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Powell’s City of Books is located in Downtown Portland, but you can visit Powell’s satellite locations in Portland’s Hawthorne neighborhood and nearby Beaverton.
Credit: Travel Portland
Inspired by Portlanders’ penchant for independent bookstores and literary greats.
7 min read
Emilly Prado
Emilly Prado is a writer, award-winning journalist and consultant living in Portland. Read More
While Portland is a city perhaps best known for its roses and stellar food scene, for the literary-inclined, we’re noted for our celebration of independent bookstores, presses and all things writerly. Portland is even statistically more bookish than most cities, ranking higher than average when comparing bookstores per capita across the nation. Opportunities to engage in the scene abound, but we’ve carved out a few special stops to consider on your next literary tour of Portland.
Breakfast for Booklovers in Portland
We begin our itinerary in North Portland at The Stacks Coffeehouse, where you can fuel up for your big day with your choice of Portland-made Roseline Coffee, Smith Tea or house-made chai and a plateful of breakfast tacos. With a menu and atmosphere inspired by co-owner Mary Milstead’s upbringing in Austin — famous for breakfast tacos and home to the University of Texas, where her mother worked and where she remembers being surrounded by books in the library — this airy café for booklovers is the perfect place to start your story. Pick a book from the sprawling community library to read while you chow down, and if you’re in town on a Tuesday, you can sign up to return for a free afternoon writing session and reading.
Next, choose your own adventure: Pick between parallel routes in Northeast or Southeast Portland.
A Literary Tour of Northeast Portland
When you see the turquoise neon lights, you’ve made it to Broadway Books, a cozy women-owned bookstore beloved since 1992. Special shelves are dedicated to Pacific Northwest authors, and new stock is showcased on tables when you walk in. Need something besides a book? Check out their sweet selection of puzzles and games.
A mere mile southeast is Outlet, a community maker space specializing in risograph printing, workshops and events. It also doubles as the studio space of illustrator-owner Kate Bingaman-Burt. If you want to take home a souvenir, Outlet hosts workshops and sells quirky zines, prints, buttons, stickers and more by local artists.
A Literary Tour of Southeast Portland
Stop by Third Eye Books, Oregon’s only Black-owned bookstore, which specializes in Black-centered literature and invites readers to find their new favorite books. From lesser-known Pacific Northwest history books to graphic novels by the greats to children’s books and anti-racist reads, the collection is expansive and curated to perfection. You can even pick up a tarot deck!
After your tote bags are packed to the brim, settle into a comfy reading nook at the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC), a community print studio and proudly DIY space that provides artists of all mediums access to creative tools, workshops and events. The organization is especially known for its celebration of zines, which are typically self-made (or created with the support of indie presses and distributors) publications about innumerable topics the makers are passionate about. The IPRC’s zine library features over 9,000 catalog items and is open for browsing. There’s also often a small selection of merchandise and art available for purchase.
Bookish Spots in Northwest and Downtown Portland
Let your stomach guide you to the “Princess Bride”-themed Guilder Cafe, where you can pick from a simple but robust menu of aptly named bowls, sandwiches, burritos and toast, as well as an assortment of beers and cider on tap, wine and, of course, freshly brewed coffee. Since Guilder is tucked behind the Gold Room at Powell’s Books, you’ll also already be conveniently located inside the world’s largest indie bookstore. Must-see sections? We suggest weaving your way everywhere but don’t miss the small press section in the Blue Room, which showcases countless independent reads and micro-presses, including Portland-based gems like Forest Avenue Press, Hawthorne Books, Tin House and Future Tense Books. Then head to the Pearl Room on the top floor, which houses the rare book room and the rotating Basil Hallward gallery.
After lunch, it’s time to make your way to downtown and up the gorgeous marble steps of the Multnomah County Central Library in Southwest Portland. This light-filled three-story institution draws on Georgian architectural style and was erected in 1913 as the main facility for the second-largest public library system in the country (and the largest in Oregon). Although the Sterling Room for Writers is open by application only, visitors can peruse the library shelves, stop by the Collins Gallery, and soak in stunning details like pastel rose carpets and multi-story arched windows.
Novel-Inspired Nightcaps in Portland
To end the night, top up on your pick from 36 rotating taps of Oregon beer and cider at the family-owned Treebeerd’s Taphouse. “Lord of the Rings” fans may recognize the nod to the series in the name, and although you won’t feel like you’ve traveled to Middle Earth, subtle nods are seen in the elegant wood-forward decor, live-edge furniture, and the generally inviting and inclusive atmosphere.
If you’re craving a cocktail instead, consider a stop at the iconic Heathman Hotel, where the bronze bulldog statue dressed as a bellhop at the front entrance will let you know you’ve made it. The boutique hotel, built in 1927, isn’t just known for its extraordinary architecture, or even that it was mentioned 18 times in E. L. James’ “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The enormous, two-story-tall hotel library, composed exclusively of authors who have stayed the night, is the true star. Nearly 2,000 signed, mostly first-edition titles are on display and the rest of the 4,000-and-counting collection rotates with picks from their basement archive and includes literary legends like Salman Rushdie, Cheryl Strayed, Seamus Heaney and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.
Fun fact: That bronze statue is of a late Portland-born bulldog who was a literary sensation herself, having been the subject of many dress-up calendars and a 2001 book, Zelda Wisdom.
Portland Books and Authors
Bestsellers by Portland Authors
Portland Books for Young Readers
Portland Poets
Book and Literature Events in Portland
On any given night, there’s almost certainly an open mic, storytelling hour reading, or poetry slam somewhere in Portland. The Literary Portland calendar is one of the best sources for upcoming events, and we’ve shouted out a few options below.
Acoustic music sets and readings typically fill up the calendar Thursday through Sunday nights at Mother Foucault’s, a homey, plant- and book-lined shop focusing on rare, used and vintage stock.
Regular series of many genres also abound. Try One Page Wednesday and Slamlandia at Literary Arts, The Moth story slams at Holocene and the Constellation Reading Series at Tin House.
If you’re lucky you might just be in town for intermittent but stellar programming like Booklover’s Burlesque or poetry readings at Lan Su Chinese Garden.
Finally and perhaps most notably, each November, Literary Arts hosts the Portland Book Festival, a day-long event featuring author discussions, pop-up readings, writing workshops for youth and adults, kids’ story time, an extensive book fair and local food trucks.
“No lies. No notes. No memorization.” Those three simple rules guide the performances at Back Fence PDX, Portland’s flagship storytelling event. Expect an evening of polished stories from veteran comedians, actors and authors from Portland, New York, Los Angeles, and everywhere. “Back Fence Roulette” challenges performers to spin a giant wheel of prompts and craft five-minute true stories based on their results.
Local storytelling collective Portland Story Theater gathers several times yearly to perform true tales on a common theme. Events often revolve around a holiday (like “Luck of the Irish” in March, “Spellbound” in October and “Kiss & Tell” in February). The group’s “Armchair Adventurer” series presents historical events personally, sharing the heart-wrenching sagas of Nantucket whaling ships and doomed Antarctic expeditions.
