Draft:Literary Arts, Inc.

Literary Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary organization based in Portland, Oregon. Their mission is to engage readers, support writers, and inspire the next generation with great literature. Their mission's three branches are reflected in three programing areas: reader outreach, supporting writers, and exposing youth to literature.

Literary Arts, Inc., sponsors the Oregon Book Awards, Oregon Literary Arts Fellowships and The Portland Arts & Lectures Series. All of Literary Arts' activities emphasize literature and literacy and the importance of books and reading.

Literary Arts also joins with other community organizations in presenting programs, has an active out-reach program and frequently collaborates with other cultural arts organizations in Portland.

A governing Board oversees all programs. Portland Arts & Lectures has an Advisory Council. Assistance and advice on the Oregon literary programs are provided by the Oregon Literary Arts Advisory Council.

History
Literary Arts began in 1984 as Portland Arts and Lectures, an event series designed to bring leading authors and cultural thinkers to Portland. In 1993 Portland Arts & Lectures merged with the Oregon Institute for Literary Arts (OILA) to become Literary Arts. OILA was dedicated to supporting Oregon’s writers and publishers through grants, awards, and public recognition. The mission of OILA lives on through the Oregon Book Awards and Literary Fellowships program, which honors and supports Oregon writers and publishers through fellowships and awards.

Programs

 * Portland Book Festival (formerly Wordstock) - an annual literary festival held in Portland, Oregon, United States, started in 2005. It is the largest festival of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.


 * The Oregon Book Awards - Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by Literary Arts to honor the "state’s finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, graphic literature, drama, literary nonfiction, and literature for young readers.
 * Portland Arts & Lectures - Since 1993, Literary Arts has presented The Portland Arts And Letters series, bringing nationally and internationally recognized writers into the Pacific Northwest. It is the largest live audience literary series in the nation in terns of ticket sales and attendance.
 * Oregon Literary Arts Fellowships - Oregon Literary Fellowships are intended to help Oregon writers at all stages of their career initiate, develop, or complete literary projects in poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama, and young readers’ literature.
 * Writers in the Schools - Launched in 1996, Writers in the Schools (WITS) program brings working writers into high school classrooms to inspire students to immerse themselves in creative writing. WITS writers closely collaborate with classroom teachers to create semester-long curricula that meet the goals for arts learning, while also helping students understand the real-world importance of reading and writing in all aspects of life.
 * The Archive Project - Literary Arts: The Archive Project is a podcast co-production of Literary Arts and OPB featuring recordings from the Portland Arts & Lectures series, Portland Book Festival, and other community literary events.