Red Hen Press 25th Anniversary Poetry Reading at the Annenberg Beach House
Please join us to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Red Hen Press with a poetry reading event featuring four Red Hen Press poets:
Katherine Coles is a poet and educator who served from 2006-2012 as Utah’s third poet laureate, and currently serves as inaugural director of the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute and the co-director of the Utah Symposium in Science and Literature.
Matty Layne Glasgow is the author of the poetry collection, deciduous queen, selected by Richard Blanco as the winner of the Benjamin Saltman Award and forthcoming from Red Hen Press in 2019.
Kim Dower is the author of four poetry collections, all from Red Hen Press: Air Kissing on Mars (2010), Slice of Moon (2013), Last Train to the Missing Planet (2016), and her new book, Sunbathing on Tyrone Powers’ Grave (2019).
Jessy Randall is the author of the poetry collections: Suicide Hotline Hold (2016), There Was an Old Woman (2015), Injecting Dreams into Cows (2012), A Day in Boyland (2007).
The readings will be accompanied by jeweler Nicole Foos’ talk on “Stories from Stones.”
Where: Annenberg Beach House
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 415 Pacific Coast Highway, at Beach House Way, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Monica L. Smith & Cities: The First 6,000 Years at Diesel Bookstore
Join us for the publication party and to hear author Monica L. Smith discuss and sign, Cities: The First 6,000Years.
This is a sweeping history of cities through the millennia, and how they have propelled Homo sapiens dominance. 6,000 years ago there were no cities on the planet, and now more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. She traces the development of this infrastructure and the culture of consumption that results in everything from take-out food to the tell-tale secrets of trash.
Where: Diesel Bookstore, lower outdoor courtyard
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Sonia Purnell & A Woman of No Importance at Chevalier’s Bookstore
Join us to hear author Sonia Purnell present her book, A Woman of No Importance:The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II, and the never-before-told story of one woman’s heroism that changed the course of the Second World War..
The secret life of Baltimore socialite Virginia Hull, the first allied woman deployed behind enemy lines, who was a linchpin for the French Resistance despite a prosthetic leg, is one of how the allies came to revolutionize secret warfare as we now know it. She established vast spy networks throughout France, refused orders to evacuate, and led a victorious guerilla campaign after D-Day.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://www.chevaliersbooks.com/sonia-purnell
Mark Bowden & The Last Stone, with Steve Lopez at Manhattan Beach Public Library
Please join Pages Bookstore at the Manhattan Beach Public Library to meet author Mark Bowden, in conversation with LA Times columnist Steve Lopez, to discuss his book, The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation.
For forty years the mystery of what happened to the Lyon sisters, aged 10 and 12, who disappeared in 1975 from the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall in Washington D.C. haunted an entire community, including cub reporter Mark Bowden. Then, in 2013.a squad detective found something the others had missed, which pointed to a man names Lloyd Welch. Over months of intense questioning and extensive investigation of Welch, as well as his Appalachian clan, they learned to sift truth from determined lies. Bowden is the author of thirteen books, including Black Hawk Down, and is a writer-in-residence at the University of Delaware.
Where: Manhattan Beach Public Library
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1320 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: http://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/author-mark-bowden-conversation-steve-lopez
Dena Moes & Buddha Sat Right Here at Vroman’s Bookstore
Join us to hear author Dena Moes, in conversation with Bella Mahaya Carer, discuss and sign her book, Buddha Sat Right Here: A Family Odyssey Through India and Nepal.
