Wednesday July 1top

First Wednesday

All women, all Oregon: The Oregon Literary Review’s First Wednesday reading features four erudite females for a winsome evening of words and wine. Come for aptly named garden writer and Portland Tribune columnist Barbara Blossom; stay for travel writer Karen Flagstad, who wrote a dissertation on Shakespeare, Renaissance lit and magic. , 3519 NE 44th Ave., 282-1887. 7 pm. Free. Map

Writing Our Senses

Got writer's block? Carpal tunnel syndrome? Well, wordsmith, that's nothing that a Benjamin and the great outdoors can't fix. Becca Deysach promises to air out your authorial synapses in Ibex Studios' weekly workshop, "Writing Our Senses," which will meet on five occasions at Mount Tabor Park and promises "physical engagement with the world around us." That is probably terrifying for most writers—dark-hearted antisocial humbugs that they are—but if summer deigns to descend on Portland, why not take advantage of it? Mount Tabor Park, Southeast 60th Avenue and Salmon Street., . 6-8 pm, Wednesdays through July 22. $100. Register at ibexstudios.com Map

Thursday July 2top

The First Dog

Thank God this whole Iran election thing is blowing over; now newspapers can get back to covering what's really important: the President's dog. Ever since Barack hinted that he might get the Obama girls a puppy, the topic has dominated the news cycle, spawning an unaffiliated “dog blog” (obama-dog.com/blog) and a staggering three picture books. The First Dog is one of these. Co-author Beth Zappitello will be joined by special guest Cooper, a Portuguese water dog whom Zappitello may or may not try to pass off on the unsuspecting children as Bo Obama. A Children’s Place Bookstore, 4807 NE Fremont St., 284-8294. 1 pm. Free. Map

Bibi Gaston

You may not recognize the name, but there's a lot to distinguish actress and socialite Rosamond Pinchot. Besides having been dubbed “the loveliest woman in America,” she was also the cousin of heiress/actress Edie Sedgwick and a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, careening in high style through social spheres off-limits to most. Pinchot committed suicide at age 33, but she bequeathed a sensational diary to her granddaughter, author Bibi Gaston. Now, Gaston has dished on her debutante antecedents, in a biography/memoir titled The Loveliest Woman in America. Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Highway., 246-0053. 7:30 pm. Free. Map

Jaimal Yogis

A book-length memoir about finding enlightenment through surfing sounds like a fool's errand; taken together, the subjects seem better suited to a late-night discussion between pot smokers on a beach. But Jaimal Yogis has taken an earnest crack at it. Yogis dropped out of school at age 16 and headed for Hawaii, with only a surfboard and a copy of Siddhartha to sustain him. His memoir Saltwater Buddha meanders from Hawaii to the monasteries of France in a quest for Zen, with a hearty side portion of gnar gnar. Powell's on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free. Map

Obsessive Consumption

Take out your wallet. Is there a receipt in there? Wait, wait, don't throw it away—bring it to Reading Frenzy. Kate Bingaman-Burt will draw a picture of it. That's because one of her main goals as an artist is to make people more aware of their daily consumption. At this "store within a store" meta-literary happening, the artist will also draw—for free, mind—any object bought that day, until, she says, her hand cramps up and everyone is smiling. Copies of her zine What Did You Buy Today? will be available for (possibly ironic?) purchase. Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak St., 274-1449. Reception 6 pm. Free. See obsessiveconsumption.com for more info. Map

Tuesday July 7top

Sisters Singing

Over 135 writers, poets, musicians and artists from all manner of spiritual and religious traditions come together to produce a peaceful and united book. Sound unlikely? Then read Sisters Singing: Blessings, Prayers, Art, Songs, Poetry and Sacred Stories by Women, and color yourself converted. Portland writer Johanna Courtleigh, Seattleite June BlueSpruce, and a host of Santa Cruz, Calif., poets and writers (incuding Sisters Singing editor Carolyn Brigit Flynn) will be at the reading. Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Highway., 246-0053. 7:30 pm. Free. Map

Elizabeth Lyon

Misery loves company, and writers are more miserable than most right now; declining newspaper circulation and decreased book readership mean fewer jobs and less money for the wordsmiths among us. But if you're a writer (and you can stand a roomful of depressed-looking literary types), you might do well to check out this seminar from Elizabeth Lyon. Lyon, who founded Editing International, is leading this month’s Willamette Writers Meeting, called “Writing—and Publishing—Through Hard Times.” Her standing-room-only workshops have been given high praise by, among others, The Writer magazine. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 222-2031. 7 pm. Members and students free, $10 non-members. Map

Gods and Soldiers: Contemporary African Writing

There is an apocryphal story about Sarah Palin—you probably heard it. Before the McCain team prepped her for her first round of press interviews, she had to be told that Africa was a continent, not a country. Whether or not that's factual, it does point to a considerable problem: Americans tend to think about the world's second-largest continent in monolithic terms, as though it were somehow homogeneous or easily categorized. Gods and Soldiers, an anthology of contemporary African writing edited by Tin House’s Rob Spillman, goes a long way toward dispelling that misconception. Stories by J.M. Coetzee, Chinua Achebe and others rove from coast to coast, delivering a nuanced and multifaceted look at a very complicated region. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free. Map

Zine Camp 2009

Kids: Tear yourselves away from your Wiis, and press pause on that High School Musical DVD. This summer, you have a chance to become really cool. The Independent Publishing Resource Center is hosting their annual Zine Camp, day-camp sessions where they teach you young’uns the five W's (and one H) of self-publishing and zine-making. Campers will meet wise (and wizened) zinesters, make their own zines, and even table at the ninth annual Zine Symposium at the end of the month. Buckets of street cred? Check. Zine Teens (for ages 13-17) starts July 7. Uncensored Youth (7-12) starts July 20. Independent Publishing Resource Center, 917 SW Oak St., No. 218., 827-0249. 12-4 pm Zine Teens. 11 am-3 pm Uncensored Youth. Tuesdays and Fridays. $125; scholarships available. See iprc.org for more info. Map