A Different Kind of Daughter at Chevalier’s
Author Maria Toorpakai tells of her harrowing journey to play the sport she knew was her destiny, first living as a boy and roaming the violent back alleys of Peshawar, and rising to become the number one female squash player in Pakistan. In A Different Kind of Daughter: The Girl Who Hid from the Taliban in Plain Site, Maria describes how squash went from being a salvation to a death sentence, and how she moved halfway across the globe to pursue her dream.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Monday the 9nd
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://www.chevaliersbooks.com
Poetry Party by Cadence Collective
Cadence Collective’s Poetry Party, hosted by Murray Thomas and Sarah Thursday, happens every 2nd Monday of the month at Fox Coffeehouse.
Come sign up to read your own poems during our Open Mic and enjoy two featured readers, one of which will be a Cadence Collective contributor.
Where: Fox Coffeehouse
Date: Monday the 9th
Time: 7 pm start (6:45 open mic sign up)
Address: 437 West Willow St., Long Beach, CA 9
David Ulin & Paul Kolsby with Steph Cha at Vroman’s
David Ulin and Paul Kolsby, with Steph Cha, discuss and sign Ear to the Ground. Seismologist Charlie Richter, grandson of the inventor of the Richter scale, knows earthquakes, and has a method for predicting them. Arriving in Los Angles to begin work at the Center for Earthquake Studies, Charlie settles into his new life, only to see the “Big One” looming on the horizon. His biggest shock is that this is the news they were hoping for, just so they can produce the next disaster blockbuster.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Monday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/david-ulin-paul-kolsby-w-steph-cha-discuss-and-sign-ear-ground
Alexandre Vidal Porto at Skylight Books
Join us as Alexandre Vidal Porto reads from his newest novel Sergio Y, a startling and inspirational work of transgender fiction by a leading figure in Brazil’s “new Urban” fiction movement.
Armando is one of the most renowned therapists in Sao Paulo, and when a 17-year-old patient named Sergio interrupts therapy after a trip to New York, Armando wonders what happened to him. Then, after learning that Sergio has chosen to live a happy life in New York as a woman named Sandra, he later is shocked to read about Sandra’s unexpected death. In an attempt to learn the truth about his former patient’s life, Armando starts investigating his own.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Monday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/alexandre-vidal-porto-reads-his-newest-novel-sergio-y
Angela Morales and Amarnath Ravva at Glendale Community College
GCC English faculty member Angela Morales will read from her acclaimed autobiographical essay collection The Girls in My Town, for which she won the River Teeth Nonfiction Prize, 2014.
GCC English faculty member Amarnath Ravva will share his video and text from his acclaimed “complex reworking of the memoir form” a finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Awards.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 1:15 pm
Address: 1500 N. Verdugo Rd., Glendale, CA 91208
Website: http://http://www.glendale.edu/index.aspx?page=1
SLAM IN THE STACKS at Vernon Memorial Branch, LAPL
Adults and Teens are invited to join a series of live poetry performances from legendary Writ Large press poets. This is part 1 of a three part workshop, to be followed next by a Writing Workshop on Thursday the 12th and a participant performance workshop on Saturday the 14th.
*You MUST attend the Writing Workshop to attend the Performance Workshop.
Where: Vernon – Leon H. Washington Jr. Memorial Branch Library
Dates: Tuesday, the 10th
Times: Tuesday the 10th from 12 pm – 1 pm;
Thursday the 12th from 5 pm – 6:30 pm;
Saturday the 14th from 12 pm – 1:30 pm.
Address: 4504 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90011
Website: http://www.http://grandperformances.org/more_info.php?show_id=310
Kate Tempest at ALOUD Reading Series
Award-winning poet and rapper Kate Tempest’s electrifying debut novel takes us into the beating heart of London in this multi-generational tale of drugs, desire, and belonging. The Bricks That Built the Houses explores a cross-section of contemporary urban life with a powerful moral microscope, and questions how we can live with and love one another.
Kate Tempest is in conversation with Neelanjana Banerjee, editor of Kaya Press.
Please contact the ALOUD series to RSVP to ensure seating.
