October 18-20, 2025 · Portland, Oregon

Paper &
Porchlight

A weekend of readings, workshops, and late-night conversations in the city’s coziest indie bookstore. Forty writers. Three days. One very warm reading room.

40+ writers
18 events
3 days
1 warm bookstore
Free coffee refills

The festival index

Everything happens within a five-minute walk of the shop. Pick a track, or drift between all three. Tickets reserve your seat; day passes include open access to signings.

Saturday · Main Stage

Opening Night: “First Lines, Lasting Rooms”

Seven authors read the opening sentences of their favorite books and the opening pages of their own. Hosted by Maeve Delancey.

6:00 PMNew Shelves Room90 min
Workshop

The Memoir of Place

A ninety-minute generative workshop on writing the rooms and neighborhoods that shaped you.

Sat 10 AMAtelier
Panel

Indie Publishing Now

Small presses, zines, and the future of print from the people actually making it.

Sat 2 PMLoft
Workshop

Rewriting the Fairy Tale

Folklore, voice, and how to break a story without breaking its spine.

Sat 4 PMAtelier
Conversation

Books After Dark

Four thriller and horror writers on dread, pacing, and the ethics of scaring strangers.

Sat 9 PMNew Shelves Room
Sunday · Closing

The Community Bookshelf

Our grand finale: forty readers, each with one beloved novel, one paragraph, and two minutes. A symphony of sentences. Stay for the after-hours record swap.

Sun 5 PMWhole shop120 min

The readers

Writers from six countries, two hemispheres, and at least four time zones. Many are regulars at the shop; a few are flying in just to sleep on our couch.

Maeve Delancey
The Quiet Staircase
Jonas Perch
North of Harbor
Lina Soh
Small Fires
R.C. Bellows
Underground Season
Tamara Voss
The Cartographer’s Daughter
Eli Noor
Bright Inventory
P. Sloane
Dog-Eared
Carys Hunt
We Were Never Here

When & where

The Lantern Bookshop is in the northeast warehouse district. Come early, stay late, bring a sweater.

Dates

Fri, Oct 17 - Opening mixer, shop open late.
Sat, Oct 18 & Sun, Oct 19 - Full days of events.
Mon, Oct 20 - Recovery brunch for volunteers.

Getting here

Portland Streetcar stops a block away at NE28th. Free bike valet on the porch. View map.

Eats & access

Neighbor bakery handles the pastries. The shop is ground-level, ADA accessible, and dog-friendly for very well-behaved hounds.

Reserve your seat

Weekend passes are $45. Single-day tickets are $25. Students, seniors, and booksellers get30% off at the door. Kids under12 are free for family readings.

Buy tickets online