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FRIOCT 30
OCT 30–NOV 1 · Hours not provided
CoursesWorkshopsTalks & LecturesTech & Coding

Prompt to Profit Bootcamp

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

Prompt to Profit is a 3-day online bootcamp focused on helping founders, builders, and creators set up the systems they need to move from idea to execution. Across three focused sessions, we’ll work through the foundations of product development, workflow systems, and practical next steps for building something people can actually use, test, and grow. This bootcamp is designed for early-stage founders, hackathon builders, vibe coders, solo entrepreneurs, and anyone with an idea they want to turn into a real product or business. You’ll learn how to organize your idea, define your product, build simple systems, and create a clear path from concept to launch. Schedule Friday: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Saturday: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Sunday: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Location Online Bring your idea, your laptop, and your willingness to build. By the end of the weekend, you’ll have more clarity, more structure, and a stronger foundation for turning your prompt into profit.

SATNOV 7
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
RSVP requiredTech & CodingAI & DataWorkshopsTalks & Lectures

PNW Date of Data

Multimedia Classroom Building, Room 22Map

WSU Vancouver MIS club and the Oregon Data Community host a free one-day training event for data professionals and students using the Microsoft Data Platform.

Session topics include SQL Server, Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Azure Synapse, data analytics, visualization and more!

Coffee and Beverages will be provided, and lunch will be available for a small fee.

Conference attendance is free, but registration is required. Use the QR code below.

THUNOV 5
7:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Talks & LecturesTech & CodingAI & Data

SIMposium 2026

DOUBLETREE BY HILTON PORTLAND:Portland OR 97232 USA

The Portland SIMposium is a premier event designed for IT leaders, taking place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Portland, United States. This all-day event brings together CIOs, CISOs, and technology leaders from across the Pacific Northwest, offering a unique opportunity for collaboration, insight, and innovation. Attendees will engage in a series of mainstage panels, breakout sessions, and fireside conversations that delve into key themes reshaping technology leadership today. Topics of discussion will include AI-driven transformation, cybersecurity resilience, workforce evolution, and the human side of digital leadership. Participants will hear from executives who are at the forefront of technology change across various industries, as well as thought leaders from Oregon's vibrant innovation ecosystem. The event also features the prestigious Oregon CIO & CISO of the Year Awards, highlighting exceptional leadership and impact within the region. With the chance to connect with over 150 regional technology and business leaders, attendees can expect to gain actionable insights that will enhance their strategic governance and leadership effectiveness. The Portland SIMposium promises a day filled with knowledge-sharing, networking opportunities, and community engagement.

Imported from: http://calagator.org/events/1250482744

Multi-day events

9
THUNOV 12
Hours not provided
Talks & LecturesTech & CodingAI & Data

NODES 2026: Engineering Better Intelligence (Neo4j)

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

NODES 2026 is Neo4j's free, 24-hour global online conference, running across every time zone on November 12. The program is aimed at developers, data professionals, architects and AI engineers, with sessions on modern application development, multi-agent workflows, graph-backed retrieval and building context-rich systems that hold up in production. Talks are grouped by experience level, so there are introductory sessions for people new to graph databases alongside deeper technical material on knowledge graphs, agent orchestration and graph analytics at scale. Because the event streams continuously for a full day, Pacific-time attendees can join sessions in the morning, over lunch or in the evening, and recordings are typically published afterward. Registration is free through the Neo4j eve https://neo4j.com/event/nodes-2026-engineering-better-intelligence/

SUNNOV 1
10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Clubs & MeetingsTalks & LecturesTech & Coding

PARTS - Portland Area Robotics Society Meeting (Nov 1)

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

SATNOV 7
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tech & CodingAI & DataTalks & LecturesClubs & Meetings

PNW Day of Data 2026 [Portland Microsoft Fabric & Power BI User Group]

Washington State University VancouverMap

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

THUNOV 5
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Tech & CodingTalks & LecturesClubs & Meetings

Portland Linux/Unix Group General Monthly Meeting: Tmux, with Peat Bakke

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

SATNOV 7
NOV 7 10:00 PM – NOV 8 12:00 AM
Tech & CodingWorkshopsTalks & LecturesClubs & Meetings

Home Assistant Community Day

Section 1Map

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

MONNOV 9
6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
MakersTalks & LecturesTech & CodingClubs & Meetings

Dorkbot @ PDX Hackerspace (Nov 9)

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

THUNOV 12
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Talks & LecturesTech & CodingClubs & Meetings

9th Annual PSU Tech Comm Meetup and Write the Docs Portland Supermeetup

Location FMH B104 and remote.Map

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

FRINOV 13
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
Talks & LecturesTech & Coding

Webinar with Cosmos Labs: Designing Tokenized Deposits for a Multi-Ledger Future [LFDT Oregon (Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust)]

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

LFDT Oregon Join us for a webinar with Cosmos Labs, an LFDT general member, on Designing Tokenized Deposits for a Multi-Ledger Future. Most tokenized deposit initiatives start within a single institution or consortium, but the architecture choices banks make today will determine how effectively deposits can reach new markets and power new use cases. This session examines how an interoperability protocol fits into a tokenized deposit stack, covering how deposits and data can be exchanged across l