Dena was a busy midwife trapped on the hamster wheel of working life. Adam was an eccentric Buddhist yogi passing as a hard working dad. Bella was fourteen and wanted to be normal. Sophia was up for anything that involved skipping school. Together they shouldered backpacks and walked away from their California life for an eight month journey that led them to the Dalai Lama, the tee where Buddha sat, and the arms of Amma the Divine Mother. This is a story written with humor and honesty.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Jesse Valencia & Keep Music Evil at Book Soup
Join us to hear author Jesse Valencia discuss and sign, Keep Music Evil: The Brian Jonestown Massacre Story. The Brian Jonestown Massacre was captured in the controversial 2004 rockumentary Dig!—which won Grand Jury Prize at Sundance—but what isn’t known is the truth behind the band and the film. This is the definitive work on the band, its enigmatic leader, and its three-decade career. It also features exclusive photos of the band and its history.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
True Crime Tuesdays Book Club & Tinsletow at the Last Bookstore
Please join our host James T. Bartlett to discuss William J. Mann’s book, Tinsletown. Old Hollywood was a hot mess. In this book we re-visit the unsolved murder of A-list director William Desmond Taylor, and the competing forces of the LAPD, scandal-hungry paparazzi, and the powerful studios scrambling for the cover-up.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event, so check website for details.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: /http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Naomi Claire Wallace & Shakespeare’s Ripper at the Last Bookstore
Please join author Naomi Claire Wallace to discuss her novel, Shakespeare’s Ripper. After earning her Master’s in directing Shakespeare, the author settled permanently in London and used her expertise of the plays and their geography to solve the greatest mystery of all time: identifying Jack the Ripper.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event, so check website for details.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: /http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Tuesday Night Café Reading Series at Aratani Courtyard, Little Tokyo
Join Tuesday Night Café Reading Series for The Self Care Show, hosted by Sean Miura, with beats by DJ Lomo, and featuring:
Ally Vega aka @witchdoctorpoet, founder of @AVMDanceCo., founder of @WokeWeebs,
MC Zkuo
So Yun Um of ilovecreatives, explores the intimate stories of marginalized people through poetic language and poignant editing style.
Liquor Store Babies, is a film about the intersecting lives of two friends and their fathers, each of whom own Liquor stores (2018).
Traci Ishigo of Webs of Well Being, is a creative community organizer, and trauma-informed yoga and meditation healing instructor, and co-chair of #VigilantLOVE, to protect comunities impacted by Islamaphobia.
NOTE: Check out our podcast if you are unable to join us in person.
Where: Aratani Courtyard, Union Center for the Arts
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 120 Judge John Aliso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: http://tuesdaynightproject.org
LAVA Presents: A Night of Poetry & Feminism at Stories LA Books & Cafe
Join LAVA for a night of poetry, acoustic music and feminism, featuring readings from mostly women, but will include work from NB folks and a few men. The event coincides with the recent release of All Female Menu’s second issue –a zine featuring all female contributors. The second issue’s theme is “Pain” and some of the poems being read will deal with this topic.
Where: Stories LA Books & Café
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: http://storiesla.com/?q=h.calevents
Redondo Poets Open Mic at Coffee Cartel
Please join the Redondo Poets to welcome this week’s feature, Mike Hetzler, and participate in the weekly Open Mic. Redondo Poets is recommended by Mike “The Poet” Sonksen, and has been a mainstay of the Los Angeles Poetry scene for 20 years.
Where: Coffee Cartel
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1820 S. Catalina Ave., Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Website: http://www.facebook.com/RedondoPoets
Soapbox Sessions Open Mic at Maui Sugar Saloon
Soapbox Nation’s adventure began in 2006 when founder, Jason Brain, started an open mic at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Encino, CA. This event for musicians, poets, and comedians began slowly building a word-of-mouth following and really hit its stride in 2008. Now Soapbox is at a different location, but still in the Valley.
Where: Maui Sugar Saloon
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 8 pm – 12 pm
Address: 18389 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, CA 91356
Website: http://www.facebook.com/SoapboxOpenMic/
Da Poetry Lounge-Slam!
