A discussion about Time, Place, the nature of Belonging, and the role of the picture book. Signed copies available!

Moderated by: Claudia Zoe Bedrick of Enchanted Lion

With: Nelly Buchet - author, Elizabeth Haidle - illustrator

September 8th,
Doors open at 6:30
Starts at 7:00 pm

715 SE Grand Ave, Portland, OR

Free event

Other People's Poems (OPP)

Memorize someone else’s poem and come recite it (or just listen).

Friday, August 7

7 PM sharp

715 SE Grand Ave

Other People's Poems (OPP)

Memorize someone else’s poem and come recite it (or just listen).

Friday, July 3

7 PM sharp

715 SE Grand Ave

On Friday, June 26, from 5-9 pm, please join us for a fundraiser to support ongoing payments on and improvements to the Historic Nathaniel West Building No. 1, home to Mother Foucault’s Bookshop and l'école buissonnière, a nonprofit dedicated to creating the conditions for art, literature, music, and subversive play to thrive. This fundraiser, a rare evening combining poetry and strings, will also support l’école buissonnière’s ongoing and upcoming programs and services.

The fundraiser will be held at Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, located on the border of Portland’s inner-southeast industrial district. Founded in 2009, Mother Foucault’s Bookshop specializes in books in translation, foreign language books, poetry, and philosophy. The bookshop offers a perfectly cozy, unique space to enjoy poetry and string music.

Tickets: Sliding Scale - $10-15. Please RSVP here and pay at the door (Cash or Venmo).

Doors at 5 pm.
Fundraising/Mingling 5-6 pm.
Event at 6 pm.

With Poetry Readings from

Maudie Ainsworth, Ed Skoog, Shawn Levy, Joshua Pollock, Kayla Kennett, Grace, Pablo Murillo-Edwards

Musicians

Hannah Morton - Kitchen Congregation (solo project of Hannah Morton) crawls under your skin and performs in your heart. She writes sincerely from memory and experience using vivid, surreal, dreamlike imagery. She gently sweeps us from the tender to the epic. Every song contrasting, and complimenting the wide array of complicated feelings we all share. There is an obvious attempt at honest self expression, and innovation within her chosen discipline. Her dedication to her practice is apparent in her confident poise. Hannah is an artist that makes those intangible ubiquitous feelings tangible with great effect.

Alexis Mahler - Michigan-made, and classically trained, Mahler has made a musical home for herself in Portland, Oregon. Quieting rooms with her intimate blend of classical, jazz, and folk - she has endeared herself to audiences across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Her music contains thoughtful, elegant strings layered with memorable, and sweetly delivered vocal melodies. In her own words: “Music should be connective, accessible, expressive, expansive, often imperfect, healing - a release”.

The beauty and power that Alexis Mahler creates with her voice and cello is simply mesmerizing. With patient and confident phrasing, a soothing resonance of vulnerability and strength, Mahler has delivered a poignant and intimate EP titled Away that draws us directly into her being. Songs of heartbreak, taking space, rebuilding a life, self care, or maybe — self survival. These are pertinent emotions in a world that is pleading to wake up tomorrow more empathetic than it did today.” — Glide Magazine

Yucky Star - You may know Kate Koller as the player of dreamy cello lines that make you drool, yucky star is all the magic you’ve always known to come from kate & then some. What was once in danger of becoming a collection of unfinished songs is finally making its way to the ears of listeners in portland & soon beyond, and the world is all the better for it. Their stream of consciousness lyrics flow like honey. With distinctive guitar parts in sticky nonstandard tunings you might be tempted to steal.

Emma Smith - Emma Smith is a cellist, guitar player and singer / songwriter based in Portland, OR.

Joe Kye - Joe Kye is a musician and storyteller based in Portland, Oregon. Joe’s music is a tapestry of his many influences as a Korean American immigrant. His latest project explores his roots, melding Korean traditional sounds with everything from jazz to electronic music. Tenderhearted and peaceful, Joe’s work fosters a sense of deep internal reflection, healing, and spirituality. Joe’s recorded a Tedx Talk, been featured on NPR’s The World, and was a 2023 Oregon Arts Commission Fellow.

“You’re a different kind of doctor. A soul doctor.” - A Filipino Mom

Andrew Jones - PDX Bassist, improviser, songwriter, arranger and recording / mixing engineer

Autumn Bradford - Cellist, collaborator and member of the post metal band - Larkspur - Autumn has performed on several pdx stages and become engrained into the PDX string scene since relocating to Oregon.

Twin Bridges - Twin Bridges (Zachery G) is a cellist & songwriter from New Mexico, currently in Portland, OR. Twin Bridges creates live loops on cello and the project features a band of friends playing woodwinds, brass, bass and drums. Twin Bridges songs can be described as pensive, dark and melodic. Twin Bridges will be releasing their second full band album this winter on AudioSport Records.

Other People's Poems (OPP)

Memorize someone else’s poem and come recite it (or just listen).

