Learning & Tech❯Talks & Lectures

Author of It Starts With Anger James Spooner will be visiting campus on Nov 9th as our special author visit for Fall's MRC Book Club gathering. Spooner will be giving a talk on the intersections of punk, race and creative art practice, with time for Q&A.

Reed Librarians picked this coming-of-age graphic memoir that explores race, identity, and rebellion because of how Spooner traces how their reactionary anger evolved into a creative force. Confronted with systemic racism, microaggressions, and Nazi extremism within punk spaces, Spooner follows the founding of the Afro-Punk movement all the way to their leaving of the space due to all the ways it fell short as a scene that was ironically both liberating and alienating for the Black people drawn to it.

Their zine-inspired work includes photos, illustrations, and cartoon panels with traditional narrative in a unique package that examines the tension between the conflation of underground culture and mainstream success.

All are welcome to this event. Open to the community. Free for all.

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We encourage Reed students, staff and faculty to sign up for the MRC Book Club to score a copy of Spooner's autobio. Sign up for your free copy here.

A free evening of community and curiosity hosted by the Portland chapter of WRISE (Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy). Leaders from Avangrid, one of the largest renewable energy operators in the US, share how they are exploring and applying artificial intelligence across renewable energy work - from operations and forecasting to planning and the day-to-day realities of running clean-energy assets. Speakers include Sara Parsons, Eleftheria (Lora) Chante and Silmar Crepaldi of Avangrid. The event is aimed at anyone working in or curious about the intersection of AI, energy and sustainability, with time for networking with the Portland clean-tech community. Held at Montgomery Park in NW Portland. Free; register on Eventbrite. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/powering-the-future-how-avangrid-leaders-are-using-ai-in-renewable-energy-tickets-2003681196396

Monday Swing is a weekly vintage swing dance practicum and social dance on Monday nights with DJ'ed music in a cozy NE PDX setting.

All ages! No partner needed!

7:00 - 8:00 Lesson — How to Practice w/ Dianne and Dan
8:00 - 10:00 Practicum & Social Dance

Lesson — $10
Dance — $10
BOTH — $15

Class Description:

In this class, we'll be sharing everything we know about practicing. We’ll cover what to practice, how to practice, and effective strategies for getting the most out of your time. We'll be sharing decades of our own personal learnings about how to be your own best teacher.

So here’s the nitty gritty… We’ll go over how to notate movement, how to seek out and break down canonical sources, how to borrow effectively from professional dancers / competition footage, and how to develop your own "voice" as a dancer. We'll discuss how to prioritize your practice in accordance with your dance values, and how to develop systems for yourself that lead to your dance goals and better dancing in general. We’ll touch on how to build choreography, how to communicate, how to open up space for creativity, and how to connect your practice to the roots and historical traditions of the dance while still being innovative and true to your own voice.

Whether you're practicing with a dedicated partner, by yourself, or with a group, this class will cover techniques to help you show up for yourself and others on your journey to meeting your dance goals.

__________________________________________________________________________________________>> What's a practicum and social dance?
We DJ music just like a regular social dance. You can come out and just dance like normal, or you can come planning to work on something: Ask for feedback, work on a move, play with variations, master a routine.

>> Have a specific question?
Experienced dancers and local teachers are available at practicum to help out with sticky spots.

>> Balboa? Shag? Solo? Learning swingouts?
Let the DJ know what you're working on if you have specific music requests!

This building is not physically accessible to enter. If you have accessibility concerns, please contact PLS.

Join the Portland Insight Meditation Community (PIMC) every Sunday morning for a welcoming, community-centered meditation practice rooted in the Insight (Vipassana) tradition.

Each weekly gathering includes periods of guided and silent meditation, a Dharma talk or reflection, and time for inquiry or community sharing. The program is led by a rotating group of teachers, including PIMC’s resident teachers, visiting guest teachers, and—on some weeks—experienced community members in peer-led formats.

Sunday mornings at PIMC are designed to be accessible to both newcomers and experienced practitioners. Instruction is offered in a clear and inclusive manner.

