PDX
Deep
Reading
Program
FOR HIGH SCHOOL &
COLLEGE-ENTRY STUDENTS
What if you could read…
Shakespeare’s 1603 play Hamlet
The book of Job in the Old Testament, written c. 540 B.C.
Emily Wilson’s 2023 translation of The Iliad, written in XXX B.C.
with Isabella Hammad’s 2023 novel Enter Ghost?
with the 2011 Terrance Malick film Tree of Life?
with Madeline Miller’s 2011 novel The Song of Achilles?
When we learn to read deeply, we learn to write, think, and
If you’re a junior or senior in high school, or an entry college student, who wants a fresh, intensive training ground for deeply human engagement with literary and cultural texts—both within and beyond the university—welcome. You’ve come to the right place.
Rich engagement with text that combines unique
Constructive group dialogue
Community and mentorship
preparation for academic and creative life
Deep reading itself. Deep thematic focus.
Want to read Shakespeare with a modern text?
Want to explore the Bible with a Terrance Malick film—and discuss
Want to do a deep dive into Toni Morrison?
This program is uniquely designed for high school juniors, seniors, and those who are about to enter their freshman year of college. It is welcome and open to all. Please read our Ethos page to learn more about what kind of community guidelines we have and what the discussions will allow.
2026 Session Dates
Cohort II
July 5–17, 2026
Cohort IV
August X-X, 2026
Cohort IV
August X-X, 2026
📍All sessions will be held in-person in Portland, Oregon, unless there is an asterisk next to the cohort, indicating where an online option is available. You can learn more about the in-person aspect of this program on our About Page.
Cohort I
June 21–July 2, 2026
Cohort III
July 19–31, 2026
Cohort III
July 19–31, 2026
What’s Involved?
Super Small Cohorts By Design
Each cohort consists of no more than 8 students. The cohorts are kept small to make sure that everyone has the chance to express their thoughts, participate in the discussion, and build trust with each other as a group through dialogue.
Dialogue Coaching & Thoughtful Facilitation
As students engage with ideas, questions, and new stories and histories through texts, the discussions must be productive. Students will read about how to engage in productive dialogue before coming to class. Each discussion will be carefully planned and facilitated by Lauren.
Individual Reading Accountability
Each student will be required to read the entire text or watch the entire film, take notes, and come to the discussion prepared with thoughts and questions before the first day of the session. That is your task: just read the book, cover to cover, deeply, in focused periods of time, without googling what happens or asking AI to summarize it.
While there won’t be a grade at the end of the session, there will be a certificate of achievement for students who meet all the requirements.
Ongoing Mentorship With a Purpose
As a student in the Deep Reading Program, you will receive 5 one-hour mentorship sessions with Lauren throughout the course of your journey.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER & TEACHER
The PDX Deep Reading Program was founded in 2025 by Lauren Frey, a writer and quiet academic with a deep passion and love for the humanities and focused reading. She earned her MA in English Literature from Georgetown University in 2019, where she was a Lannan Poetry Fellow. Her scholarship has been published in Textual Cultures, a leading international journal in textual material. In early 2025, after a six-year career working in public health consulting, she quit to start this program and launch Copytext Magazine, an online journal that publishes work in the context of revision. When studying abroad at Oxford in college, she fell in love with the tutorial system, which has informed this program’s structure. Currently, she volunteers with the PDX Literary Arts College Entry Essay program. She lives in NE Portland with her husband.
Read more about Lauren’s background and qualifications.
JOIN THE PROGRAM!
Tuition Costs
OUR SPRING AND FALL SESSIONS
$499
Deeply engage with two texts over the course of four Sundays, and schedule up to five 45-minute mentorship meetings before, during, and after the session.
Time Commitment:
Reading: 10-12 hours of focused reading before showing up to class (two texts)
Sessions: 10 hours of discussion time (2.5 hours for four sessions)
Mentorship: 4 hours of 1:1 mentorship and conversation (45 minutes each)
TWO WEEKS + FIVE MENTORSHIP MEETINGS
$799
Deeply engage with four texts over the course of two weeks, and schedule up to five 45-minute mentorship meetings before, during, and after the session.
Catch a 10% off early bird
discount!
Time Commitment:
Reading: 15-25 hours of focused reading before showing up to class (four texts)
Sessions: 20 hours of discussion time (2.5 hours for four sessions)
Mentorship: 4 hours of 1:1 mentorship and conversation (45 minutes each)
Who is This Program For?
This program is uniquely designed for high school juniors, seniors, and those who are about to enter their freshman year of college. It is welcome and open to all. Please read our Ethos page to learn more about what kind of community guidelines we have and what the discussions will allow.
How to Apply
Requirements
You do not need to be about to enter college to qualify, but this program is also aimed at helping students understand what reading expectations are at the college level.
You should be a high school student who is curious and passionate about learning, who wants to have a reading experience that goes beyond checking the box for a grade.
The only requirement for this program is that you READ the text. You have to read it, and you can’t Google things or use AI to help you read it. You have to read it and be dumb and take notes.
Rigorously read something and have a deep encounter with it. Know what it is like to have the limits of your own mind.
Meeting in Portland, Oregon
Why Attend This Program?
In college, it is hard to get a sense of what the expectations used to be with reading. And at the same time, those expectations are just for the sake of a grade (which is valid), but not also to gain a deeper understanding of what it’s like to have a profound experience with a text; then the point is moot.
Learning objectives include:
More Resources
"When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young."
— Maya Angelou
Learn more about our upcoming 2026 sessions.