Where: DTLA Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium
Dates: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: http://lfla.org/event/the-bricks-that-built-the-houses/
Michelle Latiolais, with Aimee Bender, at Vroman’s Bookstore
Join us as at Michelle Latiolais reads from and signs She: Fiction, and Aimee Bender joins Michelle and reads from her own celebrated work. In She: Fiction, a nameless fifteen-year-old runs away to Los Angeles, seeking life beyond the constraints of her evangelical upbringing. She is the narrator of her passage, and her odd encounters, set against the backdrop of L.A.’s flagrant wealth, cast into relief its eccentricities and the everyday trials faced by its collection of lost souls.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/michelle-latiolais-aimee-bender-reads-and-signs-she-fiction
David Greenberg, in Conversation with Richard Reeves, at Chevalier’s Books
Presidential historian David Greenberg, author of Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency, covers more than a hundred years of politics and recounts the rise of the White House spin machine, from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama. Listen in on what can only be a gem of an interview by award-winning journalist and bestselling author Richard Reeves, author of President Kennedy: Profile of Power, followed by a book signing.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://chevaliersbooks.com
Three Authors at Skylight Books
An evening with Hossein Abkenar and Yaghoub Yadali, with Joshua Wolf Shenk, presented by the Black Mountain Institute, Phoneme Media and PEN Center USA. Join us for an evening of readignsm translation, and conversation with two City of Asylum fellows, hossein Abkenar and Yaghoub Yadali. City of Asylum programs provide sanctuary to endangered literary writers, and offer a broad range of literary programs in community settings to encourage cross-cultural exchange.
Hossein Mortezaeian Abkenar is an Iranian fiction writer and screenwriter. His 2006 novel, A Scorpion on the Steps of Andimeshk Railroad Station, received numerous awards and was translated into multiple languages. The French Perfume, won the Yalda Literature award for the year’s best short story collection in 2003. Abkenar has been working on his novel Darkness, which covers three decades in Iran’s history, and takes a fresh look at Iranians society and its social issues.
Yaghoub Yadali is an Iranian fiction writer, has directed for television and worked for Roshd Nagazine. His novel Rituals of Restlessness, is the first book in Phonemes Media’s City of Asylum Series. In 2007, he was sentenced to one year in prison for depicting an adulterous affair in the novel. Two of his works have been banned from publication and reprint in Iran.
Joshua Wolf Shenk is an author, essayist, and the executive director and writer-in-residence of the Beverly Rogers, Carl C. Hunter Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He serves on the board of PEN center USA.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/evening-hossein-abkenar-and-yaghoub-yadali-joshua-wolf-shenk
Three Authors at Vroman’s
Vroman’s is happy to welcome Eduardo Martinez, Lisa Becker, and Amy Scher to present and sign Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It: Life Journeys Inspired by the Bestselling Memoir.
True stories inspired by one of the most iconic, beloved, bestselling books of our time are presented by three of its nearly fifty contributors. This candid and captivating collection of stories are as diverse in their experiences as they are in age and background.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
SHOUT! Open Mic at Half Off Books
Join us for another amazing night of poetry, spoken word, storytelling, music and much more!
No features this month, so there is more time for you, our wonderful open mic readers. sign up list will go up by 6:30 pm, and close when the reading begins.
Where: Half Off Books
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6708 Greenleaf Ave., Whittier, CA 90601
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/1717054661885593/
SLAM IN THE STACKS Writing Workshop, Part 2
Turn your passions into words, rhymes and rhythms in part 2 of a three-part workshop of our SLAM IN THE STACKS series. Learn from Writ Large press writers how to compose your work into a final piece.
NOTE: Must attend the Writing Workshop to participate in Performance Workshop on Saturday the 14th.
Where: Vernon Leon H Washington Memorial Branch, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 4504 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90011
Website: http://www.http://grandperformances.org/more_info.php?show_id=309
Quiet Los Angeles at Chevalier’s Books
Meander Quiet Los Angeles with author Rebecca Razo and step into unexpected places of repose throughout Greater Los Angeles. A former Los Angeles City police officer-turned-writer raconteur, she revivifies her vision—and ours—of what this one-off megalopolis can be. The tonic havens from hectic haze that she discovers are variously fun, mysterious, opulent and novel.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://www.chevaliersbooks.com
Poetry Workshop at Westwood Branch, LAPL
Join us for a poetry workshop. Please bring at least one poem you have written, with seven printed copies, and one poem you really like.
