Notes from the margin

Congrats to Lora Lafayette, recipient of the Attic's 2006 Gary Lodge Fellowship in Creative Writing, awarded annually to a Write Around Portland student by the Attic Writers' Workshop.

Your band had to cancel its Baghdad-Beirut fall '06 tour, so you'll need a new autumn hobby. May I suggest writing? Go to atticwritersworkshop.com for details. (You could just get a pen and a sympathetic, interested ear, but it's so much easier to pay for the ear!)

Are you a fatty? Want to be in a book? Waddle over to a computer, grab your typing stick (those sausage fingers hit too many keys at once, don't they?), go to stacybias.net, and fill out the contact form for your chance to contribute to Bias' FatGirl Speaks, a short-fiction anthology inspired by her event of same name.

WEDNESDAY AUG. 23

NARAL's Michele Stranger-Hunter

The executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon will speak about "At the Crossroads of Choice: What Today's Legislative Battles Will Mean for the Women of Tomorrow." In Other Words, 8 NE Killingsworth St., 232-6003. 7 pm. Free.

Uzodinma Iweala

Iweala reads from Beasts of No Nation, considered one of the best debuts of last year by little, no-name rags like The New Yorker and The New York Times and some dude named "Salman Rushdie." Iweala's a Harvard graduate who's two years younger than I am. Seriously. I am not jealous. Not jealous at all. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.

THURSDAY AUG. 24

Loggernaut

Author of People I Wanted to Be Gina Ochsner, Jonathan Raymond, and poet Matt Yurdana will read from the prompt "Instinct." See Q&A with Jonathan Raymond, below. With an after-reading musical performance by Matt Voth. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 7:30 pm. $5 recommended donation for reading, $10 for reading and concert. 21+.

Irvine Welsh

What's-his-face, the Scotsman who wrote Trainspotting, reads from his new book, whatever-it's-called. [Editor's note: Apparently, the book is titled Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs.] Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.

SATURDAY AUG. 26

Children's Poetry Workshop

Tired of your 5-to-10-year-old swallowing those magnetic poetry sets on your fridge? Me, too. I'm also sick of my crappy Comcast service, liquid bombs and socially inept men. But there's no free workshop for that, so this whole "expressive haven for the young" thing will just have to do. In Other Words, 8 NE Killingsworth St., 232-6003. 11:30 am. Free. BYO paper, writing utensils, snacks to share, and creativity.

TUESDAY AUG. 29

Heading South

Alfredo Muro, Latin music master, will accompany a reading of personal narratives about Latino artists by Lynn Darroch. (Ten bucks says this is just a cover for a J-Lo-athon!) McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Ave., 249-3983. 7 pm. Free.

Broken Word Poetry

Poetry will be read by entities other than Ray Charles' guide dog, Marlee Matlin's hearing-ear chipmunk musician, and Robin Williams' drinking-liver Irish frat boy. Alberta Street Pub, 1036 NE Alberta St., 284-7665. 7:30 pm. Free. 21+.