WEDNOV 11
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Tech & CodingAI & DataTalks & LecturesNetworking & Jobs

Agentic AI Summit

Downtown PortlandMap

The Technology Association of Oregon convenes the Agentic AI Summit, a gathering for Oregon technology professionals focused on agentic AI - systems that plan, take actions, and use tools on a persons behalf rather than simply answering prompts. The program is aimed at engineering leaders, product teams, data and platform practitioners, founders, and the operators who have to decide where autonomous agents genuinely earn their keep. Expected themes include practical deployment patterns, evaluation and guardrails, security and data governance for tool-using systems, cost and reliability tradeoffs, and lessons learned from teams already running agents in production. As with other TAO summits, expect a mix of talks, panels, and structured networking with the regional tech community in downtow https://www.techoregon.org/event/agentic-ai-summit

TUENOV 17
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
RSVP requiredTech & CodingAI & DataWorkshopsTalks & Lectures55+ / Seniors

AI as an Accessibility & Information Tool: Helping Seniors Navigate Daily Life With Confidence

Discover how contemporary AI applications can serve as powerful tools for independent living, lifelong learning, and daily problem-solving. This interactive workshop demonstrates practical accessibility functions hidden inside everyday tech, such as instant text-to-speech audio conversion, natural voice-command interactions, and real-time smartphone image recognition (perfect for reading small labels or identifying objects). Moving into deeper research skills, we will outline advanced prompting methods while unpacking the distinct structural limits of large language models. Learn exactly why AI should never replace professional advisory services, and discover specific strategies for spotting online medical misinformation.

For this session, participants are asked to bring smartphones, laptops or tablets with internet access. Hands-on activities will also include more in-depth prompt writing techniques.

Taught by Adult Services Librarian April Younglove of the Lake Oswego Public Library, with one‑on‑one assistance provided by students from the Lake Youth Leadership Council.

For more information and to register for this free class, please call the Adult Community Center at (503) 635-3758. This class will take place at the Adult Community Center, located at 505 G Avenue, Lake Oswego. This event is sponsored by the Lake Oswego Adult Community Center and the Lake Oswego Public Library.

FRINOV 6
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Tech & CodingAI & DataTalks & Lectures

Tech Talk: AI in Practice with Bethany Janos [The Tech Academy]

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

The Tech Academy **How can developers use AI effectively without losing sight of the fundamentals?**

AI is changing how software is built and how developers approach everyday problems. For students and early-career engineers, keeping up with new tools and practices can feel overwhelming. Understanding how the industry has evolved and learning to make thoughtful decisions about AI can help you adapt and build skills that last.

Our guest speaker, **Bethany Janos**, is a senior software engineer

MONNOV 16
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Tech & CodingAI & DataWorkshopsTalks & Lectures

Big Data? No Problem! An introduction to arrow for R

Working with data that's too large, too slow, or too messy for regular CSVs? Join us for an introduction to the {arrow} package in R. We'll explore how Arrow and Parquet files can make large datasets faster to store, read, and analyze, all while using the familiar dplyr workflows you already know and love. Using Portland's Biketown data, we'll convert, query, and visualize millions of rides without breaking a sweat (or our laptops). Bring your laptop if you want to follow along. No need to RSVP via Meetup, but we might share info ahead of time in the event comments!

Tags: data, r, women in tech

Imported from: http://calagator.org/events/1250482764

TUENOV 17
2:00 PM
Tech & CodingAI & DataWorkshopsCoursesTech HelpTalks & Lectures55+ / Seniors

The AI Toolkit Series

Join Adult Services Librarian April Younglove from the Lake Oswego Public Library for a hands-on, four-part series designed to demystify artificial intelligence. Learn how to navigate the digital world, protect your privacy, and use AI tools with confidence and skepticism. Sessions include clear, live demonstrations, interactive discussions, and personalized tech support. Free for all participants.

  • Location: Lake Oswego Adult Community Center
  • Cost: Free for both residents and non-residents
  • Requirements: Please bring a smartphone, laptop, or tablet with internet access for the hands-on practice portions.
Upcoming Fall 2026 AI Toolkit Lineup Demystifying AI: Intro to AI (Part 1)

Foundations for Everyday Use

Kick off the series by stripping away the tech jargon and discovering how artificial intelligence can simplify your day-to-day life. This foundational session introduces core AI concepts and terminology—including AI summarizers, generative chatbots, and natural prompting—in clear, approachable language. Through live demonstrations of Claude AI, Microsoft Copilot, and ChatGPT, you will learn how to safely use these tools to brainstorm recipes, plan custom travel itineraries, and organize daily tasks. We will introduce the essential "Ask–Tweak–Verify" (ATV) framework alongside critical privacy guidelines to ensure you protect your personal data right from the start.

One-on-one lab assistance is proudly provided by student volunteers from the Lake Youth Leadership Council to help you configure settings on your personal devices.

