Community Write: Parable of the Sower

This one hour workshop, led by Portland Poet Laureate Maya Williams, is a generative writing workshop inspired by themes in our first three Parable-inspired workshops. Change is a constant, and change is what inspires resistance in an environment surrounded by disaster.

All are welcome, even those who did not attend the first three workshops. Pen and paper will be provided for those who do not bring their own. You are also welcome to bring a laptop or other device.

Registration is encouraged but is not required. Register here >>

We look forward to you writing and discussing with us!

Join Portland Ovations and the Portland Public Library as we embark on a four-part exploration of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable series. Each month, we will dive into these landmark works of Afrofuturism, led by local facilitators.

About the Parable of the Sower Opera

On April 14, 2023, Indigo Arts Alliance and Portland Ovations, in association with Bowdoin College, present Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, created by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon, at Merrill Auditorium.

Participants in all four parts of the Community Read series will receive a complimentary ticket to the performance.

All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. Based on the landmark sci-fi novels by Afrofuturist author Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower is a genre-defying, modern congregational opera that celebrates two centuries of Black music. Written by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon, Parable chronicles the spiritual awakening of Lauren Olamina amidst an America plagued by the products of unrelenting greed, systemic injustice and climate change denial. With an ensemble of more than 20 musicians, Parable transforms the operatic form, fusing African-American spiritualism, deep insights into gender and race, and climate activism into a new musical experience that thrills and inspires.

Learn more at portlandovations.org