About: A poetry slam is a competition at which poets perform their own original work, and are then judged on a numeric scale by previously selected members of the audience. In a standard slam, there are five judges. Before the competition begins, the host will often bring up a sacrificial poet. A sacrificial poet is not competing in the slam, but is scored by the judges in order for them to calibrate their judging. After each competing poet performs, judges award a score to that poem. Scores generally range between zero and ten. The highest and lowest score are dropped, giving each performance a rating between zero and thirty points. A single round at a slam consists of performances by all eligible poets. Most slams last multiple rounds, and many involve the elimination of lower-scoring poets in successive rounds. A standard elimination rubric might run 8-4-2, with eight poets in the first round, four in the second, and two in the last. Some slams do not eliminate poets at all. Additionally, most slams enforce a time limit of three minutes (and a grace period of ten seconds), after which a poet’s score will be docked according to how long the poem exceeded the time limit.
Where: The Greenway Court Theater
Date: Tuesday the 16th
Time: 9 pm – 12 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: http://dapoetrylounge.com/visiting-dpl/slam/
Writers Workshop with Bonnie Kaplan & Xochitl Julisa-Bermejo at Occidental College
Please join us for a free Writers Workshop titled Suburbia’s Daughters: How Two Poets Came to Settle in Two Valleys, led by poets Xochitl Julisa-Bermejo and Bonnie S. Kaplan, who will share work inspired by family migration stories and their history growing up in the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys.
This event is sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Los Angeles (ISLA).
Where: Academic Commons Lobby, Occidental College
Date: Wednesday the 17th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1600 Campus Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Maria Zizka & The Newlywed Table at Vroman’s Bookstore
Please join us to hear author Maria Zizka present and sign The Newlywed Table: A Cookbook to Start Your Life Together, in conversation with Gillian Ferguson. If cooking for someone is an act of love, then what better way for a newlywed couple to express their love than to cook with each other? This book offers 100 recipes to build a repertoire, and lessons on how to run a kitchen for a lifetime.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 17th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Murder-a-Go-Go’s Crime Fiction Event at the Last Bookstore
Please join us to hear author Alison Arngrim, in conversation with Holly West, for a look at the anthology: Murder –a-Go-Go’s: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go’s, along with several authors who contributed stories to this one-of-a-kind collection.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event, so see details at the website link.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 17th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Deconstructing Scenes Writing Workshop Series at LA Writers Group Headquarters
Please join us for the next in our series of writers’ workshops on Deconstructing Scenes Series: Pacing, Mood, and Tone, and learn how to write a Better narrative, with an emphasis on writing better scenes, with Nicole Criona.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event, so check website for costs and details.
Where: LA Writers Group
Date: Wednesday the 17th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1728 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Unit B., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Website: http://www.lawritersgroup.com/workshops/prose-041719/
Poetry on the Rocks: The Final Shot at Dipiazza’s in Long Beach
Please join hosts Mike Gravagno and Nancy Lynee Woo, for the last of our quarterly reading series that smashes poetry, drinking and games together, Poetry on the Rocks, featuring:
Derrick C. Brown is a poet and writer.
Nicole Connolly is currently Managing Editor for the poetry centric Black Napkin Press. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals.
Jose Enrique Medina writes poems, short stories and novels. When he is not writing he enjoys life on his farm in Whittier CA.
Mike Gravagno is a poet, writer, and freelancer who hosts SuperHeroHourHour, Writer’s Block, the OCD, Movie of the Year, and more.
NOTE: $7 admission
Where: Dipiazza’s
Date: Wednesday the 17th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 5202 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, CA 90804
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/374387753407392/
Historia “Taxed” at Book Show LA
Join us for our monthly storytelling show hosted by Robin Reiser and Liz Glazer. The Theme tonight is “Taxed.”
Where: Book Show LA
Date: Wednesday the 17th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 5503 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: http://bookshowla.com/event/historia-14/
How Poets Make Money Workshop at the World Stage
The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Their tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. The Anansi Writers Workshop is coordinated by V. Kali and Conney Williams.
This week Hiram Sims will lead a panel discussion and tutorial exploring all the methods by which poets make a living for themselves. The general perspective is that poetry as a career path will result in financial ruin. Join us at The World Stage as we explore the various career paths in the field of poetry in a workshop titled “How Poets Make Money”.