Friday, June 5
7 PM sharp

715 SE Grand Ave

Allen Ginsberg Centennial Reading

Hosted by Dan Raphael and Christopher Luna

Featuring Casey Bush, Darren Daniel, Katherine Factor, Benjamin Fisher, Mimi German, Leanne Grabel, Christopher Luna, Morgan Paige, dan raphael, Brian Rohr, Willa Schneberg, Alex Vigue, and Joe Wheeler reading poems by Allen Ginsberg on his 100th Birthday.

Learn more about Allen Ginsberg including information regarding other centennial readings planned across the country at the Allen Ginsberg Project:  https://allenginsberg.org/

Saturday, May 30, 2026 — 7pm

A screening, organized by Aurora San Miguel, of first films by Chantal Akerman, David Cronenberg, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Joanna Hogg, Todd Solondz, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Lars von Trier.

This event is organized by SOCIETY
art, its discourses and histories
711 SE Grand Avenue, Second Floor.
12–5 and by appointment societysocietysociety.com

Translation Tuesday at Mother Foucault's
Tuesday, May 19, 2026

7:00 p.m.

Translation Tuesday double feature with Jeremy Klemin reading translations of fiction and non-fiction by Portuguese writer António Lobo Antunes, and Jen Mendez reading excerpts from their translation of German author Hans Peter Richter's YA historical novel. The reading will be followed by a short Q&A. 

Refreshments will be provided!

Jeremy Klemin’s writing and literary translations appear in AGNI, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere. His work has received support from the Fulbright Program, Disquiet International, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. He holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from Oregon State University, and was named a 2026 Literary Arts Oregon Literary Fellow to support his in-progress essay collection about skateboarding, disability, and public space.

António Lobo Antunes, who has been called “one of Portugal’s preeminent writers” by The New York Times, was born in Lisbon in 1942. The son of a physician, he too became a doctor and then spent four years in the Portuguese army during the Angolan War. His book on that war, South of Nowhere, was internationally praised and followed by other widely translated and much-honored novels, including Act of the Damned, Explanation of the Birds, and The Natural Order of Things. He passed away in March 2026. 

Jen Mendez is a German to English translator with a focus on literary translation. Originally from Seattle, they now reside in the Portland area, where they graduated with a BA in German Language and Literature from Portland State University. At the beginning of 2026, Jen stepped into the position of Vice President of the Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society (NOTIS), a regional chapter of the American Translators Association, and they frequently commute to Seattle to attend events with the organization’s NW Literary Translation Division. Jen is currently hard at work on a secret translation project that is set to be released in 2027.

Hans Peter Richter is an award-winning German author and academic from Cologne. Having come of age during WWII, Richter served as a lieutenant between 1942 and 1945, where his experiences inspired the trilogy of semi-autobiographical young adult novels for which he is best known: Friedrich, I Was There, and The Time of the Young Soldiers. The book Friedrich was awarded the prize for best young adult novel from the Sebaldus-Verlag in 1961. More than just an author, Richter studied psychology and sociology after his time in the war, and from 1973 on, he taught scientific methodology and sociology at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.

This winter and spring, L’École Buissonnière invites you to a monthly Café Littéraire, a French conversation class rooted in literature, seasonal culture, and thoughtful exchange.

Inspired by French cafés as places of ideas, debate, and imagination, these gatherings offer a slow, intimate approach to the French language. Each 90-minute session opens a thematic doorway through short literary texts, guided conversation, and gentle creative practices.

The focus is not performance or fluency at all costs, but presence, curiosity, and pleasure in thinking together.

Each month highlights a seasonal cultural moment in France, including traditions that shape language and collective imagination.

MAY 3rd | The Art of Argumentation à la Française
L’art de l’argumentation à la française

Seasonal focus: La Fête du Travail — le 1er mai & le muguet

From 10:30 to 12 pm (90 minutes)

 📍 Practical Information

• When: First Sunday of each month, February–May

• From 10:30 to 12pm (90 minutes)

• Where: Mother Foucault’s Bookshop

• Group size: Limited to 10 participants
  Pricing: Full bundle: $90
  → Includes all 4 sessions + a convivial Garden Party (a French-style apéro) celebrating French culture at the end of the cycle

• Single session: $20

• Drop-in: $25

Mother Foucault's Bookshop is bringing International Day of the Book to Portland. International Day of the Book is an annual event organized by UNESCO to promote reading and publishing. It has its roots in the Catalonian celebration of St. George's Day, or the Day of Books and Roses, during which lovers exchange books and roses as tokens of affection.

A celebration of literature, love, and Spanish and Catalan language and culture, the event will also support local nonprofit Street Books, a mobile library that provides community, resources, and advocacy for people living outside or at the margins in Portland.

12 pm — Open to All

The event is free and open to the public. The Bookshop will have books and roses—as well as other flowers—for sale. 10% of their proceeds will go to Street Books, who will join the celebration by providing services outside the shop.

