Events

ZOOM: THE NOVEL, a class by Chelsea Bieker and Kimberly King Parsons

“It’s such a confidence trick, writing a novel. The main person you have to trick into confidence is yourself. This is hard to do alone.” – Zadie Smith

Come join us for our first class of 2024, a workshop entirely dedicated to novel writing. This is for anyone who is in the midst of writing a novel, beginning to write a novel, dreaming about writing a novel, or who has written a novel and wonders, well, what now? We will dive deep on how to nail your first thirty pages, tips and tricks to keep the pages turning and keep your readers hooked, defining your container, allowing voice to lead the way, and a lesson on revision. We will also delve into the self-work required to build the tenacity, stamina, and grit required, and get to the bottom of your blocks (the most important part). There will be ample time for all your questions. You will leave with new material, fresh ideas, community, and a renewed vision for your project.

Date: Sunday, February 25th
Time: 1-4 PST
Cost: In the spirit of celebrating novels, email proof of preordering both Chelsea and Kim’s forthcoming novels MADWOMAN and WE WERE THE UNIVERSE from the indie bookstore of your choice that shows your name on the receipt to biekerparsonsworkshop@gmail.com for entry to the class! We recommend bookshop.org *if you previously preordered the books, that’s great! Just email that receipt. If you prefer to pay to attend please Venmo $75 to biekerparsonsworkshop@gmail.com

Powell’s Books, Friday, Oct. 27th 7pm, I will be in conversation with Mary Rechner to celebrate the launch of her new collection, Marrying Friends.

Portland Book Fest, Saturday Nov. 4th, 3:15 Pm First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1126 SW Park. I will be moderating a conversation between Ayana Mathis and E.J. Koh.

Event Description: From South Korea to the American South, two multi-generational novels explore inheritance, grief, and family. Extraordinarily beautiful and deeply moving, E. J. Koh‘s The Liberators is an elegantly wrought family saga of memory, trauma, and empathy, and a stunning testament to the consequences and fortunes of inheritance. From the best-selling author Ayana Mathis, The Unsettled is a searing multi-generational novel—set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama—about a mother fighting for her sanity and survival.

PAST

Portland Book Fest, Saturday, November 5 from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm PDT Portland Art Museum, Miller Gallery. 1119 SW Park Ave Portland, OR 97205

Event description: New story collections of homeland, birthplace, and identity. Moderated by John Freeman (editor, The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story).

From acclaimed author Chelsea Bieker, “a pitch-perfect ventriloquist of extraordinary talent and ferocity” (T Kira Madden), comes Heartbroke, a defining book of Californian stories where everyone is seeking or sabotaging love. Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection from Morgan Talty about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy. Buy tickets here.

Brooklyn Book Festival, Sunday, Oct. 2nd 5 PM- St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, 157 Montague Street

From uncovering injustice, making and breaking relationships, to keeping the secrets of the past buried, these three authors have written characters who aspire and sometimes fail to realize their hopes and dreams. Join Marie Myung-Ok Lee (The Evening Hero), Tobias Carroll (Ex-Members), and Chelsea Bieker (Heartbroke) for this panel about persevering in the face of adversity and danger, from environmental disaster to punk rock alienation, moderated by Electric Literature Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris.

Portland Book Festival, Saturday, Nov. 5th in person (time TBA) with Morgan Talty, author of the story collection NIGHT OF THE LIVING REZ — with moderator John Freeman, editor of THE PENGUIN BOOK OF THE MODERN AMERICAN SHORT STORY.

-April 5th, 7pm. IN PERSON! Powell’s Books, Downtown Portland, HEARTBROKE LAUNCH! In conversation with Kimberly King Parsons

-April 12th, 6pm PT Virtual event hosted by Elliot Bay Book Company, in conversation with Danya Kufafka

-April 14th, 6pm PT Instagram live with Reading with Robin’s Robin Kall Homonoff

-April 18th 4pm PT Virtual Event with Literati in conversation with Genevieve Hudson

-April 23rd 11am PT in person reading and writing experiment at Nationale in Portland, OR with Leah Dieterich

-April 24th 4 pm PT Extra Credit zoom bookclub hosted by Michelle Leung

-April 27th virtual reading and conversation at Books are Magic with Allie Rowbottom

-May 17th, 7pm. Book Soup, Los Angeles, CA in conversation with Stephanie Danler

-May 19th, 7:30pm Oracle Tavern, Los Angeles, CA Something Something reading series