Organization News
- NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR OPA’S PATRICIA RUTH BANTA AWARDDo you know of an individual or group who deserves recognition for their contributions to the culture of poetry in Oregon? Consider nominating them for OPA’s Patricia Ruth Banta Award,… Read more: NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR OPA’S PATRICIA RUTH BANTA AWARD
- OPA Summer Poetry Contest – OPEN!OPA is thrilled to announce four categories and judges for entries in this year’s summer poetry contest – now open, with a deadline of June 25, 2026: And in the… Read more: OPA Summer Poetry Contest – OPEN!
- 2026 OPA National Poetry Month Contest – ResultsOPA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 OPA National Poetry Month Contest: First Place: “What the gods have sent or lost” by Randy Bynum Second Place: “The… Read more: 2026 OPA National Poetry Month Contest – Results
- OPA National Poetry Month Contest for Members OnlyA new poetry contest opens on March 10 through April 14th for OPA members only in celebration of National Poetry Month. The contest has been sponsored by an anonymous donor.… Read more: OPA National Poetry Month Contest for Members Only
- OPA Contest Results 2025OPA Contest Results 2025 Spring OPA National Poetry Month Contest (judged by Emmet Wheatfall) 1st Place: Ann Heath, “Mary Magdalene Has Second Thoughts about Jesus” 2nd Place: “Reckoning” by Sherri… Read more: OPA Contest Results 2025
Community Calendar
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- 28Head for the Hills Poetry Series & Open Mic8:00 am - 6:00 pmHead for the Hills has returned to the Hillsdale Library in SW Portland. The last Wed of each month from 6 to 8. Incredible featured readers plus one page poetry open mic. Join hosts: Dale Champlin & Sherri Levine , ...Poetry in the Round12:30 pm - 2:00 pmA casual weekly meeting of poets and the poetry-curious started in fall 2024. We gather to share poetry—our own and others, classics to hot-off-the-press—in a comfy corner of the Coburg Commons Bookstore & Community Center. Read if you like, or just listen and enjoy. , ...
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- 2Salem Poetry Project featuring 100th Birthday of Allan Ginsberg7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Allan Ginsberg’s centennial birthday was June 3. He was a visionary American poet and founding father of the Beat Generation. Best known for his epic poem “Howl” (1956), he revolutionized American poetry by combining natural speech rhythms, raw confessional emotion, and bold critiques of post-World War II A , ... - 3EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: 2026 Next Generation Short Story AwardsAll Day
The Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing original unpublished short stories in English. Submissions accepted: Short stories and poems (5,000 words or less) Categories: 30+ Deadline: February 26, 2026 Winners’ Prizes: Winners in each category receive , ... - 4
- 5Poetry in the Round12:30 pm - 2:00 pmA casual weekly meeting of poets and the poetry-curious started in fall 2024. We gather to share poetry—our own and others, classics to hot-off-the-press—in a comfy corner of the Coburg Commons Bookstore & Community Center. Read if you like, or just listen and enjoy. , ...
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- 8Poetry Night at McMinnville Public Library6:00 pm - 8:00 pmSince 2013 we’ve been meeting once a month in McMinnville. We start each evening with a reading from a featured poet, followed by an open mic from the audience. In 2025, we meet on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 6 pm. 2025 Featured Poets Jan 9: Richard Robbins Feb 13: Bethany Lee Mar 13: John Van Dreal Apr , ...
- 9Salem Poetry Project featuring Erica Goss7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Erica Goss is the author of Landscape with Womb and Paradox, (Broadstone Books 2026), and Night Court. She has received numerous Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations, and a 2023 Best American Essay Notable. Publications include Colorado Review, Georgia Review, Creative Nonfiction, Indianapolis Review and Nort , ... - 10EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: 2026 Next Generation Short Story AwardsAll DayThe Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing original unpublished short stories in English. Submissions accepted: Short stories and poems (5,000 words or less) Categories: 30+ Deadline: February 26, 2026 Winners’ Prizes: Winners in each category receive , ...Petrichor’s Child: Within and the Written6:30 pmAn active poetry workshop entitled Petrichor’s Child: Within and the Written will be held monthly on the second Monday of every month, beginning Monday February 10th at 6.30 at Portland Arts Collective, in downtown Portland at 122 NW Couch Street. There are resources guiding our practice and a unique visual monta , ...