Date / Time: Tuesday, September 15 | 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Class Number: 34825

Demystifying AI: Chatbot Practice (Part 2)

Hands-On Skills and Sandbox Practice

Build directly upon your foundational knowledge with a supportive, highly interactive sandbox session dedicated to mastering digital assistants. In Part 2, participants shift from watching demonstrations to writing and refining their own prompts. Under patient guidance, you will practice conversational techniques, discover how subtle shifts in word choices yield dramatically improved answers, and learn how to implement standard internet safety boundaries. A major focus of this workshop will be learning how to cross-reference and fact-check chatbot output to ensure your digital interactions remain secure, accurate, and productive.

Personalized, one-on-one tech support will be provided throughout the hands-on practice intervals by members of the Lake Youth Leadership Council.

Date / Time: Tuesday, October 20 | 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Class Number: 34826

AI as an Accessibility & Information Tool

Helping Seniors Navigate Daily Life With Confidence

Discover how contemporary AI applications can serve as powerful tools for independent living, lifelong learning, and daily problem-solving. This interactive workshop demonstrates practical accessibility functions hidden inside everyday tech, such as instant text-to-speech audio conversion, natural voice-command interactions, and real-time smartphone image recognition (perfect for reading small labels or identifying objects). Moving into deeper research skills, we will outline advanced prompting methods while unpacking the distinct structural limits of large language models. Learn exactly why AI should never replace professional advisory services, and discover specific strategies for spotting online medical misinformation.

Personalized, one-on-one tech support will be provided throughout the hands-on practice intervals by members of the Lake Youth Leadership Council.

Date / Time: Tuesday, November 17 | 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Class Number: 34827

AI Safety, Fact Checking & Avoiding Misinformation

Becoming a Confident, Critical AI User

The final installation equips you with an essential digital defense toolkit to evaluate whether online content is authentic, accurate, and trustworthy. We will break down common system errors, reveal how "hallucinations" occur, and introduce quick, library-approved methods for verifying data across independent sources. Crucially, this session helps participants recognize how malicious actors deploy technology for modern fraudulent schemes—including cloning voices for identity scams, fabricating hyper-realistic deepfakes, and pushing complex cryptocurrency traps. Leave with the confidence and critical awareness needed to enjoy modern digital conveniences safely and securely.

Personalized, one-on-one tech support will be provided throughout the hands-on practice intervals by members of the Lake Youth Leadership Council.

Date / Time: Tuesday, December 15 | 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Class Number: 34828

Past Digital Dive Presentations & Resources

Missed a previous session? Access archived video recordings, interactive presentation slides, and educational handouts from our past technology literacy classes below:

Is It AI or Is It Real? How to Spot Computer-Generated Content Like a Librarian (Digital Dive #1)

Explore the sophisticated tools and methodologies professional librarians utilize to identify computer-generated texts, altered documents, and artificial imagery. This session provides actionable, real-world clues to help you differentiate between genuine human creations and artificial content in your daily newsfeeds and correspondence.

This class was originally presented at the Lake Oswego Public Library.

Why Does Fake Information Exist? Understanding the Motives Behind Misinformation

Navigate the rapidly-evolving digital landscape with clarity and balance. This session pulls back the curtain on automated "content farms," breaking down how social media algorithms, financial pay-per-click incentives, and strategic influence campaigns purposefully accelerate the distribution of false narratives. Learn to evaluate source motivations and protect your digital footprint from predatory content design.

This class was originally presented at the Lake Oswego Adult Community Center.

For questions or more information regarding our technology programs, please contact Adult Services Librarian April Younglove at [email protected].

TUENOV 10
2:30 AM – 5:30 AM
Tech & CodingTalks & LecturesMakersClubs & Meetings

Dorkbot

People doing strange things with electricity!

\n

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.

\n

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.

\n

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

TUENOV 17
4:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Talks & LecturesTech & CodingClubs & Meetings

LO Tech Forum

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.

TUENOV 17
4:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Talks & LecturesTech & CodingNetworking & JobsClubs & Meetings

LO Tech Forum Sponsorship

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]

SUNNOV 1
2:00 PM
ClassicalWorld MusicChoralTalks & Lectures

Beethoven's Symphony No. 1

Overview

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.

About the Show Info

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.

Concert Conversation

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.

Loading... Select a Date Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland Sat, Oct 31, 2026, 7:30 PM Sun, Nov 1, 2026, 2:00 PM Promo Code Buy Tickets
THUNOV 12
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Tech & CodingTalks & Lectures

Building Privacy Preserving Token Applications Using Panurus [LFDT Oregon (Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust)]

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

LFDT Oregon Panurus ([https://github.com/LFDT-Panurus](https://github.com/LFDT-Panurus)) is an open-source framework for building token-based applications that preserve transactional privacy while remaining fully auditable and interoperable across ledgers. In this talk, we'll walk through how Panurus's driver-based architecture lets developers plug in different token technologies — from Fabtoken to zero-knowledge schemes — behind a common transaction lifecycle (Request → Assemble → Sign → Commit

SUNNOV 1
2:00 PM – 9:00 PM
💰 $25FilmTalks & Lectures

Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces + The Return Episodes 1 & 2

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.

