><li><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"><strong>Week 3: Glazing & Finishing</strong><br />Apply underglaze and glaze to your bisqued pieces, experiment with surface decoration, and prepare your work for final firing. Students can fire up to 4 glazed pieces to keep.</p></li></ul><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\">Due to the sequential nature of this series, we cannot offer make-up classes. Please plan on attending every class session. For the duration of the class series, students have access to the studio during Open Studio Hours to work on their pieces.</p><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\">Our Open Studio Hours are:</p><ul data-rte-list=\"default\"><li><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\">Thursdays 3-6 PM</p></li><li><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\">Fridays 5-8 PM</p></li><li><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\">Saturdays 2-5PM</p></li></ul><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"><strong>Ages: </strong>18+ only.</p><p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"><strong>Cancellation/refund policy: </strong>Refunds are available with 10 days’ notice before the first class date. You can choose between store credit for the full amount, or a refund to your card, minus a $30 processing fee per student. 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SUNNOV 15
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
PoetryPerforming Arts

Ariel Resnikoff and Ivan Sokolov

Join us for a poetry reading presented by Spare Room, featuring Ariel Resnikoff and Ivan Sokolov.

Ariel Resnikoff's recent works include Raisin in Every Bite (Furniture Press, 2022), A Paradise of Hearing (The Swan, 2021), and Unnatural Bird Migrator (The Operating System, 2020) which was awarded an Anne and Robert Cowan Writers Prize. His newest poetry collection, Poems with Friends and Ghosts, is forthcoming from Chax Press in 2027. With Pierre Joris, he is also the co-editor of In Between, Keep Moving: A Pierre Joris Reader (Contra Mundum 2026). Ariel is a translator of Yiddish, Hebrew and Spanish poetry and prose, and his own writing has been translated into German, French, Russian, and Mandarin, among other languages. In 2025 he was a visiting writer and translator in China at Central China University in Wuhan and the University of Fudan in Shanghai. Ariel lives in El Cerrito, California – the little hill – with his partner, the artist Rivka Weinstock and their kiddo. With E. Tracy Grinnell, he co-directs Litmus Press and Ether Sea Projects.

Ivan Sokolov is a poet, translator and critic from St. Petersburg, Russia, currently based in Portland. Author of five books of poetry in Russian, he also translates the international avant-garde, from Gertrude Stein to Paul Celan. His Russian version of Ron Silliman's "You" and a translation of Richard Foreman's "Samuel II" were recently published. Sokolov's translations from contemporary Russian writing are available in World Literature Today and the Back Room. His own work has been featured in a Deep Vellum anthology Verses on the Vanguard.

SATNOV 21
7:30 AM – 5:00 PM
SportsTeensWorkshopsCourses

Region 6 USDF/FEI Youth Clinic Series

DevonWood Equestrian CentreMap

DevonWood will once again host the USDF/FEI Youth Clinic Series in Sherwood, Oregon, with clinician Sabine Schut-Kery. Applications will be available online. The series receives funding support from The Dressage Foundation and the United States Equestrian Federation, and The Dressage Foundation provides grant opportunities for these clinics.

SUNNOV 1
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
+4 dates
LanguageCourses

Citizenship Class - SOAR

Learn about the process of becoming a citizen. Prepare for your citizenship interview. Study United States history and government for the examination. Classes are taught in English.

Registration information call 503.379.1598, ext 105, or email [email protected]

SATNOV 7
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
PoetryAuthor TalksTalks & Lectures

The Body Has Teeth: A Reading & Conversation With Amy Baskin, Anthony DiPietro, David Loring Nash, and Summer Stewart

Four writers approach the dark from different directions. Anthony DiPietro’s poems trace gay love, sex, and desire’s strange repetitions. Amy Baskin gives Lilith—the first woman, cast as demon—a fierce voice. Summer Stewart’s poems and essays examine the scripts written onto...

SUNNOV 1
NOV 1 10:30 AM – NOV 2 12:00 AM
Clubs & MeetingsLearning & TechPoetry

Spill The Tea-A Monthly Writing Group

10117 SE Sunnyside RdMap

A monthly, prompt-driven freewriting gathering welcomes writers of every genre and experience level. Guided by author and poet Jone Rush MacCulloch, the session starts with a creative prompt, offers focused time to write, then invites anyone who wishes to share their work. It is a friendly space to connect with other writers, approach the page with curiosity, and see where inspiration leads. Jone is the author of Tilt, a novel in verse, and facilitates writing salons and events online and at Cup of Tea.

SUNNOV 1
10:00 AM – 12:50 PM
Cultural HeritageKids (5-11)CoursesWorkshopsCrafts

Slöyd Experience: Kids Woodworking Classes

Slöyd is a historical Scandinavian method of education that used woodworking to develop character in children. Still utilized today in some of the highest performing schools around the globe, key elements of the original Theory of Educational Sloyd by Otto Salomon were replicated for these classes.

FRINOV 27
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
+2 dates
DanceMusicalsCultural HeritagePoetryHolidays & SeasonalChoral

Black Nativity

Written by Langston Hughes, directed by Jerry Foster, music directed by JerMichael Riley PhD, choreography by Kemba Shannon. Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity tells the story of the Nativity from an African-American perspective through a combination of scripture, poetry, dance, and song with griot-style narration. A roof-raising, spirit-catching, musical tour-de-force that will bring you to your feet. Pure joy for the season! Bring the whole family. Make it a block party!
SUNNOV 1
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
+4 dates
💰 $20+PoetryChamberVariety

Chatter Sunday Series

Pacific Center851 SW 6th Ave

Chatter PDX is a performing arts series in Portland inspired by the success of the innovative Chatter series in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which has captivated audiences for over 15 years. Chatter PDX brings a unique blend of music, spoken word, coffee, and reflection to Portland's vibrant cultural landscape. Chatter performances take place weekly and offer audiences the opportunity to hear a wide variety of classical chamber music and spoken word, performed by local artists. Coffee and mingling with the audience and performers before and after the show are an essential part of the Chatter PDX experience.

Each week, join a unique program of music and poetry.

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