Event Season
2024–2025
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Use this calendar for a quick reference of Literary Arts events happening all year long. View our full events calendar at literary-arts.org/events.
FALL 2024
9/25 Special Event: Connie Chung
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
10/9 Portland Arts & Lectures: Amy Tan
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
10/15 Special Event: Malcolm Gladwell
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
10/22 Special Event: Ta-Nehisi Coates
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
10/24 Bookmark: A Benefit for Literary Arts & 40th Anniversary Celebration
5:30 p.m., Portland Art Museum
10/28–11/3 Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover Locations across Portland
11/2 Portland Book Festival
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Portland Art Museum and neighboring venues
11/19 Portland Arts & Lectures: Abraham Verghese
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
WINTER
2025
12/10 Special Event: The Moth Mainstage
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
1/16 Portland Arts & Lectures: Timothy Egan
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
2/13 Portland Arts & Lectures: Masha Gessen
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
SPRING
2025
3/11 Everybody Reads 2025: Javier Zamora, Solito
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
4/15 Portland Arts & Lectures: Emily Wilson
7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall + 2025–2026 Season Announcement
4/24 Verselandia! Youth Poetry Slam Championship
7:00 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
4/28 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony
7:30 p.m., Portland Center Stage at The Armory
Literary Arts creates opportunities for readers and writers of all ages and walks of life to engage with literature. Explore our programming in the concert hall, in our community space, and on the radio all year long.
Engage Readers. Support Writers. Inspire Youth.
Attend live events, including author lectures and live storytelling.
Support for Literary Arts is provided by:
Enroll in writing classes and reading seminars or apply for a fellowship.
Celebrate writers of all ages.
CELEBRATE OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON!
One of the Largest Live Audiences for Literature in the Country
Since 1984, Portland Arts & Lectures has brought celebrated writers, artists, and thinkers to our community to discuss their work and the trajectory of contemporary culture, connecting readers and writers of all ages in a spirit of intellectual curiosity and engagement. Learn more about this five-part event series at literary-arts.org/PAL .
Special events bring our community together around the most compelling ideas of our day. Find a calendar at literary-arts.org/events.
CONNIE CHUNG IN CONVERSATION
September 25, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Literary Arts is proud to host an evening with iconic trailblazer and legendary journalist Connie Chung, in conversation about her new memoir, Connie. This sharp, witty, and definitive memoir like no other delves into her storied career as the first Asian woman to break into an overwhelmingly white, male-dominated television news industry. Select ticket levels include a copy of the book. Interviewer to be announced.
MALCOLM GLADWELL IN CONVERSATION
October 15, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Literary Arts is honored to present #1 New York Times bestselling author, Pushkin Industries co-founder, and Revisionist History podcast host, Malcolm Gladwell, in conversation with Literary Arts Executive Director Andrew Proctor about his new book, Revenge of the Tipping Point. Select ticket levels include a copy of the book.
TA-NEHISI COATES IN CONVERSATION
October 22, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Literary Arts is honored to present #1 New York Times bestselling author
Ta-Nehisi Coates in conversation about his new book The Message. Select ticket levels include a copy of the book. Interviewer to be announced.
THE MOTH MAINSTAGE IN PORTLAND
December 10, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Literary Arts and The Moth are bringing a new lineup of storytellers to Portland. The Mainstage is the quintessential Moth experience, where five storytellers and a notable host share true personal stories, without notes.
EVERYBODY READS 2025: JAVIER ZAMORA
March 11, 2025 • 7:30 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Presented in partnership with:
Literary Arts is proud to host an evening with Javier Zamora as the culminating event of the Multnomah County Library’s Everybody Reads program. This year's selection is Zamora's memoir Solito. A young poet tells the inspiring story of his migration from El Salvador to the United States at the age of nine in this “gripping memoir” (NPR) of bravery, hope, and finding family.
FREE & REDUCED PRICE TICKETS
Free Tickets for Students
Literary Arts believes that our literary community is stronger with the participation of our youth. We give free tickets and books to public high school students in and around the Portland area. For more information please reach out to the Director of Youth Programs at olivia@literary-arts.org.