Where: Westwood Branch Library
Time: 6:30 pm
Date: Thursday the 12th
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-4
Julie Berry at Vroman’s
Julie Berry will discuss and sign her recent book, The Passion of the Dolssa. In mid-thirteenth century Provence, Dolssa de Stigata is a fervently religious girl who feels the call to preach, condemned by the Inquisition as an “unnatural woman” and hunted by the Dominican Friar Lucien who fears a resurgence of the Albigensian heresy. Botille is a matchmaker trying to protect her sisters from being branded as gypsies or witches, but when she finds the hunted Dolssa dying on a hillside, she feels compelled to protect her, a decision which could cost her everything.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/julie-berry-discusses-and-signs-passion-dolssa
Steven Leigh Morris at Book Soup
In Fowl Play, A Novel in Three Acts, author and notable drama critic Steven Leigh Morris weaves his two great passions in life: the theater and barnyard poultry. As print media crashes down on him, veteran theater critic Seth Jacobson hatches a flock of chickens and negotiates a fragile pact with his neighbors to house them in the garden of his condominium. In this complex comedy, all creatures seek refuge in an acrimonious and often violent world.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: http://www.booksoup.com/event/steven-leigh-morris-discusses-and-signs-fowl-play-novel-three-acts
Kemper Donovan at Vroman’s
Kemper Donovan’s The Decent Proposal is a heartfelt and often hilarious look at the ties that bind not just a guy and a girl, but an entire, diverse cast of characters situated within a modern-day Los Angeles brought to full and irrepressible life. This is a funny, tender and enchanting story about love, attraction and friendship: Jane Austin in Los Angeles.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Friday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/kemper-donovan-discusses-and-signs-decent-proposal
Anomalies at Book Soup
Join us as Sadie Turner and Colette Freedman discuss and sign Anomalies. In the future there is no disease. There is no war. There is no discontent. All citizens are complacent members of the Global Governance. But one summer is about to change everything, and fifteen-year-old Keeva Tee is about to be a part of it when she fears she may be an anomaly and doubt everything she ever believed.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd.untington DrHuntington , West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: http://www.booksoup.com/event/sadie-turner-and-colette-freedman-discuss-and-sign-anomalies
Bob Boilen at Skylight
Bob Boilen discusses his new book Your Song Changed My Life…Thirty-Five Beloved Artists on Their Journey and the Music That Inspired It. In these stories, the host and creator of NPR’s All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts, reveals a vibrant oral history of modern music. For some musicians their entire career path was forged through a simple coincidence, while other inspirations are more surprising and varied. Boilen offers us a rare inside look into the minds of some of the top musical artists working today.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Friday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/bob-boilen-discusses-his-book-your-song-changed-my-life
Book Club at Westwood Branch, LAPL
Adults and seniors, please join us for a discussion about The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells.
Where: Westwood Branch Library
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Date: Saturday the 14th
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: http://www.lapl.org//whats-on/events/book-club-46
Authors at the Claremont Forum
Join us where poetry, fiction and discussion collide at this free event in beautiful Claremont Village. Lloyd David Aquino will read his poetry and fiction. Xochitl-Julisa Bermeo will read from her poetry works. Jill Scott-Coe will read from her nonfiction work, and Yi Shun Lai will read from her debut novel, Not a Self-Help Book: The Misadventures of May Wu. A short discussion and Q&A, about the intersection between real life and writing will follow.
Where: Claremont Forum & Prison Library Project
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 586 West 1st St., Claremont, CA 91711
Website: http://www.claremontforum.org/calendar/
WriteGirl Authors at Chevalier’s
WriteGirl is a mentorship program for young female writers, and matches girls with women writers for one-on-one mentoring and monthly creative writing workshops to give the girls techniques, insights and hot topics for great writing in all genres. Collectively WriteGirl anthologies have won 70 national and international book awards. In its fourteen year history WriteGirl also has guided 100% of mentees to college.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Saturday, the 14th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://www.chevaliersbooks.com
James Franco at Skylight Books
Straight James/Gay James explores the facets of James Franco’s public and private personas. It is also a poetic bildungsroman—raw, candid, and uninhibited. This book provokes questions about identity, sexuality, and gender, as well as Hollywood and family.
