If you want to book Laura for an event, contact her publicist, Feliza Casano.
Upcoming
Pop-up Publishing Classes with Liz Prato, January and February 2024
Past Events
North Plains Library, with Kesha Ajose-Fisher, Sept. 26, 2023
In conversation, Broadway Books, with author Dian Greenwood, Sept. 12, 2023
Spoken Word, Oregon Country Fair, summer 2023, last minute fill-in monologue
Keynote, Terroir Writing Conference, April 29, 2023
Oregon Writers Colony, annual spring conference speaker, March 27, 2023
Hillsboro Public Library, March 16, 2023, with Curtis Chen and Emily Prado
Willamette Writers, in person, keynote speaker, Portland, Oregon, 2022
American Library Association, in person, Washington, DC, in conversation with Amy Casey, summer 2022
Oregon Country Fair, in person, summer 2022, Veneta, Oregon
Write on the Sound, online, Edmonds, Washington writing conference
Thursday, June 16, 6 p.m.: Roundabout Books, in person, Bend, Oregon, in conversation with Julie Swearingen.
Writer in residence, The Cottonwood School of Civics and Science, 4th/5th grade, spring 2022
Speech to booksellers—virtual author appearance, PNBA, CALIBA, and Mountains & Plains, Oct. 22, 2021
Keynote, Words & Pictures, virtual, Ft. Vancouver Library System, Vancouver, Wa., Oct. 9, 2021
Publisher panel, Words & Pictures, virtual, Ft. Vancouver Library System, Vancouver, Wa., Oct. 9, 2021
Signing ARCs of Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary, PNBA tradeshow, Portland, Oregon, Oct. 4-6, 2021
Mineral School guest speaker, with Claudia Savage, Sept. 17, 2021
Chasing Chaos with Sheila Hamilton, April 28, 2021
Garden Home Library, submissions lecture, Feb. 23, 2021
Reading, Coffee and Grief, online, Nov. 5, 2020
Adjunct instructor, Book Editing, Portland State University’s publishing program, winter term 2020
PNBA annual trade show, October 2019, including a panel on publishing
Facilitating Create More, Fear Less, a middle school elective at a Portland K-8 charter school, fall term, 2019
Portland State guest lecturer on publishing, October 2019
Writing retreat through the Oregon Extension Service--operated property in Lincoln, Oregon, August 2019
American Library Association Conference, June 2019, Washington D.C.
Career day speaker, Linwood Elementary School, June 6, 2019
Fiction class guest lecturer, Clackamas Community College, June 3, 2019
Reading, Mothers and Daughters, Rose City Book Pub, May 22, 2019
Panelist, Write to Publish, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, April 27, 2019
Panelist, University of New Mexico Continuing Education’s writing conference, Albuquerque, NM, April 13, 2019
The Attic, Symposium speaker, Portland, Oregon, April 7, 2019
Plonk Reading Series, Untold Gaze event, Portland, Oregon, March 6, 2019
Guest speaker, Washington State University, Vancouver, Wash., Feb. 22, 2019
Panelist, Use Your Words, Manzanita Writers Center, Oregon, Feb. 16, 2019
PubWest editorial panel, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Feb. 9, 2019
The Writers’ Workshoppe and Imprint Books, Port Townsend, Washington, Oct. 6, 2018
PNBA Educational Session, Tacoma, Washington, Sept. 28, 2018
Filament Reading Series, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, May 28, 2018
Compose Writing Conference, Clackamas Community College, Clackamas, Oregon, May 19, 2018
Independent Bookstore Day, Annie Bloom’s, Portland, Oregon, April 28, 2018
Write to Publish, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, April 21, 2018
Terroir Festival, McMinnville, Oregon, April 14, 2018
The Hummingbird Global Writers’ Circle, Broadway Books, Portland, Oregon, March 22, 2018
Tucson Festival of the Book, Tucson, Arizona, March 10-11, 2018
Portland State University, guest lecturer, March 28, 2018
PubWest conference in Pasadena, California, Feb. 15-18, 2018
Tucson Festival of the Book, Tucson, Arizona, March 10-11, 2018
The Hummingbird Global Writers’ Circle, Broadway Books, March 22, 2018
Terroir Festival, McMinnville, Oregon, April 14, 2018
Write to Publish, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, April 21, 2010
Compose Writing Conference, Clackamas Community College, Clackamas, Ore., May 19, 2019
Filament Reading Series, Portland State, featured fiction reader, May 26, 2019
Lit Crawl event with The Rumpus and Future Tense Books, Portland, Oregon, Nov. 10, 2018
Intro to Book Publishing, Portland State University, guest speaker, Oct. 30, 2018
Ashland Literary Arts Festival, two panels, booth, and Main Street Writers Movement sponsored a panel on community building, Oct. 28, 2018
Independent Book Publishers Association webinar, “Going from Nothing to National in Five Years,” an online version of the speech she gave at the IBPA Publishing University conference in April, Sept. 13, 2018
Parade of Authors participant at Another Read Through Bookstore, Portland, Oregon, Aug. 26, 2017
Willamette Writers – Corvallis Chapter, Corvallis, OR, July 24, 2017
Intro to Book Publishing, Guest Lecturer, with Rob Broder, publisher of Ripple Grove Press, Portland State University, Portland, OR, May 8, 2017
Faculty member, Independent Book Publishers Association’s Publishing University, Portland, OR, April 7-8, 2017
Business of Book Publishing, Guest Speaker, Portland State University, Portland, OR, Feb. 23, 2017
Intro to Book Publishing, Guest Lecturer, Portland State University, Portland, Ore., March 8, 2017
AWP conference, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8-11, 2017
The League of Extraordinary Writers, Powell’s Cedar Hills, featured speaker, Beaverton, Oregon, Jan. 14, 2017
Garden Home Library writers’ group, featured speaker, Nov. 22, 2016
Willamette Writers, Newport, Oregon, “Anatomy of a Submission,” October 16, 2016
Spalding University MFA program, addressing graduates of Spalding on the independent press movement, October 5, 2016
Willamette Writers Conference, Portland, Oregon–“What Every Author Needs to Know about Distribution,” Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016
Oregon Writers Colony’s Literary Lounge Small Press Panel, Key Community Center, Portland, Oregon, July 20, 2016
Book Expo America, Chicago, IL, May 11-14, 2016
Kickstarter Presents: Celebrate Portland’s Independent Publishing Culture, IPRC, Portland, Oregon, April 10, 2016
Willamette Writers Salem Chapter, April 6, 2016: Guest speaker, “Anatomy of a Submission,” at the Salem Public Library, including member query critiques and a raffle.