Free & Reduced Price Tickets for the Community
We also offer free and reduced priced tickets to all of our special events through a variety of initiatives and programs. Learn more at literary-arts.org/community.
THE ARCHIVE PROJECT
The Archive Project radio show and podcast features engaging talks, readings, and conversations from 40 years of Literary Arts programming.
Presented in partnership with:
Here are three ways to listen:
Tune in to OPB Radio every Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
Listen online at literary-arts.org/archive.
Subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.
PORTLAND BOOK FESTIVAL
Join us for our 10th anniversary presenting Portland Book Festival, returning to the Portland Art Museum and neighboring venues on Sat., November 2, 2024!
Portland Book Festival begins with Cover to Cover partner events on October 28 through November 3. This expands the festival into a weeklong event, featuring partner programming in unique spaces all over Portland!
Festival day on November 2 features author discussions, pop-up readings, writing workshops for youth and adults, kids’ story time, an extensive book fair, local food trucks, and more.
“Portland Book Festival is such a needed bright spot for Portland . . . bringing together writers and readers in one amazing and magical event.”
— Portland Book Festival Exhibitor
Stay tuned! We announce the 2024 author lineup and put festival passes on sale in early September. Learn more at literary-arts.org/PBF.
Presented by Additional sponsors
WRITING CLASSES
Writing classes at Literary Arts are for students at all levels looking to advance their skills. Learn more at literary-arts.org/write.
NINE-MONTH NOVEL INTENSIVE: THURSDAY UNLOCKING THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Thursdays, September 26, 2024–May 22, 2025, 6:30–8:30 p.m. Online via Zoom
Instructor: Cari Luna
Learn concrete skills to help navigate the novel-writing process. Class includes craft assignments and in-class writing. Participants will work together to create a supportive community of writers.
Saturdays, September 14–October 19, 2024, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Online via Zoom
Instructor: Radhika Sharma
Strengthen your individual creative process through a combination of generative writing exercises and craft readings. Review the fundamental aspects of the creative process.
We offer reduced tuition for many of our writing classes and Delves through our Access Program. Learn more at literary-arts.org/access .
DELVE READERS SEMINARS
Delve Readers Seminars cultivate community around the shared experience of reading. Learn more at literary-arts.org/delve.
DELVE: HUCK AND JAMES: MARK TWAIN'S ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN AND PERCIVAL EVERETT'S JAMES
Wednesdays, October 30–December 11, 2024, 6:30–8:30 p.m.
In-person at Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Avenue, Portland, OR Guide: Christopher Zinn
Explore Twain's masterpiece, the way it engages with Everett's remarkable new novel, and the way both books offer a "more beautifully complicated" picture of America.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
We host free events at our community space year-round in Portland. Resident series include the BIPOC Reading Series, Incite: Queer Writers Read, One Page Wednesday, and Slamlandia. Learn more at literary-arts.org/events.
OREGON BOOK AWARDS
The Oregon Book Awards provides financial support and recognition to published and emerging writers across our state. Learn more at literary-arts.org/OBA .
OREGON BOOK AWARDS CEREMONY
April 28, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. • Portland Center Stage at The Armory
The Oregon Book Awards program honors the state’s finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in poetry, fiction, graphic literature, drama, literary nonfiction, and literature for young readers. Books published between September 1, 2023 and August 31, 2024 are eligible for the 2025 Oregon Book Awards. Finalists will be announced in January 2025, and winners will be announced live at the Ceremony. The award for drama, which is biennial, will be awarded in 2025. Full guidelines are on our website; deadline to submit is September 6, 2024.
The program also brings authors to towns across the state as part of the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour. Learn more at literary-arts.org/OBA.
2024 winners
& FELLOWSHIPS
Oregon Literary Fellowships help Oregon writers at all stages of their career. Find guidelines at literary-arts.org/fellowships.
OREGON LITERARY FELLOWSHIPS
Oregon Literary Fellowships are intended to help Oregon writers at all stages of their career initiate, develop, or complete literary projects in poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama (including scripts for television and film), and young readers’ literature. Fellowships are also awarded to support Oregon’s independent publishers and small presses.
