Thursday 2/19: El Hispanic News and PQ Monthly celebrate their latest issues with music, drinks, and fresh issues. El Hispanic News is celebrating its 34th Anniversary, while PQ Monthly is celebrating its 3rd. Q Center, 5 p.m., free.
Poet and playwright Claudia Rankine reads from her latest poetry as part of the Reed College Visiting Writer Series. Eliot Hall Chapel, 6:30 p.m., free.
Mark Doten reads from his blackly dark comic debut, The Infernal. Powell’s on Hawthorne, 7:30 p.m., free.
Portland Arts and Lectures welcomes novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priestess Ruth Ozeki as she reads from her latest novel, A Tale for the Time Being, and gives a lecture on her experiences as a writer. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m., tickets start at $25.
Friday 2/20: Ruth Ozeki hosts a small workshop through Literary Arts on Meditation and Creativity for writers of color. Literary Arts, 1–4 p.m., $50, with select scholarships available.
Adam Selzer reads from his short story collection, Leaving, and is accompanied by live music. Beacon Sound, 7 p.m., free.
Poetry reading by prize-winning poets Jessica Johnson, author of In Absolutes We Seek Each Other, and Elyse Fenton, author of Clamor. Mother Foucault’s Bookstore, 7 p.m., free.
Saturday 2/21: Join the Independent Publishing Resource Center for its 3rd annual cataloguing party. Volunteers are welcomed with free coffee and snacks and challenged to help catalogue one of the world’s largest zine and small press collections. Hardcore Raiders are invited to stay and catalogue for a full 24-hours, while Spelunkers are free to to stop in for few-hour shifts. IPRC, 10 a.m., free.
Contributors E.T. Russian, Sarah Rosenblatt, and Andy Panda read from the new collection, The Ring of Fire Anthology. Reading Frenzy, 7 p.m., free.
Sunday 2/22: À Reading welcomes Todd Gleason, Jeremy Catterton, Julian Smuggles, and Sarah Bartlett for tonight’s reading. Valentine’s, 6 p.m., free.
The Portland Poetry Slam hosts its weekly reading. Velo Cult Bike Shop, 6:30 p.m., $5 suggested donation.
Tuesday 2/24: Students at 28 high schools in 19 Oregon will invite you to to listen to them comcete in this year’s Poetry Out Loud reading. Poetry Out Loud involves the memorization and recitation of classic poetry. Participants compete for more than $50,000 in college scholarships awarded at the state and national levels. Powell’s City of Books, 9:30 a.m., free.
Salon Skid Row presents poetry by A.M. O’Malley and Camille Perry, accompanied by music by Frank D’Andrea and Camera Obscura. The Corner Bar, 7 p.m., free.
Peter Stark reads from his new book, Astoria: Astor and Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire: A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier. Broadway Books, 7 p.m., free.
In Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life under Occupation, an oral history collection, men and women from Palestine—including a fisherman, a settlement administrator, and a marathon runner — describe in their own words how their lives have been shaped by the historic crisis. Editor Mateo Hoke will be on-hand to read from and discuss the oral history collection. Casey Jarman, former editor at The Believer, will join Hoke for a Q&A. Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
Wednesday 2/25: Matt Sumell reads from his blazing debut, Making Nice. Powell’s City of Books, 7:30 p.m., free.