SATNOV 7
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

Never Say Die: Ke Huy Quan

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall1037 Southwest Broadway

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

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

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

WEDNOV 4
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Tech & CodingAI & DataTalks & LecturesClubs & Meetings

From Data to Decisions: Integrating Machine Learning and AI into Power BI [Portland Microsoft Fabric & Power BI User Group]

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

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

THUNOV 5
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM · Doors 6:00 PM
💰 $125DiningTalks & Lectures

Symbol of Freedom

Join CDM Caregiving Services for Symbol of Freedom, our 16th annual Veterans Day celebration, honoring the men and women who have served our country while raising vital funds to support the Veterans, older adults, and people with disabilities in our community that CDM supports every single day.

Guest will enjoy a gourmet dinner, a fun raffle opportunity, hear inspiring stories of impact of CDM, and hear from our captivating keynote speaker, Will Chesney.

Will is Navy Veteran and while in service was a member of the elite Seal Team Six, along with his faithful military dog partner, Cairo. Together they were deployed on hundreds of combat missions including the historic 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.

Join Us!
  • Thursday, November 5
  • The Heathman Lodge | 7801 NE Greenwood Dr., Vancouver
  • Doors Open: 6:00 p.m. | Program Begins: 6:30 p.m.
Click here to learn more and get your tickets!
THUNOV 5
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
IndieRockTalks & LecturesPerforming Arts

Soccer Mommy

First Congregational Church1126 Southwest Park Avenue

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.

MONNOV 2
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

Anthea Kreston with Ling Ling Huang

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.

SUNNOV 8
7:00 PM – 9:50 PM
💰 $15Author TalksDocumentariesTalks & LecturesCultural Heritage

James Spooner Book Release + Afro-Punk - 11/8/26 @ 7:00 pm

Tickets $15. James Spooner joins PAM CUT for a screening of his film Afro-Punk, followed by an author talk for his new book It Starts With Anger. Books will be available for sale on site. This program is co-presented by Literary Arts as part of the Cover-to-Cover program.
MONNOV 2
7:00 PM ¡ Doors 6:15 PM
Talks & LecturesMusic

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe: Climate Action & Conversation Across Divides

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

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

WorldOregon welcomes Katharine Hayhoe back to Portland for this rich conversation exploring how to incorporate climate change into both our public decisions and private conversations at a moment of urgency when climate action and environmental policy are at a crossroads. About the Speaker
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose work bridges climate science, risks, and resilience. As Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), she directs the organization’s global scientific strategy and leads a global community of more than 1,000 TNC scientists and science staff whose work underpins every aspect of TNC’s mission: from conserving lands and waters to developing scalable, science-based solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises.

Recognized among TIME’s “100 Most Influential People” and a United Nations Champion of the Earth, Katharine is known worldwide for her ability to make complex science accessible and meaningful, and for connecting climate and nature to people’s values in ways that inspire action. Hayhoe is the Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law and Paul W. Horn Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech University and author of Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. Read more. Sponsored by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust With additional support from The Eberwein Family and The Port of Portland ALL SALES ARE FINAL. PLEASE, DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ORDER BEFORE PURCHASING. NO REFUNDS. If your billing address is located outside a 250 mile radius of Portland, you will need to purchase tickets either in person or by phone by calling (503) 764-4131, or our office at (503) 719-6055. Thank You!
SATNOV 7
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

Not-not Midlife Crisis: Priyanka Mattoo & Emily Nemens

Authors Priyanka Mattoo (How to Be Less Useful) and Emily Nemens (Clutch) sit down to discuss their latest books that explore the pleasures and challenges of midlife. Whether in the fictional world of Clutch, or the personal stories in How to Be Less Useful, both authors question our professional prioritiesand the joy that really matters most. Moderated by author Maris Kreizman.

About How to Be Less Useful:

A delightful book about reclaiming pleasure in mid-life—a potent mix of self-help and memoir, from one of today’s wittiest, wisest voices.

“I have done everything right, and I have missed everything.”

When did our lives become entirely about efficiency and optimization? Especially as office workers, as parents, as consumers, as exercisers and healthy eaters. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all be less useful?

With self-deprecating humor, devastating insight, and bracing honesty, Priyanka Mattoo shares her own journey toward being a less useful human, to investigate why pleasure gets back-burnered in American culture.

Think about what we choose to systematically cut out or overlook as we mature: Solo travel. Dessert. Sweaty dancing. “Pointless” hangs with friends. And then there are the activities that used to be fun and have somehow lost their luster, usually in the decade between 30 and 40: Cooking (ruined by exhaustion). Bad tv (the algorithm). Other humans (bandwidth). Eating at restaurants (Instagram).

Mattoo takes on the zeitgeist, delivering invaluable, laugh-out-loud entertaining life lessons without an ounce of preachiness or pressure. She looks at where pleasure begins, what it serves, how we learn to repress it—in families, in friendships and romantic relationships, in jobs. And she shows us a way back: to identify and accept the things that give us pleasure, then to welcome them into our lives. What if, instead of being useful, we could all learn how to be happier, lighter, more present, more engaged? How to Be Less Useful is refreshing, funny, sparklingly astute, unignorable–a book for the current moment.

About Clutch:

A close-knit group of women navigate mid-life’s biggest challenges—marriage, career, addiction—in what Lynn Steger Strong calls a “sharp, funny, utterly engrossing” novel.