The Fort Vancouver Rose Society welcomes member and consulting rosarian Mary Hoover as the guest speaker at the society’s next meeting, 7 p.m. Nov. 5 in the Parish Hall at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 426 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver. She’ll share her experiences in caring for the Memory Rose Garden at the Longview Public Library. Established in 1965 and reimagined in 1985 as a Memory Rose Garden, Friends of the Library volunteers care for the garden and fundraise for its ongoing upkeep. Meetings are free and open to the public.

Topic: "The Most Human Documentation", talk by Christian Miles at WTD PDX 2026. Video followed by discussion.

Pizza will be served at 5:15pm.

Zoom Registration: https://pdx.zoom.us/meeting/register/0vPArxYIRa-VkJX47Ryn0g

Portland Fabric User Group It's that magical time of year again where we have our all day FREE technical conference at a local site. This year, we are once again holding our conference at Washington State University Vancouver, up in the Salmon Creek area. As many of you know, the active leadership lives in the Vancouver area, so we've naturally migrated the event to Vancouver due to the availability of high-quality sites with excellent parking. We're in partnership with WSU Vancouver and the WSU

PARTS -- the Portland Area Robotics Society -- is an Oregon non-profit formed to help people interested in robots. Monthly meetings are open to the public and everyone is welcome, from complete beginners to experienced builders. Meetings typically include show-and-tell of members robots and projects, short technical talks, build discussions, and plenty of time to ask questions about motors, sensors, microcontrollers, power and control software. The group gathers at PDX Hackerspace (CTRL-H) in Section 2, the main space you enter through the front door, at 7608 N Interstate Ave in Portland. Bring a project you are working on, or just come to see what other people in the Portland robotics community are building. Free to attend, and a friendly landing spot for students and hobbyists getting st https://events.pdxhackerspace.org/occurrences/parts-portland-area-robotics-society-2026-11-01

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.

Summary: Let's talk about the use (and abuse) of tmux! We'll cover the basics of how it works, how I use it for both good and evil, and the terrible things other people have done with it (hint: tmux is turing complete). This will be a helpful session for people who are just getting started, and (hopefully) amusing for people who have been using tmux for years. Bio: TBA

Tags: plug, linux, tmux

Imported from: http://calagator.org/events/1250482770

Poets Victoria Chang (Tree of Knowledge) and Beth Piatote (distant waters) sit down for a conversation on their recent publications andtheir evocative use of nature throughout their poems. Moderated by writer and editor Alyssa Ogi, this discussion promises a rumination on our shared home, oppressive efforts of erasure, and the art and language that we use to understand our world and ourselves.

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

A poet watches the limbs of a eucalyptus tree get sawed off: the image persists, refracting and recurring across poems of art, language, selfhood, memory, and loss.

Joan Mitchell said, When I talk about love, I mean loving a tree. When I talk about love, I mean loving where a tree used to be.

Men assess the eucalyptus tree growing on the poet’s street; a crane arrives. The sound of a chainsaw rings in the air and branches begin to fall. This tree-cutting haunts the poet and becomes the locus from which the rest of the collection spirals. It refracts across works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Mitchell, and Hilma af Klint, whose painting series lends the collection its title and who becomes a model for engaging with the world. At the core of the collection, the long poem “Eureka” examines the violent 1885 expulsion of Chinese Americans from the eponymous California town. Roving, evocative, and intricate, Tree of Knowledge is rooted in Victoria Chang’s crystalline voice and generous, probing gaze, and by certain images —trees, a hanging figure, a branch, fingertips, a briefcase—that resurface like apparitions.

As a scholar of Native American literature and law, Beth Piatote focuses on the endangerment of Indigenous languages. As an activist, she moves against the current of English-language colonization, working to rescue and revitalize the language of her people. Language, she posits, is an expression of land, a means through which we can travel great distances.

distant water brings the reader into the language of our shared home, North America, revealing a sonic world and grammar governed by rivers, kinship, and ancestral knowledge. “In our homes and homelands,” she writes, “we share the language with the plants and animals and waters and rocks and sky.” Inventive and playful, these poems explore the sounds, structure, and wisdom of the Nez Perce language, illuminating its vitality and capacity to organize relationships to time and place. Braiding aural, linguistic, and spiritual ecologies, distant water conveys an understanding that to be in language is to be in place. To be at home.

