Thursday 7/31: The IPRC hosts a marathon reading of Walt Whitman’s 1855 version of Song of Myself. Readers include Emily Kendal Frey, Amy Temple Harper, Cooper Lee Bamardier, A.M. O’Malley, Alisha Bruton, Justin Hocking, Hajara Quinn, Moe Bowstern, Zoe Tampling, James Gendron, and First Lady of Portland Nancy Hales, and many others. There will also be a special guest appearance by Tin House Book’s Whiteman Illuminated illustrator Allen Crawford, who will be available to sign prints and books. IPRC, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., free.
Debra Zaslow reads from her new memoir, Bringing Bubbe Home: A Memoir of Letting Go Through Love and Death (June 2014). Annie Bloom’s Books, 7 p.m., free.
Deborah Harkness reads from her latest book, The Book of Life (July 2014). Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
Friday 8/1: Day 1 of the Willamette Writers Conference, featuring over 80 classes and workshops through the weekend and providing aspiring writers with the chance to meet with editors, agents, and consultants. DoubleTree Hotel, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., $50 – $495.
Author and publisher Rochelle Carter hosts an open discussion on publishing your first book and the process of marketing it before and after release. Glyph, 4:30 p.m., free.
The Ink Noise Review welcomes a three-act show. Each headline poet brings two guest writers for their respective act. Veronica Martin brings Coleman Stevensons and Derek Stackhouse. Amanda Cochran Helstrom brings Lyndon Maurice Miller and Christine Spangle. Moria McAuliffe brings Brenda Taulbee and Elizabeth Hart. Jade Lounge, 8 p.m., free.
Saturday: Day 2 of the Willamette Writers Conference. DoubleTree Hotel, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Three local authors will share excerpts from their new books and discuss why they chose Alaska as their topic or setting. C.B. Bernard will read from Chasing Alaska: A Portrait of the Last Frontier Then and Now (May 2013), Dan Berne from The Gods of Second Chances (February 2014), and Nancy Slavin from Moorings (May 2013). Another Read Through Books, 1:30 p.m., free.
Rick Mitchell reads from his new book Jazz In the New Millennium: Live and Well (August 2014), which profiles nearly 60 musicians from Roy Haynes to Esperanza Spalding. Music Millennium, 3 p.m., free.
Richelle Mead reads from the latest in her popular Bloodline series, Silver Shadows (July 2014). Powell’s City of Books, 4 p.m., free.
Sunday 8/3: Day 3 of the Willamette Writers Conference. DoubleTree Hotel, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Portland Poetry Slam hosts its weekly slam night. Glyph, 7 p.m., free.
Monday 8/4: Dr. Laurel Braitman shares stories on the emotional lives of animals from her new book, Animal Madness: How Anxious Dogs, Compulsive Parrots, and Elephants in Recovery Help Us Understand Ourselves (June 2014). Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
Kristin Newman reads from her memoir, What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding (May 2014). Powell’s on Hawthorne, 7:30 p.m., free.
Tuesday 8/5: Amy Bloom reads from her latest novel, Lucky Us (July 2014). Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
Wednesday 8/6: David Shafer reads from his debut novel Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (August 2014). Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