Featured panelists include:
Hiram Sims, Creative Writing Professor.
Daniel List, founder of Not a Cult.
Shihan Van Clief, poet and co-founder of Da Poetry Lounge.
Matt Sedillo, author and Traveling Poet,
Moderated by: Camari Hawkins.
NOTE: Admission is ticked and available at Eventbrite link.
Where: The World Stage
Date: Wednesday the 17th
Time: 7:30 pm –10 pm; Reading at 8:30– 9:30 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: http://www.theworldstage.org/anansi-writers or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-poets-make-money-panel-tickets-59090706895?aff=ebdssbdestsearch or https://www.facebook.com/events/833998806944864/
Collin Kelly & Steven Reigns Reading at the Ugly Mug
Join Two Idiots Peddling Poetry to poets Collin Kelly & Steven Reigns present and discuss their work.
Collin Kelly is the author of the collections, Render and Better to Travel, and a trilogy of novels: Conquering Venus, Remain in Light, and Leaving Paris.
Steven Reigns was the inaugural poet laureate for West Hollywood (2014-2016) and is the curator of The Gay Rub, a collaborative project showcasing LGBTQ history. His latest collection is Inhertiance.
Where: The Ugly Mug
Date: Wednesday the 17th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/1967799966675492/
Cherrie Moraga at Helena Maria Viramontes Annual Lecture at Cal state University, Long Beach
The Helena Maria Viramontes Annual Lecture in Latina/o Literature is dedicated to bringing Latina/o writers to CSULB to engage with our students, as well as to present their work to the community.
This year, our guest speaker will be Chicana writer and activist, Cherrie Moraga. As a political and literary essayist, Moraga has published several collections of writings, including: A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness (2011), Loving in the War Years (second edition, 2000), Waiting in the Wings (1997), and The Last Generation (1993). She also co-edited the groundbreaking anthology This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, with Gloria Anzaldua (1981).
She is a founding member of La Red Xicana Indigena, an advocacy network working in education, the arts, spiritual practice, and indigenous women’s rights, and her work has been acknowledged by the U.S. Artist Rockefeller Fellowship of Literature, the Amercan Studies Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Lambda Foundation’s “Pioneer Award.
Where: Cal State University, Long Beach
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: Reading: 4 pm – 6 pm; Reception: 6:30 pm – 8 pm (4 pm – 8 pm)
Address: 1250 N. Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/595369400937449/
Poetry Workshop for Teens & Adults at Buena Vista Library
Join us for the Humument Poetry Workshop for Teens & Adults, led by flautist Juan Cardenas and poet Jessica M. Wilson, who are both teachers with Califronia Poets in the Schools. Juan is also founder of The Wynd Van, a blues and rock and roll band. Jessica is also founder of the Los Angeles Poet Society.
Unlock your stream of consciousness and create!
Attendees will learn to write poetry by creating a humument (human document), a printed page turned into art.
Where: Buena Vista Library
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 300 N. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91505
Website: http://wwwfacebook.com/events/750960498631138/ .
Mark Bowden & The Last Stone at Vroman’s Bookstore
Join us to hear journalist and author Mark Bowden, in conversation with Christopher Goffard, present and discuss The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation.
For forty years the mystery of what happened to the Lyon sisters, aged 10 and 12, who disappeared in 1975 from the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall in Washington D.C. haunted an entire community, including cub reporter Mark Bowden. Then, in 2013.a squad detective found something the others had missed, which pointed to a man names Lloyd Welch. Over months of intense questioning and extensive investigation of Welch, as well as his Appalachian clan, they learned to sift truth from determined lies. Bowden is the author of thirteen books, including Black Hawk Down, and is a writer-in-residence at the University of Delaware.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 693 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Rick Reilly & Commander in Cheat at Pages Bookstore
Please join us for a chance to meet local sports columnist and author Rick Reilly as he discusses and signs his new book, Commander in Cheat. The author transports readers onto the golf course with President Trump, revealing the absurd ways in which he cheats and lies about his feats, and what those behaviors can tell us about the way he leads off the course in the most important job in the world.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event, so see website for details.
