go to Portland!

Portland, Oregon, is celebrating independent presses at the Portland Indie Book Fair on Saturday, December 10, 2022, Noon – 5pm. Meet authors, see publishers, browse (buy!) books. It’s free!

While you’re in Portland, enjoy the Christmas Ship Parade.

meet the press

Airlie Press is a Portland, Oregon, based nonprofit publishing collective dedicated to cultivating and sustaining fine contemporary poetry. Each year, the press produces two or three full-length volumes of poetry by Pacific Northwest poets.

The Airlie Press open reading period runs from June 1 through July 31. Along with the submission of a manuscript, the press seeks “Pacific Northwest poets who are willing and able to commit to a three-year term of doing the shared work of running a collective press.”

If this sounds interesting and you would like to learn more, Airlie Press will offer two free one-hour online information sessions: Tuesday, June 14, 2022, at 7:00pm and Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at Noon.

job?

We don’t often post job openings here, but this one seemed too good to pass by.

Literary Arts, often seen on these pages, is a dynamic “community-based nonprofit with a mission to engage readers, support writers, and inspire the next generation with great literature.”

Based in Portland, Oregon, Literary Arts is currently seeking a full-time Senior Executive Assistant, reporting to the Executive Director. The application deadline is October 31, 2021, so if you’re interested visit the Open Positions page and follow the link for complete details.

Pedalpalooza!

If you and your bicycle are anywhere near Portland, Oregon, this Thursday, July 22, 2021, join Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani for a couple of hours and about four-and-a-half miles of poetry on wheels. Part of the three-month Pedalpalooza celebration (full calendar here), Spoke’n Words will begin at 6:00pm at Oregon Park and end at Revolution Hall.

another festival

The Portland Book Festival is back and this year it’s online, November 5-21, 2020. The full schedule will be published in October, but there’s already an impressive lineup of presenters.

For updates, go to Literary Arts and sign up.

zines, etc.

Portland, Oregon, based Antiquated Future is a trove of imagination-in-print. Eileen Myles on vinyl? Yup. “A Spell For Letting Go” patch? Yup. Postcards, notepads, journals, and greeting cards? Loads. And zines, zines, zines.

From the site:

A zine (pron.: /ˈziːn/ Zeen; an abbreviation of fanzine, or magazine) is a self-published, small circulation booklet or magazine, usually produced by one person or a few individuals. Zines come in all shapes, sizes, topics, and formats. They can include personal essays, political discussions, fiction, craft, or do-it-yourself advice. Articles or reviews about music, movies, comics, poetry, are also a common trait. In short: they can be anything!

And even if all you want is a fun browse, check out Antiquated Future.

warm up in Portland

Portland’s Second Annual Winter Poetry Festival is coming to the Pacific Northwest College of Art over the weekend of January 11 and 12, 2020. Activities include a poets’ market, workshops, panel readings/discussions, craft talks, multimedia poetry, interactive writing experiments, sensory-sensitive reading room, open mics, and more! Admission is free, but advance registration helps the planners with setup. Winter Poetry Festival on Facebook.

last-minute shopping in Portland

If you’re a down-to-the-line holiday shopper and you’re anywhere near Portland, Publication Fair 2019 is for you! On Sunday, December 22, 2019, from Noon to 7:00pm, you’ll have a chance to browse the work of local small presses and artists — and you’ll still have time left for gift-wrapping. More here.

If you’re shopping or giving at this time of year (well, at any time of year), put your gifts where they can make a difference.

Today in Portland

Today, Sunday, November 17, 2019, at 4:00pm, Lilla Lit presents its annual Fall Reading in the Manor House at Leach Botanical Garden. The all-Oregon lineup features Becca Clarren, Michelle DuBarry, John Larison, Jessica Mehta, Natalie Serber, and Leni Zumas, plus guest intros from Brian Benson and Jennifer Perrine.

Named for botanist Lilla Leach who with her husband, John, created the house and garden that is today Leach Botanical Garden, Lilla Lit is a quarterly literary reading series featuring poetry, fiction, and nonfiction on the evening’s theme. The fall theme, BRAVE, honors what it takes to be a writer, what it takes to have a voice at all, and the courageous works of literature that continue to show the way. See the Lilla Lit website for more information and 2020 dates.

last minute

If you happen to be in the area of Portland, Oregon, here’s a great idea for a writing intensive: Rhythm on the Rails Writing Retreat. Board the train in Portland at 8:00am on Friday, November 1, 2019, travel Business Class with writer/editor/teacher/coach/facilitator Johnnie Mazzocco and a group of writers. Write your way north, then de-train in Seattle for lunch at Matt’s in the Market and a visit to the Seattle Art Museum. Re-board in the evening, write your way south, and be back in Portland by 10:00pm with a bunch of drafts.

The caveat: sign-ups end October 25.