Plum Blossom Zendo meets 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays on the first floor of Vancouver United Church of Christ, 1220 N.E. 68th St., Vancouver. There is Zen meditation, a dharma talk and discussion time. For more details, see zendust.org/vancouver/.

Join us at CtrlH in the Kenton neighborhood for Home Assistant Community day! Talk about your projects\, demo what you've created\, and learn how to convert that old Amazon Echo dot into a voice assistant to use with Home Assistant. Snacks and drinks are available!

Event page: https://events.pdxhackerspace.org/occurrences/home-assistant-community-day-2026-11-07

Join Portland Psychedelic Society for a fun and witty conversation about the intersection of psychedelics and aging. Minors ok with parent/guardian

Portland Fabric User Group Explore how the Port of Portland is blending machine learning and AI with traditional BI to support operational and customer experience insights. Using the PDX terminal passenger‑arrival forecasting model and the Customer Experience Scorecard as examples, we’ll trace the end‑to‑end data journey – from raw data to Databricks pipelines to Power BI. The session emphasizes practical design considerations for surfacing AI‑generated data products or advanced analytics in a w

First Saturday: Intro to photography. Get to know your camera with Q/A.

Second Saturday: YOUTH ONLY. Club is facilitated by teen staff this week.

Third Saturday: Art in photography. Try out new concepts, film, DIY hacks.

Fourth Saturday: Women & non-binary photographers only this week.

Fifth Saturday (if applicable): Photography Walk! Get out and take pics with a guided stroll around town.

Business Owners and Managers meet monthly to discuss upcoming events and efforts to make Lake Grove businesses more successful. Our Guest Speaker this month is Cindy Moore, Economic Development Coordinator for Clackamas County. Learn how this office can help you grow your business. Bring your questions and join us!

Join SWE for an inspiring conversation with women leaders in STEM, sponsored by TSMC. Hear their journeys, challenges, and advice.

Then connect during an open Q&A and social. Open to all majors.

People doing strange things with electricity! Dorkbot PDX is an informal show-and-tell for electronic artists, circuit designers, microcontroller programmers, retro computing enthusiasts, video game designers, digital archaeologists and modular synth gearheads. Bring something you have built and talk about it, or just come along to see what other people in the Portland hardware and electronic art community are up to. Presentations are short and casual, and range from finished installations to half-working prototypes and instructive failures. The meetup usually draws 20 to 50 people, is free, and is very welcoming to newcomers -- no project required. Hosted at PDX Hackerspace (CTRL-H), 7608 N Interstate Ave, Portland, in Section 2, the main space you enter through the front door, from 6:30 https://events.pdxhackerspace.org/occurrences/dorkbot-2026-11-09

Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington member Pepper Kim will discuss Southwest Native American art. The group meets from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of most months in the St. Paul Room of Salmon Creek United Methodist Church, 12217 N.E. Highway 99, Vancouver. Attendees should bring their own lunches for optional social time at 12:30 p.m. The meeting starts at 1 p.m. For more details, call Kim at 360-901-0176.

People doing strange things with electricity!

DorkbotPDX is a relaxed\, informal show-and-tell for electronic artists\, circuit designers\, microcontroller programmers\, retro computing enthusiasts\, video game designers\, digital archaeologists\, and mod synth gearheads in Portland\, Oregon.

Bring your electronic wonders\, monsters\, and works-in-progress for others to see\, or come see what others have been working on! Whether it's code or circuits\, electronic creativity of all sorts is welcome here.

This is an active\, ongoing event with average attendance of 20-50 people. It is free and open to everyone\, and newcomers are welcome!