Where: Pages Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: http://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/meet-author-and-sports-columnist-rick-reilly
Lorraine Devon Wilke &The Alchemy of Noise at Book Soup
Please join us to welcome author Lorraine Devon Wilke and hear her present and discuss her book, The Alchemy of Noise. In this timely, provocative drama, an interracial couple’s new and evolving relationship transcends culture clashes, police encounters, and resistance form select family and friends, only to have a violent arrest leave them questioning everything—including each other.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: http://www.booksoup.com/event/lorraine-devon-wilke-discusses-and-signs-alchemy-noise
MADE Storytelling: Making Meaningful Connections at MADE by Millworks
This event presented by Long Beach Literary Arts Center will focus on people’s stories about meaningful connections they’ve made in Long Beach and/or in the city itself—the stories that could only happen in long Beach.
Participants include:
Carmen Sima: ayurvedic Practitioner
liz gonzalez: writer, author, storyteller
Tasha W, Hunter: LB Arts Council President.Arturo Enciso: Gusto Bread
Shy But Flyy: blues, jazz, and spoken word artist
Blair Cohn: Bixby Knolls Neighborhood Assn.
Where: MADE by Millworks
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 240 Pine Ave, Long Beach CA 90802
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/392938438158550/
Earth Open Mic Night at Dramatic Results
Celebrating Creativity and Sustainability & the Earth, Dramatic Results hosts an Open Mic, with all proceeds going towards arts education.
Where: Dramatic Results
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3310 Lime Ave., Signal Hill, CA 90755
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2717685554938695/?active_tab=about
Open Mic Night at Art Life Gallery
Open Readers and/or musicians are invited to sign up to perform in advance on Meetup or by calling to speak to a co-host. Or you can live dangerously, and just sign up at the event.
You may perform three poems or three songs (or for five minutes). Bring a short piece for a lightening round at the end.
For more info please call or text 310-938-22511 or 310-753-6892 to contact co-hosts Vanessa Andrade and Betsy Kenoff.
Where: Art Life Gallery
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 720 South Allied Way, El Segundo CA 90245
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/637944193323789/
Daria Tessler & Cult of the Ibis at Skylight Bookstore
Please join us to hear graphic novelist Daria Tessler present and discuss her new graphic novel, The Cult of the Ibis. This exquisite, mostly-silent graphic novel takes place in a fantasy cityscape loosely inspired by German Expressionist film. It tells the story of an occultist getaway driver who, after escaping with the loot from a bank robbery gone wrong, orders a build-it-yourself homunculus kit and goes on the lam. This a strange and gripping yarn, packaged in a gorgeous hardcover design.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 18th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/daria-tessler-discusses-her-new-graphic-novel-cult-ibis
Poetry & Nature at Eaton Canyon
Bring a bag lunch and read your own or others’ poems in a beautiful natural setting. This event is part of Native Plant Week.
Where: Eaton Canyon Nature Center
Date: Friday the 19th
Time: 12:30 pm
Address: 1750 N. Altadena Dr., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.cnps.sgm.org
Jordy Rosenberg &Confessions of the Fox: A Novel at Book Soup
Please join us to welcome author Jordy Rosenberg and hear him present and discuss his book, Confessions of the Fox: A Novel.
Jack Sheppard and Edgeworth Bess were the most notorious thieves, jailbreakers, and lovers of eighteenth-century London. Yet no one knows the true story; their confessions have never been found.