“White Lotus with more sincerity and heart.” —Los Angeles Times

Named a Best Book by The New York Times Book Review, People, Los Angeles Times, Alta Journal, Bustle, and more

MONNOV 2
6:00 PM
Talks & Lectures

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe: Climate Action and Conversation

Alberta Rose Theatre3000 Northeast Alberta Street

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

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

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

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

SATNOV 7
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Food & DrinkTalks & LecturesAuthor Talks

Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!: Alexis Nikole Nelson

Newmark Theatre1111 Southwest Broadway

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.

MONNOV 9
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Tech & CodingAI & DataTalks & Lectures

The Data Behind Agents: Building Intelligent, Safe, AI Systems

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

AI agents dominate current industry discussion, yet clear explanations of what they are, why they fail, and what roles they are creating remain scarce. This session offers a foundational introduction for students and early-career technologists. We’ll examine what distinguishes an agent from a conventional chatbot — tools, memory, and planning loops — and trace an agent through the completion of a realistic task. We then turn to the less-demonstrated half of the problem: the data an agent requires to be useful, and the boundaries it requires to be safe.

WEDNOV 11
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
💰 $120+WineDiningTalks & Lectures

Erath Winemaker Dinner at The Malarkey

The Malarkey1210 NW Hoyt St

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.

THUNOV 5
7:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Advance ticket requiredAuthor TalksFilmTalks & Lectures

Film Screening & Author Talk with Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu

SOLD OUT
Author Talk & Film Screening with Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu at Hollywood Theatre

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!

About Public Access Afterworld

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.

About Jane Schoenbrun

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.

Event and Pre-Signing Information

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.

Pre-Order Books Here
  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.

WEDNOV 18
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Tech & CodingTalks & Lectures

An Architectural Deep Dive into New CLPR (Cross-Ledger Protocol) Lab [LFDT Oregon (Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust)]

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

LFDT Oregon **LFDT Labs Introduces CLPR - An Architectural Deep Dive into CLPR (Cross-Ledger Protocol)**

Join us for an in-depth technical session introducing CLPR (Cross-Ledger Protocol), a newly approved open-source project hosted under the LF Decentralized Trust Labs. Traditional cross-chain bridges often introduce security vulnerabilities, liquidity locking, and third-party trust assumptions. CLPR takes a fundamental shift: enabling direct, asynchronous ledger-to-ledger communication using

MONNOV 2
Hours not provided
+6 more
ReadingsAuthor TalksTalks & LecturesStreet Festivals

Portland Book Festival

PortlandMap
Portland Book Festival (formerly “Wordstock”) returns every November with an impressive (and extensive) lineup of local and national authors.
SATNOV 7
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM
BooksPerforming ArtsTalks & LecturesKids & Family

Illustrator Draw Off: Chapter One

Have you ever seen a group of acclaimed illustrators face off to showcase their art? Now is your chance! Join Steph Littlebird (You Are the Land), Scott Campbell (Feeling Good!), Vashti Harrison (That You Are Here is No Small Thing), Julia Kuo (Bing’s Cherries), Pedro Martín (Mexikid Dreams), Huda Fahmy (Huda F Would Love You?), for an exciting draw-off experience. Moderated by Breena Bard and Jonathan Hill.

About You Are the Land:

A joyful exploration of a child’s loving relationship with the land that supports and nurtures her as she grows. You Are the Land is a vivid ode to belonging within a family, within a community, and within the natural world.

From the day she’s born, a child feels the love and power that come with being part of something bigger. She’s a new spring leaf, alive and growing, as strong as the ancient cedars and as radiant as the glittering night sky. She is one with the amazing forces of nature that surround and nurture her, and that she nurtures in return.

Through inspiring words and sweeping illustrations, Littlebird’s stunning author-illustrator debut celebrates our connection to the land and shows how we perfectly mirror its beauty and resilience.

About Feeling Good!:

Cabin Head and Tree Head are BACK in this second volume of the lovable, laugh-out-loud graphic novel series about a best friend duo like no other! Book 2 includes 6 hilarious adventures in a wonderfully off-the-wall universe where everyone has something on their head! Includes bonus content: Storytime with Library Head, Notable Spots with Tour Bus Head and Sandcastle Building with Sandcastle Head. Cabin Head and Tree Head return for some “sunny day relaxing” and are ready to experience the joys of the beach, alone time, getting in strong shape, rewarding their accomplishments (like breathing) and other important activities (like posing and lying down). Check out the series School Library Journal called, “Not just one of the most unconventional books of the year, but one of the best as well.”

About That You Are Here is No Small Thing:

A stunning exploration of the history of Black Americans by award-winning picture book team Traci N. Todd and Vashti Harrison.

The world is forever changed because you are here.

At once honest and empowering, That You Are Here Is No Small Thing is a story about resilience. In these stunning pages, young descendants of enslaved Africans are guided through the history that led them to exist and thrive today. Through their eyes, we see how Black Americans have relied on one another to fight against oppression and the ways in which the strength of their ancestors is always with them.

Sibert Honor winner Traci N. Todd and Caldecott Medalist Vashti Harrison have created an unforgettable exploration of culture and history that records the important survival story Black children carry and celebrates their hope for a radiant future.

