Events & Opportunities
September 17, 2025
Oregon Canneries and the Quest for the American Dream
In the late 1800’s, the Columbia River fish canning industry was one of the most valuable in the world. This program, presented by Julie Triezenberg of the Columbia River Maritime Museum, discusses the history of the canneries, their impact on local communities, and the legacy they left behind after their closure.
This event is supported by a Mini Grant for Rural Libraries from Oregon Humanities.
7:00 p.m., Scappoose Public Library, Scappoose
September 18, 2025
Community Storytelling Fellowship Info Session
Learn from Oregon Humanities staff about the Community Storytelling Fellowship and the application process. To register for the info session, please use this form.
For more information about the Community Storytelling Fellowship, please visit this page.
10:00 a.m., Virtual Event, statewide
September 19, 2025
An Evening with Willy Vlautin
Join Oregon author Willy Vlautin for a lively discussion of his latest book, The Horse, along with songs and stories from the novel. You can pick up a free copy of The Horse at Columbia County Libraries starting August 18, while supplies last.
7:00 p.m., Birkenfeld Theatre, Clatskanie
September 20, 2025
Willy Vlautin's Book Club
This is an informal event where the audience can discuss the themes and other elements in any of Willy Vlautin's books face to face with the author. Come prepared with your questions and observations.
This event is supported by a Mini Grant for Rural Libraries from Oregon Humanities.
7:00 p.m., Scappoose Community & Senior Center, Scappoose
September 20, 2025
River Talk: Recovery of the McKenzie Valley after the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire
Joe Moll, the Executive director of McKenzie River Trust, presents a talk on the recovery of the McKenzie Valley after the Holiday Farm fire. And to celebrate the finale of the River Talks, the jazz guitarist Don Latarski will perform his River Suites.
Since 1989, McKenzie River Trust has worked with willing landowners to care for more than ten thousand acres of land in Western Oregon, protecting fish, wildlife and the quality of our water. Their large-scale restoration projects are rich habitat parcels often connected like a string of pearls by the river flowing between them.
Commenting on one of these projects, the nearby restoration of the Finn Rock Reach, Moll wrote, “In the aftermath of the Holiday Farm fire we continue to be impressed and humbled by how many people look to the river as solace, as an anchor, a reason for being where we are. Without water we’re not Oregon, so anything we do to give people in the future the opportunity to enjoy the wealth we enjoy now we feel really good about.”
This event is supported by a Mini Grant for Rural Libraries from Oregon Humanities.
2:00 p.m., O'Brien Memorial Library, Blue River
September 27, 2025
Community Conversations: How Can You help?
Toledo Public Library presents a resource fair and opportunity to find out all that is available in Toledo to help people in need and give back to the community. This event is supported by a Mini Grant for Rural Libraries from Oregon Humanities.
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Toledo Public Library, Toledo
October 1, 2025
Conversation Project: Relationships for Resilience
In a time of intensifying social and ecological crises, in a cultural context of individualism, the pressure to practice "self-care," build "personal resilience," and "transform oneself" is pervasive. While "doing your own work" is important, we overemphasize the individual to the detriment of our human communities and the rest of the living world. The deep transformations we need will be cocreated, and the deep resilience we must develop will be relational. In this conversation, we will explore the dynamics of our strongest relationships, seeking to name the qualities and practices that underpin resilience. How can we bring our insights more intentionally and broadly to bear in our human relationships and in our relationships with our home—lands, waters, and ecosystems?
6:00 p.m., Cedar Mill Community Library, Portland
October 18, 2025
Our People, Our Stories
Join tina ontiveros, author of the memoir Rough House, to discuss growing up in Oregon logging camps and how writing this memoir affected her connection with the region, the people, and herself.
This program is supported by a Mini Grant for Rural Libraries from Oregon Humanities.
3:00 p.m., Mt. Angel Public Library, Mt. Angel
October 18, 2025
Astoria Creative Writing Festival
Oregon Poet Laureate Ellent Waterston will appear alongside other writers at a weekend of readings, workshops, and literary happenings all centered in Oregon's oldest coastal town. Learn more about this event.
All day, Barbey Center, Astoria
October 19, 2025
Author Reading with Ellen Waterson, Oregon Poet Laureate
Join the Hoffman Center for the Arts for an afternoon of poetry by Ellen Waterston. Connect with community and poetry on the North Coast of Oregon.
3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Hoffman Center for the Arts, Manzanita