More info: https://dorkbotpdx.org

Event page: https://events.pdxhackerspace.org/occurrences/dorkbot-2026-11-09

Will be serving Ice Cream and Cupcakes at the end of the dance Pre-Rounds: 7 pm to 7:30 pm Plus: 7:30 to 9:30 pm Cuer: Tami Helms Caller: Darrell K. Donation of $7.00 per person Refreshments served after the dance

The B-17 Alliance Veterans Coffee Club is a safe place for Veterans to gain appreciation, build comradery, friendships and receive the honor they are due all over a cup of Joe and a continental breakfast. There are often historical moments as the Veterans share their stories. Sharing builds respect for one another’s tribulations and a silent appreciation for the recognition and understanding that only another Veterans can truly understand. Monthly speakers provide educational topics that our Veterans will appreciate. The B-17 Alliance Veterans Coffee Club has been recognized as a community leader by Veteran Associations for over a decade. This is a no obligations club to show our appreciation to our Veterans. B-17 Alliance Foundation is restoring one of America’s greatest aircraft of WWII and a former iconic “Bomber Gas Station” landmark in Milwaukie, Oregon. The B-17G Flying Fortress won the European Theater during WWII and united a proud nation. The Veterans Coffee Club is held in the center of this rare restoration.

Join the American Marketing Association (AMA) Pacific Chapter and Dr. Kees Smeets to explore why consumers say they want sustainable products but rarely buy them. Lunch provided for students.

Everyone (members and non-members) is welcome to attend the club meeting. These meetings are a chance to understand the workings of the club, discuss issues, vote (when there is something to vote on), watch a special interest presentation, socialize, and have a club-provided snack.

Riding to and from the club meeting in the dark and/or inclement weather is discouraged for safety reasons. Rider mileage is NOT available.

Featured Presentation:
This month's Featured Presentation is actually a Featured Participation! We'll be doing the collection for Sno-Cap (food, warm cloths grocery bags, egg cartons, bottles with deposits that they can reclaim, you get the idea). There will also be the annual pot luck where everyone brings something for refreshments. And...the gear swap.

Get Your Business Tax-Ready for 2026

Join our Chamber’s Women's Lakeside Leadership Group as we welcome Amy Jordan, Senior Tax Manager for Anthem Strategies, who specializes in business tax practice. Amy will share big-picture strategies and practical, detailed tips to help small business owners prepare for the 2026 tax year.

Whether your tax picture includes Schedule C, W-2 income, an S corporation filing Form 1120-S, K-1s—or a combination—bring your questions and leave with best practices to help you plan ahead with confidence!

Cost is $16 whether or not you are having lunch. If you have any special dietary needs, please email [email protected].

Note - seating is limited to the first 30 women who register. Don't delay!

Come learn about your family history along with fellow genealogy enthusiasts. This informal group meets on the second Thursday of each month.

Each quarter, LO TECH CONNECT presents "The Forum" featuring a speaker of note in the technology field. This group is designed for individuals who work in the tech sector to be able to meet and network with others in this sector. Heavy hors d'oeuvres and cash bar.

Want to join the mailing list for this group? Email [email protected]

AI Safety Awareness Group Portland **A free, 90-minute online workshop—no technical background needed** Over the last several years, AI has advanced at a pace that has surprised the public and even many leading experts. It is already reshaping work, the economy, relationships, and even crime, and it is doing so quickly. This workshop explores where AI may be in the next one to five years and what that could mean for daily life for all of us. We'll dig into questions like:

* **Jobs:** Could AI l

Strategic Sponsors - Oregon State University and Beacon Lake Oswego

LO TECH FORUM meets quarterly to hear from a speaker on the cutting edge of technological progress and presents a Lake Oswego version of "Shark Tank."

Watch this space as details emerge.

Want to join the mailing list for this group? Email [email protected].

If your Company would like to Sponsor an LO Tech Connect or Forum event, please click here for more information.

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.

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.

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.

The meeting includes time for food, conversation, and fellowship, followed by updates on club activities, service projects, and upcoming events. Attendees can also hear from guest speakers and meet club members.

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.

Let’s spend a Sunday doing some good and getting to know each other along the way! Join our 30s & 40s Singles Group to support athletes at Special Olympics Oregon’s Beaverton Regional Aquatics competition on Sunday, November 1.

Expect swimming, teamwork, plenty of cheering, and a chance to connect with other community-minded singles. The event coordinator is excited to have our group help!

We have two exciting ways to participate based on how involved you want to be.

