Our Story
Founded in 1999 on Hawthorne Boulevard
“It takes courage to align your life with writing — even as you balance family, home, and work — and we admire and respect the ambition and commitment to live creative lives that our students embody every day.” ~ David Biespiel, founder of the Attic Institute of Arts and Letters
The Attic's history in Portland began in a dappled attic on SE Hawthorne that was David Biespiel's personal writing studio.
But the roots of the Attic begin in ancient Greece.
As the prestige dialect of Athens, “Attic Greek” was the language of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Demosthenes, Aristotle and other Greek philosophers, playwrights, and poets who so influenced Western Civilization that their works have been studied throughout the world for centuries.
That's the spirit of learning at the heart of the Attic Institute today, a spirit of ambition and dedication for independent writers and for experiencing and interpreting the world.
As ever, the most important resource at the Attic has been our students.
Over 10,000 students have enrolled in workshops at the Attic Institute of Arts and Letters. Many have succeeded with book and magazine publications, awards, and more.
After the Covid pandemic, David moved the Attic downtown.
“Writers and artists have always been at the forefront of a city’s renewal,” he told the gathering at the Attic’s 25th anniversary reading at Mother Foucault’s Bookshop.
From an inner southeast loft to the heart of downtown next door to the civic treasure that is historic Central Library, the Attic continues to thrive as David Biespiel’s literary studio approaches its fourth decade.
Throughout, our students have been guided by dedicated teachers — lauded, outstanding writers who are recipients of National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in both fiction and poetry, the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, the Stegner Fellowship and the Knight Fellowship at Stanford University, too many Oregon Book Awards to list, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, inclusion in the Best American anthologies, listings on the New York Times Bestsellers list, as well as the New York Times Notable Books of the Year, the Poetry Foundation's Best Books of the Year, and the Smithsonian Notable Books of the Year, among many other accolades.
A select listing of Attic faculty current and past is a who’s who of literary Portland:
Brian Benson · Erica Berry · David Biespiel · Paula Bohince · Craig Brandis · Emily Chenoweth · David Ciminello · Mo Daviau · Kate Carroll de Gutes · Edward Derby · Matthew Dickman · Michael Dickman · Merridawn Duckler · Omar El Akkad · Shanna Germain · Martha Gies · Ariel Gore · Emily Harris · Santi Elijah Holley · Zahir Janmohamed · Karen Karbo · Jennifer Lauck · Ursula K. Le Guin · Cari Luna · Lee Montgomery · Laura Moulton · Jules Ohman · Whitney Otto · Chuck Palahniuk · Paulann Petersen · Liz Prado · Jon Raymond · Greg Robillard · Joanna Rose · Ed Skoog · Kim Stafford · Cheryl Strayed Dao Strom · Ashley Toliver · Vanessa Veselka · Emily Whitman · Wendy Willis · Peter Zuckerman
The history of the Attic is the story of literary Portland. Come on up. Join us to elevate, refine, and shape your writing life.