Until now. Reeling from heartbreak, a scholar named Dr. Voth discovers a long-lost manuscript–a gender-defying exposé of Jack and Bess’s adventures. Is Confessions of the Fox an authentic autobiography or a hoax? As Dr. Voth is drawn deeper into Jack and Bess’s tale of underworld resistance and gender transformation, it becomes clear that their fates are intertwined–and only a miracle will save them all. Writing with the narrative mastery of Sarah Waters and the playful imagination of Nabokov, Jordy Rosenberg is an audacious storyteller of extraordinary talent.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 19th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Kenji C. Liu & Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes Poetry Reading at Skylight Bookstore
Please join us to hear two poets and authors read and discuss their new works:
Kenji C. Liu will present and discuss his new collection, Monsters I Have Been. Using an invented poetry method called “frankenpo” (Frankenstein poetry), Liu takes existing texts and remixes them, creating multi-faceted poems that investigate the relationship between toxic masculinity and forms of violence plaguing our modern society. He also explores the male-male erotic and marginalized masculinities that are urgently needed as a counter-weight today,
Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes will present and discuss The Inheritance of Haunting. Winner of the Andres Montoya Poetry Prize, this is a collection contending with historical memory and its losses and gains carried within the body, wrought through colonization and its generations of valance, war and survival.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Friday the 19th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
They’re Just Words Open Mic at Book Show LA
Join us for Friday Night Poetry: They’re Just Words Open Mic, hosted by Ingrid Calderon-Collins.
Featured poets include:
Samantha Rose is an author, poet and writer/editor, columnist for Soulbits on Fire, and her writing has been featured in Rhythm & Bones, the IN magazine, the ILY magazine, Occulum, and more.
Maxwell specializes in spoken word, hip hop, and R&B.
Maquebeo #dontcallmecrazy has the superpower of general anxiety, which has taught him to appreciate the smallest of things. He paints the stage with what his life has been like.
Where: Book Show LA
Date: Friday the 19th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 5503 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: http://bookshowla.com/event/zine-meet-8/
Third Fridays Poetry & Open Mic at Rapp Saloon
Join us for Third Fridays Rapp Saloon Poetry Reading Series & Open Mic, featuring guest poets and musicians.
COLLIN KELLEY, is the author of the newly published poetry collection Midnight in a Perfect World (Sibling Rivalry Press). His other poetry collections include the American Library Association-honored Render (Sibling Rivalry Press), Better To Travel (Poetry Atlanta Press) and Slow To Burn (Seven Kitchens Press). Sibling Rivalry Press is also the publisher of his acclaimed Venus Trilogy of novels, Conquering Venus, Remain In Light and Leaving Paris. A recipient of the Georgia Author of the Year Award, Deep South Festival of Writers Award and a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, Kelley’s poetry, reviews, essays and interviews have appeared in magazines, journals and anthologies around the world.
STEVEN REIGNS, is a Los Angeles-based poet and educator and was appointed the first Poet Laureate of West Hollywood. Alongside over a dozen chapbooks, he has published the collections Inheritance and Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat. Reigns holds a BA in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida, a Master of Clinical Psychology from Antioch University, and is a fourteen-time recipient of The Los Angeles County’s Department of Cultural Affairs’ Artist in Residency Grant. He edited My Life is Poetry, showcasing his students’ work from the first-ever autobiographical poetry workshop for LGBT seniors. Reigns has lectured and taught writing workshops around the country to LGBT youth and people living with HIV. Currently he is touring The Gay Rub, an exhibition of rubbings from LGBT landmarks, facilitates the monthly Lambda Lit Book Club, and is at work on a new collection of poetry.
MARIE CHAMBERS, received an MFA in Poetry from Bennington College. Her work has appeared in The LA Review of Books, Aesthetica, The Lascaux Review, The Atlanta Review, Talking Writing, The Quotable, The Ilanot Review, Printer’s Devil Review, The Writer (third place flash fiction) Ironhorse Literary Review (finalist Photofinish Contest), the California Poetry Society (Honorable Mention Annual Contest), Sentinel Literary Quarterly (Highest Commendation short prose) and Bookwoman, a publication of the National Women’s Book Association (third place memoir /creative non-fiction). She was the 2014 winner of the Tallahassee Writers Association annual prize for creative non-fiction and was a winner of the 2015 ARTlines2 Ekphrastic Poetry Contest sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (judged by Robert Pinsky.) Her writing has been published in numerous art publications and her online collaboration with Paris-based visual artist Daniela Bershon was featured in “7 x 7.” Most recently she was recognized as a finalist for the Lascaux Poetry Prize.
