David Gregory at Vroman’s
Join former NBC newsman and Meet the Press moderator David Gregory as he discusses and signs “How’s Your Faith?: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey” and probes various religious traditions to answer life’s most important questions: who do we want to be and what do we believe?
While David was covering the White House, he had the unusual experience of being asked by President George W. Bush “How’s your faith?” David’s answer was just emerging. Raised by a Catholic mother and a Jewish dad, he had a strong sense of Jewish cultural and ethnic identity, but no real belief–until his marriage to a Protestant woman of strong faith inspired him to explore his spirituality for himself and his growing family.
David approaches his faith with the curiosity and dedication you would expect from a journalist accustomed to holding politicians and Presidents accountable. But he also comes as a seeker, one just discovering why spiritual journeys are always worthwhile. (Simon and Schuster)
Where: Vroman’s Book Store
Date: Monday the 7th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Speakeasy/Open Mic at Last Bookstore
It’s the first Monday of the month, and we’ve got our open mic night happening! Starts at 8 pm, but sign-ups are at 7:45. Come early to get a good spot in line.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Monday, the 7th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 453 Spring St., Ground Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/events/speakeasy-open-mic-night-2/
Tongue & Groove at the Annenberg Beach House
A monthly presentation of short fiction, personal essays, poetry, spoken word, and music produced by Conrad Romo. This month features:
Matthew Specktor: author of “American Dream Machine,” and a senior editor and founding member of the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Chris Wells: founder and artistic director of the Obie winning “Secret City” series of monthly art and performance events;
Amanda Gorman: LA’s 2014 Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate; with music by Malik “the FreQ” Moore.
Where: Annenberg Community Beach House
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 415 Pacific Coast Hwy., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1705115113056473
Some Favorite Writers: Akhil Sharma
The Hammer Reading Series features Akhil Sharma and his second novel, “Family Life” which is set in New Dehli, the city of his birth, and unfolds in New York, the PEN/Hemingway Award winner’s chosen home. It was 13 years in the writing, and Sharma’s lengthy process resulted in a tight novel that has been called a “terse, devastating account of growing up as a brilliant outsider in American culture,” by the novelist Edmund White.
Complimentary coffee and tea served. A book signing will follow the reading.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: http://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2015/12/some-favorite-writers-akhil-sharma/
“Larchmont” at Chevalier’s Books
Patricia Lombard is co-publisher and editor of the Larchmont Buzz and, among her many other community activities, is a Trustee of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. Under the aegis of Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series, she will be discussing and signing her new book, “Larchmont.”
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm
Address: l26 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://www.chevaliersbooks.com/
Poets & Writers Los Angeles Literary Roundtable
Poets & Writers, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization swerving creative writers, convenes literary roundtable meetings in California and select cities outside the state, which are open to people from all areas of the literary community to exchange ideas, news and resources.
This meeting will feature poet and social psychologist Ashaki M. Jackson, who will speak about her experience as a founding member of Women Who Submit. In the spirit of the holidays, there will be a White Elephant litmag exchange.
Where: Camera Obscura Art Lab
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 1450 Ocean Park Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: http://www.pw.org/calendar
“SHOUT” Open mic at Half-Off Books
Offered on the second Wednesday of every month, this event features local talent performing poetry, song, dance, comedy, etc. Admission is free.
Where: Half Off Books
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6708 Greenleaf Ave., Whittier, CA 90601
Website: http://business.whittierchamber.com/events/details/shout-open-mic-12-09-2015-5076
Creative Writing Workshop with Andrea Beard
Learn to energize and express your natural creative voice as you dive into a unique lyrical experience. Poet, artist and educator Andrea Beard believes creativity is a birthright and only needs desire, intention and opportunity to flourish.
Where: Studio City Branch Library
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: http://www.lapl.org/branches/studio-city
Poetry Matters in Downey
Poetry Only Open Mic with Featured Readers, curated by Lorine Parks. This monthly event takes place every second Thursday.
Where: Stay Gallery, sponsored by Downey Arts Coalition
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 11140 Downey Ave., Downey, CA 90241
Website: http://www.localendar.com/public/CadenceCollective
John Schulian at Vroman’s
Meet author John Schulian, who will discuss and sign “A Better Goodbye.” After making his mark in sportswriting and Hollywood (working with Steven Bochco), John Schulian has shifted gears and written his first novel, the noirish “A Better Goodbye.” It’s the tale of lost souls in rarely-seen precincts of Los Angeles, a melting pot stirred by a tragedy-haunted boxer, a college girl moonlighting as a sensual masseuse, a failed actor turned pimp, and a prison-hardened sociopath. “Goodbye” marks the latest turn in the career of the L.A.-born and Salt Lake City-reared Schulian.