About Bing’s Cherries:

A modern American tall tale woven by a girl and her father about Ah Bing, the Chinese immigrant behind the Pacific Northwest’s most delicious cherries.

You’ve heard of a Bing cherry, but did you know the story of the Chinese American immigrant for whom the dark, luscious cherry is named?

Long ago, Ah Bing was a father who travelled across the sea from China looking for work. It was in Oregon where he met a man who hired him to work in his orchards, where eventually, Bing cultivated the delicious cherries we know of today.

But what was it that made this man and the cherries he made so special? a young girl wonders as she sits together with her father, enjoying cherries from their backyard. Weaving together cultural memory, historical fact, and her own imagination, the young girl imagines a narrative of Ah Bing that is as larger than life and as sweet as his namesake.

With touching text and lush illustrations, Livia Blackburne and Julia Kuo forge an unforgettable Chinese American folktale that has largely been untold. The backmatter includes a letter from the author and illustrator, as well as a recipe!

About Mexikid Dreams:

In this extraordinary graphic memoir companion to Newbery Honor winner Mexikid, hilarious family hijinks, immigration patrols, and musical daydreams shape a year of growth and change for a Mexican-American boy and his family.

Pedro Martín is sick of strawberries. Since he was seven, he’s spent every weekend and summer picking berries with his family under the hot sun. Sometimes it’s not so bad—Pedro’s an ace at “strawberry wars” with his siblings, and when a good song comes on the radio, the fields can come alive with music. But mostly, Pedro wishes he could just stay home watching Saturday cartoons, head to the beach like other kids, and not worry about immigration patrols. When his older brother gets a job away from the farm, freedom suddenly seems within arm’s reach: Pedro just has to prove to his dad that he’s ready to follow a different path! Maybe he can be a trombone player, or a cartoonist—if that’s even a real job. But as Pedro learns more about his parents’ and abuelito’s past, and the choices they made in order to open up more choices for him, he starts to understand that freedom isn’t just about leaving the fields—it’s about knowing where you came from and having the courage to draw your own life.

About Huda F Would Love You?:

In this funny and tender finale to the Huda F series, Huda has a plan to find love—but she might need to find herself first!

It’s the summer after Huda’s high school graduation, and love is in the air! Or it’s about to be, anyway. Because Huda has the ingredients for a perfect love story: a butt-kicking girl power squad of new friends, and a plan to woo all the aunties into setting her up with their eligible sons. But when she finds herself caught between her friends and her heart, gender roles and ambitions, and her fears and dreams, Huda begins to realize that finding her own “happily ever after” might require changing herself—or her expectations.

THUNOV 5
7:30 PM
+2 dates
DanceTheaterCultural HeritageClassicalElectronic & DJWorld MusicTalks & Lectures

Hung Dance

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 .

MONNOV 2
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Talks & LecturesAuthor Talks

A Talk by Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath

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.

SATNOV 7
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

Villa Coco: Andrew Sean Greer

Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills. Interviewed by Lucy Feldman (TIME).

Limited guaranteed seat tickets with book included available; most of the theatre will be first-come first-served with a PBF GA pass. About Villa Coco:

An aspiring archivist determined to begin a “serious” life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.

Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.

THUNOV 5
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Talks & LecturesArts & Media

The Colorful Chemistry of Art: From Prehistoric Pigments to the Discovery of YInMn Blue

🌐Location Virtual Lecture, will be also be screened at ABX 112, 1981 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201Virtual Event

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.

SATNOV 7
7:30 PM ¡ Doors 6:30 PM
All agesLive Podcasts & RadioVarietyStand-UpTalks & LecturesMusicAuthor Talks

Live Wire with Luke Burbank

Live Wire Radio is an independently produced radio show that artfully blends unpredictable conversation, live music, and original comedy featuring all types of cultural talent and creative minds, from emerging artists to established acts. Join host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello for a live recording of this popular radio show, heard nationwide by thousands of listeners every weekend.

With special guests TBA Fall 2026 Season Passes are now on sale! Click here to buy. Minors ok when accompanied by a parent or guardian. Review our venue FAQ here
SUNNOV 8
4:00 PM
ClassicalTalks & Lectures

Portland Piano International: Jan Lisiecki

“a whole dancing world” Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki performs an all-dance program spanning Martinů, de Falla, Szymanowski, Schubert, Bartók, Ginastera, Chopin, Brahms, Piazzolla, and Albéniz — from folk dances to the grand waltz. You’ll feel this program before you hear it! Piazzolla’s Libertango. Falla’s “Ritual Fire Dance.” A Chopin waltz, and the “Heroic” Polonaise that closes the afternoon. Waltz, tango, polonaise: these are dances our bodies instinctively want to move to, and on November 8 Jan Lisiecki, one of the most celebrated pianists of his generation, plays every one of them.
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.
SATNOV 7
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

On Biography: Julia Cooke & Lance Richardson

Authors Julia Cooke (Starry and Restless) and Lance Richardson (True Nature) sit down to discuss their new biographies.Both works explore the lives of trailblazing journalists and activists. Moderated by journalist Charley Locke.

About Starry and Restless:

The page-turning story of three women reporters and the way they changed the world, work, and journalism.