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- 12The Studio Series Poetry Reading & Open Mic7:00 am - 9:00 pmFeaturing Joe Wilkins and David Oates Joe Wilkins is the author of two novels, The Entire Sky and Fall Back Down When I Die; a memoir, The Mountain and the Fathers, and five collections of poetry, including Pastoral, 1994 and When We Were Bird. His latest, Every Sky at Home: Essays on Landscape and Family, is forthcom , ...Poetry in the Round12:30 pm - 2:00 pmA casual weekly meeting of poets and the poetry-curious started in fall 2024. We gather to share poetry—our own and others, classics to hot-off-the-press—in a comfy corner of the Coburg Commons Bookstore & Community Center. Read if you like, or just listen and enjoy. , ...
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- 16In Memory Reading Series7:00 pm - 9:00 pmLive featured poet series, with open mic. This month the feature is celebrated Oregon poet Emmett Wheatfall Hawthorne Hideaway (Red Room performance space) 2221 SE Hawthorne Blvd. , ...Salem Poetry Project featuring Susan Kay Anderson and Sean Dwyer7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Susan Kay Anderson resides at the headwaters of Sutherlin Creek in southwestern Oregon’s Umpqua River Basin. Her poems in Mezzanine (2019), feature her work as a graveyard-shift custodian at a university. She is also the author of Virginia Brautigan Aste’s memoir, Please Plant This Book Coast To Coast (2021), recently , ... - 17EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: 2026 Next Generation Short Story AwardsAll DayThe Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing original unpublished short stories in English. Submissions accepted: Short stories and poems (5,000 words or less) Categories: 30+ Deadline: February 26, 2026 Winners’ Prizes: Winners in each category receive , ...
- 18WHAT WE HOLD & LEAVE BEHIND, an exhibition & poetry reading of Oregon senior seasoned poets — OPENING Reception2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
This Exhibition, Opening Reception and Reading, co-curated by poet Willa Schneberg, (who liaised with the Oregon poetry community), and photographer Jim Lommasson, celebrates over twenty senior seasoned poets. Jim photographed special objects of these esteemed writers, encompassing what they carry inside— lives filled , ...Petals & Thorns: A Curated Poetry Open Mic Experience5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Petals & Thorns: The Open Mic Experience is not a traditional open mic. This is a curated poetry space designed for presence, connection, and storytelling that is fully received, not just heard. Created in collaboration with Novel Book Bar, the experience reflects a shared commitment to thoughtful gathering and an , ...
- 19Poetry in the Round12:30 pm - 2:00 pmA casual weekly meeting of poets and the poetry-curious started in fall 2024. We gather to share poetry—our own and others, classics to hot-off-the-press—in a comfy corner of the Coburg Commons Bookstore & Community Center. Read if you like, or just listen and enjoy. , ...
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- 24EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: 2026 Next Generation Short Story AwardsAll DayThe Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing original unpublished short stories in English. Submissions accepted: Short stories and poems (5,000 words or less) Categories: 30+ Deadline: February 26, 2026 Winners’ Prizes: Winners in each category receive , ...
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- 26Poetry in the Round12:30 pm - 2:00 pmA casual weekly meeting of poets and the poetry-curious started in fall 2024. We gather to share poetry—our own and others, classics to hot-off-the-press—in a comfy corner of the Coburg Commons Bookstore & Community Center. Read if you like, or just listen and enjoy. , ...
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- 28Head for the Hills Poetry Series & Open Mic8:00 am - 6:00 pmHead for the Hills has returned to the Hillsdale Library in SW Portland. The last Wed of each month from 6 to 8. Incredible featured readers plus one page poetry open mic. Join hosts: Dale Champlin & Sherri Levine , ...
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- 30Salem Poetry Project featuring Martin Doerfler7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Martin Doerfler was born in Silverton Oregon in 1940 and has lived in the Beaver State most of his life. When he was very young his folks moved the family to Alfalfa which was then, and is now, a crossroads with a store surrounded by farms and ranches about 17 miles east of Bend. When Doerfler wrote THE BALLAD OF THE A , ... - 31EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: 2026 Next Generation Short Story AwardsAll DayThe Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing original unpublished short stories in English. Submissions accepted: Short stories and poems (5,000 words or less) Categories: 30+ Deadline: February 26, 2026 Winners’ Prizes: Winners in each category receive , ...
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