Please note that this is a signing only. But because we’re expecting a large crowd at this event, we’ll be giving out numbered tickets to the signing line to keep things organized. To get a ticket, you must purchase a copy of any James Franco title here, at Skylight Books.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Saturday, the 14th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/james-franco-signs-his-book-straight-jamesgay-james
Classic Book Club at Pico Branch, SMPL
Join us to discuss The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, by Giorgio Bassani. Open to adults and seniors.
Where: Pico Branch, SMPL
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 11 am
Address: 2201 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=19537
Youth Book Fest at Pasadena High School–Youth Event
The first Tots, Tweens and Teens Book Fest will take place at Pasadena High School, and is sponsored by Once Upon a Time Bookstore. This event is FREE and open to the public.
See site for more information on each author and/or illustrator. Arrive at noon for a special live musical performance by Emily Arrow.
Once Upon a Time Bookstore, located at 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose Shopping Park, and in its fiftieth year, recently was honored as being the Small Business of the Year by CA State Senator Liu, and featured in a story in the Los Angeles Times.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore (off-site event)
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 12 pm – 6 pm
Address: Pasadena High School, 2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107
Website: http://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/tots-tweens-and-teens-book-fest-sat-may-14th-noon-pasadena
Poetry Performance Workshop at Washington Memorial Branch Library
Celebrate part 3 of SLAM IN THE STACKS, Poetry Workshop Performance, presented by participants who participated in the Poetry Writing Workshop itself on Thursday the 12th. You must have participated in part 2 of this three-part event to read your work in performance today.
Sponsored by Grand Performances and Writ Large Press.
Where: Vernon Leon H Washington Memorial Branch, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 12 pm – 1:30 pm
Address: 4504S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90011
Website: http://grandperformances.org/more_info.php?show_id=311
PEN Anthology at The Last Bookstore
Many Minds, One Soul: A PEN in the Community Anthology is a collection of poetry, fiction and memoir by a group of young people, most of whom will be the first in their families to attend college. The 12th grade students forom William and Carol Ouchi High School in South L.A. will be reading form their anthology of creative writing at an event hosted by Lillian Rivera, teaching artist, wo has led the students in a 12-week PEN writing program.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Ground Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Voices in the Well at Beyond Baroque
Voices in the Well presents Sail On Silver Girl, a celebration of the Merry Month of May through poetry, comedy, storytelling and music. Featuring: Laurel Ann Bogen, Chaya Silberstein, Vinnie Caggiano, Lisa Marguerite Mora and more!
Regular Admission.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
Nicelle Davis and Amy Gerstler at Book Soup
Nicelle Davis and Amy Gerstler discuss and sign Walled Wife and Scattered at Sea, with discussion moderated by Kim Dower. Nicelle Davis’s The Walled Wife unearths a host of issues that plague women in the modern world. Amy Gerstler’s collection, Scattered at Sea, has won acclaim for its sly, sophisticated and subversive poems that find meaning in unexpected places.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Chris Ayers at Vroman’s Hastings Ranch
Chris Ayers discusses and signs The Daily Zoo, Vol. 3 at Hastings Ranch. Staff favorite author and illustrator Chris Ayers began The Daily Zoo as a means of art therapy while recovering from acute myelogenous leukemia, a cancer of the blood. The premise was to draw one animal a day. Now up to three volumes of 365 animals in his menagerie, Chris is still going strong in terms of both his health and his art!
Where: Vroman’s Hastings Ranch
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 3729 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/chris-ayers-discusses-signs-daily-zoo-vol-3-hastings-ranch
Local Author Celebration at Gatsby’s Books
Join us to hear local authors read excerpts from their new books,a nd share some munchies:
Nancy Mary will read and discuss The Boy Who Could Remember. When his mother takes him to a psychiatric specialist, four-year old Thomas’ problems with his “imaginary friend” begin to unravel.
B.K. Robinson will read and discusses The True Story of Tuffy the Squirrel. On the Fourth of July a young squirrel begins his coming of age journey to find himself along the sunny coast of Southern California.
Barbara Eknoian will read and discuss Monday’s Child: A Family Saga. In 1904-2014 the Montano family comes from Italy to America to better their lives, and we get to know Jeff Montano and share his struggles.
Where: Gatsby’s Books
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 5535 E. Spring St., Long Beach, CA 90808
Los Angeles Literature 