In January 2025, Literary Arts will award fellowships of $3,500 to up to thirteen writers and two publishers, as well as two fellowships in the amount of $10,000, for writers of exceptional talent, to assist in the further development of their careers. One of these fellowships is specifically for a writer of color.
EVAN MORGAN WILLIAMS
ROSANNA NAFZIGER
KIERAN MUNDY
ERIC SIMONS JOE WILKINS ÖSEL JESSICA PLANTE-CURL JENNY H. LEE MAKIIA LUCIER
KARLEIGH FRISBIE BROGAN
YOUTH PROGRAMS
Each year, Youth Programs inspires thousands of students through a variety of literary opportunities in the classroom and concert hall.
VERSELANDIA! YOUTH POETRY SLAM
ADDITIONAL SLAM PROGRAMMING
Thursday, April 24 • 7:00 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Celebrate Portland’s youth poets during our annual Verselandia! poetry slam championship. Cheer on students from Portland and east Multnomah County public schools competing for poetic glory at this energetic and inspiring event.
The East Side Slam will continue to serve schools in east Multnomah County with their own poetry slam event. The East Side Slam is also an opportunity for schools in east Multnomah and Clackamas County to participate in Verselandia!, providing a space for a qualifier for the championship.
“Literary Arts has helped fuel my students’ literary swagger, seeing themselves having a voice that matters in the world and deserves to be heard by audiences far and wide.”
— Charles Sanderson, Writers in the Schools Collaborating Teacher
The Students to the Schnitz program gives free tickets and books to public high school students in and around the Portland area. If you are a high school educator interested in bringing students to any of our ticketed events, please contact our Director of Youth Programs at olivia@literary-arts.org.
WRITERS IN THE SCHOOLS
Youth Programs hires local professional writers to teach over 40 creative writing residencies in Portland, east Multnomah County, and Woodburn public high schools. Residencies culminate in student readings, and the annual Writers in the Schools anthology, which launches at Portland Book Festival on November 2, 2024.
COLLEGE ESSAY EXCHANGE
Volunteers from the Portland community meet with high school juniors and seniors to help with their college admission and scholarship essays. Fall and spring sessions available. If you are interested in volunteering, go to lit-arts.org/CEE-registration to register and complete a background check.
DONATE TODAY
SAVE THE DATE: BOOKMARK 2024
Ticket sales cover just 30% of our budget. We rely on donations from individuals like you. Give today at literary-arts.org/donate.
October 24 • 5:30 p.m.
Portland Art Museum
We’re thrilled to gather again in person at the Portland Art Museum for Bookmark, our annual fundraising gala—and this year, our 40th anniversary celebration. Join us in celebration of the words and stories that inspire, connect, and transform communities. lit-arts.org/bookmark24
“Not only will this building be one of the largest physical centers in the nation for literature and storytelling, but it will also stand as a love letter to this city that has been our home for four decades.”
—Literary
Arts Executive Director Andrew Proctor in Portland
Tribune
The Campaign for Literary Arts
Join us as we write the next chapter. We're bringing two new spaces to life and endowing them with funds that ensure they will remain for generations to come.
A NEW HOME FOR LITERARY ARTS
We have purchased and are renovating a historic building at 716 SE Grand Avenue to become the permanent headquarters for Literary Arts. When the building opens in fall of 2024, it will provide new classrooms, expanded event space, and a bookstore and café.
The beloved and revolutionary writer Ursula K. Le Guin and her family gifted the home where she lived, wrote, and raised a family for more than 40 years to Literary Arts to establish a writers residency program. This will honor Le Guin's contributions and preserve a culturally significant asset for our community.
THE URSULA K. LE GUIN WRITERS RESIDENCY
Join our mission to engage readers, support writers, and inspire the next generation with great literature.
CONNECT WITH US!
Visit literary-arts.org/events for a full list of events and initiatives.
Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter at literary-arts.org/enews.
Follow us on social media @literaryarts.
Join us at our new headquarters later this Fall at 716 SE Grand Avenue!
L ITERARY AR TS
925 SW Washington Street Portland, OR 97205 FIND YOUR STORY HERE