7 pm — Evening Program

The nonprofit l'école buissonnière will present an evening program inside Mother Foucault's Bookshop inspired by the traditional celebration of St. George's Day in Catalonia. Readings of Catalan and Spanish-language literature will accompany music and a version of jocs florals (floral games, a Catalonian literary competition similar to an open mic). Refreshments will also be served.

The evening's readings will be organized by two Spanish Language Scholars, Andreu Borrego Asensi and Angeles Bellitti.

Tuesdays, April 7 – May 5, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:30pm

Writing Through the Collapse is an ecosystem co-created by those who wish to surrender to the word of their own artistry. Designed as a supportive and generative space in which to deepen, begin, or confront your writing practice within an increasingly terrifying time.
In this workshop we bring reflection, resistance, and submission to the art and survival of creation. A ritual and a devotion to ourselves and to the altar(s) of the dream space.

What happens in between the words and the page?
Who do you carry with you? What does ownership look like?

Guided by your co-facilitators R. Stranger & Makayla Terrell this five-week workshop centers hybrid work spanning prose, poetry, visual art, or anything from the in-between.
In this workshop, we will look at a range of texts from revolutionary thinkers and world builders to invite our creativity to counter the disillusionment that we are witnessing in real time.

This winter and spring, L’École Buissonnière invites you to a monthly Café Littéraire, a French conversation class rooted in literature, seasonal culture, and thoughtful exchange.

Inspired by French cafés as places of ideas, debate, and imagination, these gatherings offer a slow, intimate approach to the French language. Each 90-minute session opens a thematic doorway through short literary texts, guided conversation, and gentle creative practices.

The focus is not performance or fluency at all costs, but presence, curiosity, and pleasure in thinking together.

Each month highlights a seasonal cultural moment in France, including traditions that shape language and collective imagination.

 APRIL 5th | Read Little, Read Together
Lire peu, mais lire ensemble
Seasonal focus: Poisson d’Avril médiatique & la tradition du chocolat et des œufs de Pâques 

From 10:30 to 12 pm (90 minutes)

 📍 Practical Information

• When: First Sunday of each month, February–May

• From 10:30 to 12pm (90 minutes)

• Where: Mother Foucault’s Bookshop

• Group size: Limited to 10 participants
  Pricing: Full bundle: $90
  → Includes all 4 sessions + a convivial Garden Party (a French-style apéro) celebrating French culture at the end of the cycle

• Single session: $20

• Drop-in: $25

This winter and spring, L’École Buissonnière invites you to a monthly Café Littéraire, a French conversation class rooted in literature, seasonal culture, and thoughtful exchange.

Inspired by French cafés as places of ideas, debate, and imagination, these gatherings offer a slow, intimate approach to the French language. Each 90-minute session opens a thematic doorway through short literary texts, guided conversation, and gentle creative practices.

The focus is not performance or fluency at all costs, but presence, curiosity, and pleasure in thinking together.

Each month highlights a seasonal cultural moment in France, including traditions that shape language and collective imagination.

MARCH 1st | The World of the Francophonie
Le monde de la francophonie: Aimé Césaire and Négritude: poetry as resistance, identity, dignity

From 10:30 to 12 pm (90 minutes)

 📍 Practical Information

• When: First Sunday of each month, February–May

• From 10:30 to 12pm (90 minutes)

• Where: Mother Foucault’s Bookshop

• Group size: Limited to 10 participants
  Pricing: Full bundle: $90
  → Includes all 4 sessions + a convivial Garden Party (a French-style apéro) celebrating French culture at the end of the cycle

• Single session: $20

• Drop-in: $25

This winter and spring, L’École Buissonnière invites you to a monthly Café Littéraire, a French conversation class rooted in literature, seasonal culture, and thoughtful exchange.

Inspired by French cafés as places of ideas, debate, and imagination, these gatherings offer a slow, intimate approach to the French language. Each 90-minute session opens a thematic doorway through short literary texts, guided conversation, and gentle creative practices.

The focus is not performance or fluency at all costs, but presence, curiosity, and pleasure in thinking together.

Each month highlights a seasonal cultural moment in France, including traditions that shape language and collective imagination.

FEBRUARY 1st | The Café as a Place of Thought
Le café comme lieu de pensée

Seasonal focus: La Chandeleur (crêpes, light returning)

We’ll explore how cafés have shaped French intellectual and artistic life, read a short text together, and reflect—en français—on solitude, presence, and the art of being together.

From 10:30 to 12 pm (90 minutes)

📍 Practical Information

• When: First Sunday of each month, February–May

• From 10:30 to 12pm (90 minutes)

• Where: Mother Foucault’s Bookshop

• Group size: Limited to 10 participants

  Pricing: Full bundle: $90

  → Includes all 4 sessions + a convivial Garden Party (a French-style apéro) celebrating French culture at the end of the cycle

• Single session: $20

• Drop-in: $25