Literary Arts

Mission

Literary Arts has a 40-year history of engaging readers, supporting writers, and inspiring the next generation with great literature. Our programs include Portland Arts & Lectures, one of the country’s largest lecture series; Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships, which celebrates Oregon’s writers and independent publishers; Youth Programs, which inspires public high school students to revise, edit, publish, and perform their own creative writing; Portland Book Festival, which builds community around literature through authors events, workshops, a book fair, and more; Readers Seminars, a series of discussion based groups led by experienced scholars that engage readers in exploring challenging books; and The Archive Project, our radio show on Oregon Public Broadcasting and a podcast that presents our live readings, conversations, and talks completely free to listeners in Oregon, SW Washington, and throughout the world. 

The Portland metro area has a thriving arts community, and we ensure that writing and reading are included in that proud tradition. Each year, Literary Arts provides the space for 20,000 Portlanders to share their stories and engage in meaningful conversations about some of the most important ideas of our time. Our work builds a more inclusive and empathetic community by providing the space for diverse voices to be heard. Storytelling and literature ask a reader to experience what it means to be another human being, encouraging tolerance and understanding. By serving both readers and writers, we are bringing together content creators and consumers, and providing the space for difficult conversations. We believe literature is essential to the well-being of our community. Whether you read two books a year or twenty, if you are an aspiring poet or a seasoned novelist, or if you are 16 or 60, we provide programming that creates meaningful connections through a shared love of stories.

Bottom Line for Portland

By supporting Literary Arts, you help us offer diverse programming to our community and bring together readers and writers of all ages. Together, we will build bridges and ignite conversations that will create a more engaged, empathetic, inclusive, and strong community.  

Quote

“Literary Arts does an excellent job of connecting readers and writers. It is a mix of literary salon and community gathering, merging the best of both worlds. The staff and audience are among some of the most passionate and engaged readers I have come across, including the high school students, whose love of reading and writing blew me away. Chapo ba, as we say in Creole, or hats off to Literary Arts.” -Edwidge Danticat, 2021-2022 Portland Arts & Lectures author

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Literary Arts staff and board are committed to continuing and advancing our equity work, and serving our whole community. Each of our programs have their own diversity, equity, and inclusion goals that support larger organizational goals detailed in our Strategic Framework. Over the past few years, we have made great strides towards our equity goals including implementing a $10,000 Writer of Color fellowship, ensuring a diverse lineup of authors for the Portland Book Festival, and formalizing an internal DE&I workgroup to keep us accountable for progress towards our equity goals. 

Incentives

$50-$99: Risograph print from IPRC!

The first 50 gifts of $50-$99 through Give!Guide will receive an original risograph print featuring cover art from Literary Arts' unreleased Anthology Project. 

Note: Gifts must be made by 11:59 pm on December 31st, 2024. The winners will be notified by email. Limit one Literary Arts incentive per gift; if you have already received an incentive for your gift, it will not be counted as a qualifying entry.

$100: Access to Our Moth Event 

The first TEN donors to give $100 will receive a pair of tickets to The 2024 Moth Mainstage and join us at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall for an evening of storytelling. 

Note: Tickets must be claimed by 12/6/2024.

$250: A Spot in a Writing Class of Your Choice

The first TWO donors to give between $250 and $300 will each receive a spot in a writing class. Our classes allow students of all skill levels to achieve short-term and long-term goals and deepen their writing practice. Find our current schedule here. 

Note: this incentive cannot apply to the six-month screenwriting intensive or six-month short story intensive. Must be used before May 2025.

$300: A Spot in a Reader Seminar of Your Choice

The first TWO donors to give between $300 and $500 will receive a spot in one of our Reader Seminars, which are discussion-based groups led by experienced scholars and are a perfect combination of a book group and a college English class. Find our current schedule here.

Note: Must be used before May 2025.

$500: Spring 2024 Literary Arts Season Pass 

The first TWO donors to give $500 will each receive a pair of VIP tickets to Everybody Reads 2024 with Gabrielle Zevin, our annual youth poetry slam Verselandia!, and the Oregon Book Awards Ceremony AND a bundle of books and goodies.