Portland State University, February 9, 2016: Guest in Kent Watson’s publishing class as part of the university’s master’s program.
Word Fest, Longview, Washington, October 13, 2015: Hosted by Alan Rose, in conversation with publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek
Liz Prato’s Baby’s on Fire (Press 53), Powell’s City of Books, May 5, 2015: Introduction of the author
Willamette University, Salem, OR, March 18, 2015
Hosted by Scott Nadelson and featuring KMA Sullivan of YesYes Books and Michael Heald of Perfect Day Publishing
Ooligan Press Write to Publish Conference, at Portland State, Jan. 31, 2015
Live pitches during the Pitch Roundtable
Pacific University MFA program, Astoria, OR, Jan. 16, 2015
Addressed students during the term’s low-residency requirement
1.5-hour talk: “How I Started a Small Press”
Pacific University Creative Writing Department, Forest Grove, OR, Nov. 5, 2014
Small group session about publishing with creative writing students, led by Professor Kathlene Postma
Q and A on Forest Avenue Press and the state of publishing with about fifty students
Post-event conversations with Silk Road volunteers and author Naseem Rakha
Institute for Continued Learning, Willamette University, Salem, OR, Oct. 16, 2014
Two-hour presentation for a crowd of about a hundred senior citizens
Mentor in the House, Oregon Writers Colony, Rockaway Beach, OR, June 5-7, 2014
Led a group of writers through exercises, conversations about the industry, and critique sessions throughout a weekend
In conversation with author Nancy Slavin about small press vs. self-publishing
Compose, Clackamas Community College, Oregon City, Oregon, May 31, 2014
Title of seminar: “The World of Small Press Publishing”
Manzanita Writers’ Center, Manzanita, OR, May 17, 2014
Panel discussion of independent publishing with Meg Storey of Tin House and Rhonda Hughes of Hawthorne Books
Story and Commerce, University of Oregon, April 16, 2014
Appeared on a panel about publishing and finance, taught by bestselling author Lauren Kessler
Panelists included bestselling author Karen Karbo and successful ghostwriter Teresa Barker
Oregon Writers Colony, Literary Lounge, TaborSpace in Portland, OR, April 9, 2014,
On a panel with Mary Rosenblum, the Literary Midwife, and VoiceCatcher’s Carolyn Martin
University of Oregon’s Turnbull Center Winter Open House Lecturer, Jan. 23, 2014
1.5-hour talk on “The Promise and Peril of Self-Publishing”
More than 50 students, professors, and community members in attendance
VoiceCatcher Reading, In Other Words Bookstore, Portland OR, Dec. 7, 2013
Read “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” published in the journal’s summer 2013 issue
Wordstock, October 3-6, 2013
Organized and participated in “The Power of Print-on-Demand” with Jeremy Robert Johnson of Swallowdown Press, Jarret Middleton of Dark Coast Press, Cameron Pierce of Lazy Fascist Press, and Kevin Sampsell of Future Tense Books
Participated in “Writing Guides: Help & Inspiration for Your Journey,” with writing guide authors Sage Cohen and Christi Krug
Portals Writing Conference, Corban University, Salem, Oregon June 20-23, 2013
Appeared on a publishing panel hosted by author/professor Gina Ochsner.
Writers’ Night at the Springwater Grange, Estacada, Oregon, April 20, 2013
Featured speaker with Jon Bell, author of On Mount Hood, and hosts Stevan Allred and Joanna Rose
Speech on becoming a publisher while also being a writer, an editor, and a mother
Brave on the Page, Powell’s City of Books, Jan. 7, 2013
Emceed the event, which featured authors Kristy Athens, Jon Bell, Kate Gray, Robert Hill, Gigi Little, Gina Ochsner, Joanna Rose, Scott Sparling, and Yuvi Zalkow, with an overflow crowd of 120
Brave on the Page launch, Fulton Park Community Center, Portland, OR, Nov. 3, 2012
Organized the event, and shared the stage with numerous writers