She hid on a Red Cross boat to reach Omaha Beach on D-Day. She walked the abandoned streets of Hong Kong to take food to her daughter’s father, a prisoner of war. She fought off the advances of overzealous Yugoslavian diplomats, found overlooked details of world history in a dentist’s kitchen in Sarajevo. She traveled alone to Mexico. She traveled alone to Congo. She traveled alone to the American South. She married Hemingway. She married a Chinese poet-playboy-publisher, then married a British war hero. She fell in love with H. G. Wells. She gave birth and raised a child on her own. She landed on the front page of the newspaper. She wrote for the great magazines of her time—Vogue, The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar. She wrote a play. She wrote a memoir. She wrote a genre-breaking travel narrative. She wrote bestsellers. She wrote and wrote and wrote. She changed the very way we think about writing and the way journalists craft stories—which sources are viable, which details are important—and the way women move and work in the world.

She was Martha Gellhorn. She was Emily “Mickey” Hahn. She was Rebecca West. Each woman was starry-eyed for success, for adventure, and helped ensure that other starry and restless women could make unforgettable lives for themselves. They fought for their lives and their work. They were praised and criticized for it all.

In language as lively and nimble, in passages as intimate and adventurous, and with conviction as fierce and indefatigable as her subjects’ own, Julia Cooke’s Starry and Restless plays out the stories of three women across three decades and five continents. Martha, Mickey, Rebecca—journalists, authors, mothers, lovers, friends. These women didn’t just bear witness to the great changes of the twentieth century; their curiosity, grit, ambition, and stories changed the world.

About True Nature:

The firstbiography of Peter Matthiessen, the novelist, naturalist, and Zen roshi, whose trailblazing work championed Native American rights and helped usher in the modern environmental movement, by award-winning writer Lance Richardson.

“A stunning, formidable achievement by a brilliant biographer. Lance Richardson takes his readers on a wild ride with Peter Matthiessen.” —Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of American Prometheus

“A fair-minded, grippingly paced, and tremendously readable narrative.” —Pico Iyer, Air Mail

Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014), a towering figure of twentieth-century American letters, achieved so much during his lifetime, in so many different areas, that people have struggled to pin him down. While ambivalent about his WASP privilege—as a teenager he demanded that his name be removed from the New York Social Register—he attended Yale and cut his teeth in postwar Paris, co-founding The Paris Review as he worked undercover for the CIA. But then, after a rebellious stint as a Long Island fisherman, he escaped into a series of wild expeditions: floating through the Amazon to recover a prehistorical fossil; embedding with a tribe in Netherlands New Guinea; swimming with sharks off the coast of Australia. His novels, inspired by his travels, were unclassifiable meditations about Caymanian turtle hunters and frontier outlaws in the Florida Everglades. Meanwhile, his nonfiction became legendary: nature books like Wildlife in America—“key parts of the canon of emergent environmental writing,” says Bill McKibben—as well as advocacy journalism supporting Cesar Chavez, Leonard Peltier, and Native American land claims.

Underlying all Matthiessen’s disparate pursuits was the same existential search—to find a cure for “deep restlessness.” This search was most profoundly articulated in The Snow Leopard, his famous account of a 250-mile wildlife survey across the Himalayas. In True Nature, Lance Richardson reconstructs the full scope of a spiritual quest that ultimately led Matthiessen, even as he inflicted great pain on his family, to the highest ranks of Zen. Drawing on rich primary sources and hundreds of interviews, Richardson depicts Matthiessen’s life with page-turning immediacy, while also illuminating how the writer’s uncanny gifts enabled him to sense connections between ecological decline, racism, and labor exploitation—to express, eloquently and presciently, that “in a damaged human habitat, all problems merge.”

WEDNOV 11
7:00 PM
DocumentariesAuthor TalksLGBTQ+Talks & Lectures

A Queer Guide to Saving American Democracy

PAM CUT's Tomorrow Theater3530 Southeast Division Street

Join a special evening with trailblazing drag artist, activist, and political candidate Marti Cummings and Portland-based constitutional law professor and author Robin Maril. Before the film, Marti and Robin will sit down for a live conversation about queer representation, civic engagement, and the power of showing up for your community. The conversation will be moderated by Kyndall Mason of Basic Rights Oregon.

Following the conversation, stick around for Queen of New York, the acclaimed documentary following Marti Cummings’ groundbreaking 2020 campaign to become one of the first openly nonbinary members of the New York City Council. This evening also celebrates the launch of Robin Maril’s new book, A Queer Guide to Saving American Democracy. Copies will be available for purchase on site.

ON SCREEN: Queen of New York

2023. Directed by Emma Fidel. Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes.

Welcome to a different kind of drag race. As NYC emerges from the chaos of 2020, Marti Cummings (they/them), an audacious and big-hearted drag queen, goes all out in a historic bid to become a City Councilperson. It’s one of the most hotly contested Council races in years, and Marti’s strongest competitor is Shaun Abreu, a tenants’ lawyer with deep roots in the district’s Latinx community. As these first-timers race to do the most good for their Upper Manhattan neighbors, they offer very different visions for Democratic politics — one in a suit and tie, the other in combat boots and floral print. As this immersive documentary reveals, Marti’s passion inspires queer activists and allies to change the political system. Their campaign becomes a community of its own, especially for Marti’s non-binary peers who have never before seen themselves represented.