🙌 Path 1: Come volunteer directly with us

No sports knowledge, athletic ability, or previous volunteer experience needed. The Special Olympics Oregon team will train you onsite and assign your role at check-in.

You might help with:

• Athlete escorts: Guide swimmers from staging to their lanes and then to awards.
• Timing: Time races and call the finish order.
• Results: Deliver and record race results.
• Awards: Prepare medals and ribbons and help with presentations.
• Developmental skills: Help with staging, escorting, and timing for the morning skills competition.

Have relevant experience? Let the team know at check-in!

You can choose between a full-day shift of about 8–9 hours or a half-day shift of about 4–4.5 hours, depending on availability.

All volunteers receive a Special Olympics Oregon T-shirt, and full-day volunteers receive lunch.

📝 How to join as a volunteer

1. RSVP here so we know you’re joining our Meetup group.
2. Register directly with Special Olympics Oregon and choose your shift (link here or in comments). Your Meetup RSVP alone does not reserve a volunteer spot.
3. Watch for a Meetup message from me! I’ll check in to confirm your shift, help with questions, and coordinate our group.

Please register promptly if you’d like to volunteer, since shifts have limited spaces. Follow the arrival and check-in instructions for your selected shift.

💛 A small commitment that makes a big difference

The event team relies on registered volunteers to keep the competition running smoothly. Please choose a shift you can commit to attending in full and plan ahead for the day.

Of course, unexpected things happen! If you can no longer volunteer, please notify the Special Olympics coordinator promptly, update your volunteer registration, and update your Meetup RSVP too. Keeping everyone informed as timely as possible gives the team time to adjust.

📣 Path 2: Prefer to cheer? Join the audience!

You can also support the athletes from the sidelines. If committing to volunteering in a shift isn’t the right fit, or the shifts have filled, come enjoy the competition and help us give the swimmers an enthusiastic audience!

Please let me know whether you’re volunteering or coming to cheer, so I can coordinate our group. Only people registered directly with Special Olympics Oregon will be counted as volunteers.

Which ever path you choose, we’re happy to have you!

Come lend a hand, bring your cheering voice, and spend a Sunday supporting our greater Portland community. 💛

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.

Join Erath and The Malarkey for a special evening that brings together two Oregon Originals. Hosted at chef Brian Malarkey’s downtown Portland restaurant, this winemaker dinner pairs seasonal cuisine with Erath wines for a one-night-only experience celebrating Oregon's flavors and spirit.

Throughout the evening, guests will enjoy a multi-course menu created by The Malarkey culinary team, thoughtfully paired with Erath wines selected to highlight the flavors, stories, and sense of place that define Oregon. Along the way, you’ll hear from Erath’s Head Winemaker Leah Adint and discover how a shared passion for hospitality, craftsmanship, and creativity continues to inspire both brands.

With limited seating, this is a rare opportunity to gather around the table for an unforgettable evening of food, wine, and Oregon tradition.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

Join Dr. Mas Subramanian, the inventor of YInMn Blue—the first new blue pigment discovered in more than 200 years—for a fascinating lecture on the science, history, and future of color. Dr. Subramanian will share the story behind this accidental discovery and explore the role of pigments in art, design, technology, and everyday life, offering a unique perspective at the intersection of scientific innovation and creative practice.

This is a virtual program held via Zoom Webinar. The webinar will also be screened inside the new building for the Jordan Schnitzer School for Art + Art History + Design on 1981 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201. Attendees can also join remotely.

Join Film School x PAM CUT @ The Whitsell for What’s Up, Doc (1972) in 35mm. The 1972 screwball comedy, starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal, follows a wild and eccentric mix-up of plaid luggage through 70’s San Francisco. This portrait is tailored to showcase Barbra Streisand’s unique and distinct comedic persona and the chaotic magnetism she brings to the screen—echoing the screwball heroines that came before her.

Film School is a community film club hosting monthly screenings, discussions, and a blog. They celebrate cinema, spark conversation, and connect film lovers—on and off the screen.

What’s Up, Doc? (1972) Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. 1hr 34min. Rated G. 35mm.