Where: Vroman’s Books
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/john-schulian-discusses-and-signs-better-goodbye
Open Mic at Tia Chucha’s
Open Mic Night of Music and Spoken Word is a welcoming, creative sanctuary where people are encouraged to share their thoughts, feelings and talents through various forms of expression. Everyone is welcome to be themselves. It’s FREE. Participants sign up upon arrival.
Hosted by Jeffery Martin.
Where: Tia Chucha’s
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Date: Friday the 11th
Address: 13197 Gladstone Ave., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: http://www.tiachucha.org/calendarevents/
What Books Reading at Beyond Baroque
What Books presents readings by their authors: Literary sci-fi from Annette Leddy (Earth Still) and Katherine Haake (The Time of Quarantine); noir flash fiction from Chuck Rosenthal and Gail Wronsky (The Shortest Fairwells Are the Best).
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://www.beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
Jorge Enrique Ponce at Book Soup
Jorge Enrique Ponce is the writer and director of several films, including award-winning “#OMGIMTRENDING” and “Interview with a Zombie”. He was born in Lima, Peru and now resides in Los Angeles, CA, where he’s currently working on “F*KTORY” Vol. 2.
In “F*ktory Vol. 1” we meet “E”. She’s fourteen. Lives in New York City. Forced to sell drugs by her brute of a father and supplier, E Wants out. Yet at four foot ten, E is powerless. Hoping to find an exit, she uses her wit to steal “Lumen”, a mysterious new drug that gives the user unimaginable superpowers. Yet there’s more to Lumens Power then E had bargained for. Mysterious abilities suddenly unlock within her, along with a lust for power she hadn’t foreseen. As events spiral out of her control, E will find herself repeatedly cornered, putting her life and the life of those she loves, at risk. In a world where the biggest, fastest, and strongest always wins, E will be forced to do the two things she does best: adapt and survive.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: http://www.booksoup.com/event/jorge-enrique-ponce-discusses-and-signs-fktory-vol-1
Charlotte Rae presents “The Facts of My Life”
Actor Charlotte Rae has entertained generations of TV fans, but her role as Mrs. Garrett in “The Facts of Life” didn’t always relect the realities of her own life. She discusses her autobiography with co-author/son Larry Strauss and very special guests.
Free tickets will be released one hour prior to program. Seating is limited and on a first arrival basis. A book sale and signing follows.
Where: Santa Monica Library, MLK Auditorium
Date: Saturday, the 12th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90013
Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=19051
Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Deep Poetry Critique Workshop offered by Don Kingfisher Campbell this week. This event meets every Saturday in the back room of this branch of the Pasadena Public Library.
Where: Santa Catalina Branch Library
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 999 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Uptown Word in Long Beach
These poetry events are offered monthly and are curated by liz gonzalez.
Free, but donations are accepted.
This month’s featured authors are:
Eric Loya is a poet and English instructor. He earned an MFA from the University of California, Riverside, and his poems have been featured in Verdad Magazine, Black&White, Trajectory, White Pelican Review, and Pearl among others. He lives in Long Beach and is working on his first manuscript of poems.
Suzanne Lummis’ most recent collection, Open 24 Hours, won the Blue Lynx Poetry prize. With Henry Morro she is the co-editor of The Pacific Coast Poetry Series/Beyond Baroque Books and editor of the anthology Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond. Individual poems have appeared in The New Ohio Review, Ploughshares, The Antioch Review, The Hudson Review, The Normal School, Miramar and The New Yorker, and in the new anthology, Monster Verse: Poems Human an Inhuman. She teaches for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.
Mehnaz Sahibzada was born in Pakistan and raised in Los Angeles. She is a 2009 PEN USA Emerging Voices Fellow in Poetry. Her poetry chapbook, Tongue-Tied: A Memoir in Poems, Finishing Line Press was published in 2012, and her second chapbook, Summer Forgets to Wear a Petticoat, Finishing Line Press, is forthcoming in January 2016. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Asia Writes, The Rattling Wall, and Pedestal Magazine.
Where: Uptown Business District
Date: Sunday, the 13th
Time: 1 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: 5643 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90805
Website: http://uptownword.lizgonzalez.com/pages/upcoming.html
Soap Box Open Reading at Beyond Baroque
This is your home. Bring your words. The mic is yours. Sign-ups begin at 1:45 pm. There is a seven-minute limit. Hosted by Jessica Wilson. Free, but donations are always welcome.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Sunday, the 13th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Los Angeles Literature 