WEDNOV 4
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Arts & MediaTalks & LecturesLive Podcasts & Radio

The Omnibus Project with John Roderick

Join us for an evening of conversation, laughter, and stories of the human spirit featuring The Omnibus Project with John Roderick and Special Guest. Presented by Papertrees Creative in partnership with the 2026 Portland Book Festival and Literary Arts. This event will be recorded.

The Omnibus Project

The Omnibus Project is a podcast founded in 2017 by Ken Jennings and John Roderick as a repository for the lesser-known stories of our collected human experience that, in the event of a cataclysm, may not survive to be retold. It is an effort to save our own Library of Alexandria to disk, a project to preserve not just what made us great but what made us human.

The show has diligently researched and compiled the knowledge AROUND the knowledge, building a compendium not of obvious and commonly cited data—the Roman Empire and World War II are widely reported elsewhere—but of the esoteric and sublime wonders that might otherwise be lost.

The Omnibus Project weathered many upheavals: leaving iHeart Media to become an independent, listener-supported program; switching formats from biweekly to weekly; enduring storms, controversies and multiple breathless articles in the Hollywood Reporter. Both hosts were the subject of controversy, but in all the years never missed an episode. Throughout it all, the show grew into a thriving archive of wonder, with millions of annual listeners and a vast community of devoted fans who gather under the banner of “Futurelings.”

In 2025, due to his duties hosting Jeopardy!, Ken stepped back into an emeritus role as executive producer, occasional contributor, and spiritual lodestar, entrusting the continued production of The Omnibus Project to his colleague and partner, storyteller John Roderick. Unencumbered by fame or fortune, John carries on their good works with a weekly rotating cast of friends, authors, comedians and, most importantly, the Futurelings community.

As the show marches toward its first decade, the archive continues to expand, escaping the confines of the podcast feed for live appearances at such venerable institutions of knowledge as the Library of Congress and beyond. And with each new week, each new entry, each new show, we’re granted a blessed postponement of the apocalypse—one we hope will never come—as another overlooked, forgotten, or improbable tale is added to … the Omnibus.

John Roderick is a Seattle-based musician, writer, and podcaster celebrated for his sharp wit and distinctive voice. Beyond co-creating The Omnibus Project, he also co-hosts Roderick on the Line. His essays have appeared in Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Seattle Weekly, alongside his published book of short prose, Electric Aphorisms. Best known as the frontman of The Long Winters, Roderick will return with a highly anticipated new album soon.

SATNOV 7
11:15 AM – 11:30 AM
ReadingsBooksMuseumsTalks & Lectures

Pop-up: Hannah Lillith Assadi

Hannah Lillith Assadi reads from her new novel Paradiso 17 at Portland Art Museum in the Northwest Art gallery (Level 4, Room 402), paired with Esther Podemski, In the Desert. Presented by the National Book Foundation.

About Paradiso 17:

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE

The intimate, sweeping tale of one Palestinian man’s restless search for home the world over, as the pendulum of fate swings between loss and life, grief and euphoria, regret and hope.

All his life, exile has been the shadow stitched to the sole of Sufien’s shoe.

Born in Palestine on the precipice of 1948’s Nakba, Sufien is forced to leave the only home he’s ever known, the one on the hill with a beautiful blue door. This is the precise moment when time stops making sense. He spends the rest of his life propelled forward, always on the way—although in search of what, he is never quite sure. In the dusty, oil-rich desert of Kuwait, he meets his first love and decides he must leave his family. In a small Italian university town, he spends his youth wrapped up in the sweet promise of the West and the forgetful assurance of wine. When life takes him to a gritty New York, he discovers his true vocation and falls for a Jewish woman born into a wholly different world. Finally, he finds himself recalled to the wild, vast open skies of the desert, in Arizona.

Sufien’s life spans friendships lost and maintained, a stint selling leathers at a tanner’s stall, the ineffable company of cats, and the freedom of the open road, the glowing pride of fatherhood, Sufi myths, prophetic dreams, and visions of the afterlife—and always, always, no matter how far he chases joy, the sweet, treacherous song of a balcony urging him to fly, to fall, to fall. The lyrical pages of Paradiso 17 weave in and out of time and space, beginning at the end and ending at the beginning. They are haunting, haunted with grief, struck through, as Dante once wrote, with “the arrow that the bow of exile / shoots first,” and yet they throb with light—not just the light that Sufien sees as he approaches his own end, but the brilliant light of a life lived.

Like all of our dead, Sufien still speaks, the book begins. Listen, this is his story.

“With stunning intimacy, Hannah Lillith Assadi has crafted an unforgettable story about the many stunted afterlives of hyphenated belonging. In this book live some of the most complex characters I’ve read in a long time, and a deeply nuanced exploration of exile as both event and inheritance.” —Omar El Akkad, author of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

“Suffused with tenderness.” —The New York Times

WEDNOV 4
7:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Talks & LecturesWorkshopsArts & MediaClassical

Audrey Luna Soprano Masterclass

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

Learn more about the School of Music & Theater Voice Area.

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