Where: Rapp Saloon
Date: Thursday the 19th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/therappsaloonpoetryreading
Michael Paul & Chomp: A Shark Romp at Children’s Book World – Kid’s Event
Join us to meet Michael Paul for a fun-filled, interactive story time reading of his new book,, Chomp: A Shark Romp, for kids ages 2-6. Discover different species of sharks in this nonfiction picture book with simple text and bold illustrations.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 10580 ½ W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: http://www.childrensbookworld.com/author-events/
Dale Schafer Reads Beatrix Potter at Vroman’s Bookstore
Please join us to hear actor Dale Schafer, in Victorian costume, read The Tale of Peter Rabbit and tell about the fascinating life of Beatrix Potter. Memorabilia will be shared and there will be special gifts for the children.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbooks.com/events/beatrix-potter-story-time
Momentum – Poetry Workshop with Brendan Constantine at Camera Obscura
Brendan Constantine returns to Camera Obscura with a new generative workshop, theme: Momentum: Creating momentum within our poetry and our writing practice. Participants will examine and discuss examples and create new poems. All levels are welcome!
NOTE: See details at website link.
Where: Camera Obscura Art Lab
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 1 pm – 4 pm
Address: 1450 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website; http://www.facebook.com/events/396907807520700/?active_tab=about
Larry Bell & The Los Angeles Tapes at Hauser & Wirth
Join us to meet the renowned and influential artist Larry Bell, who will talk about his long career with Matthew Simms, editor of the new book, The Los Angeles Tapes. RSVP
Where: Hauser & Wirth
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 901 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: http://hauserwirthlosangeles.com
Loose Lips Poetry Reading at Topanga Library
Join us to hear a diverse array f the best contemporary poets. This month’s feature is TBA.
Where: Topanga Library
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 122 N. Topanga Canyon Rd., Topanga, CA 90290
2019 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Big Open at Santa Catalina Library
Join Saturday Afternoon Poetry to celebrate National Poetry Month with the 2019 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival, featuring the top three winners of the Big Slam.
See details and full schedule at website link.
Where: Santa Catalina Library, Pasadena
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 999 Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Paul Kitagaki Jr. & Behind Barbed Wire at JANM
Join us to commemorate the upcoming release of his new book, Behind Barbed Wire, and in celebration of his new exhibition, “Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit.” Join photographer Paul Kitagaki, Jr. for a reception with several of the exhibition’s subjects.
Free with admission. RSVP.
Where: Japanese American National Museum (JANM)
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 369 East 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: http://www.janm.org/events/#20
Local Author Day & Diana Peterson-More at Vroman’s Bookstore
Please join us to hear author Diana Peterson-More present and sign Consequential Communication in Turbulent Times: A Practical Guide to Leadership. How do we get the best out of ourselves and others on the job? This volume is filled with real world stories and solutions.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbooks.com/events/vroman’s-local-author-day-introducing-diana-peterson-more
Damon Krukowski & Ways of Hearing at Book Soup
Damon Krukowski will present and sign his book, Ways of Hearing, which examines how the switch from analog to digital audio is changing our perceptions of time, space, love, money and power. He offers a set of tools for critical listening in the digital age.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd.., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website; http://www.damon-krukowski-discusses-and-signs-ways-hearing
Judith Pacht & B.H. Fairchld at Beyond Baroque
Join us to meet and hear two poets read new work and celebrate recent books:
Judith Pacht is the author of two new collections: A Cumulous Fiction (Finishing Line Press) and Infirmary for a Private Soul (Tebot Bach)
B.H. Fairchild is the author of seven collections of poetry, including The Art of the Lathe, which won numerous awards.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/#events or https://www.facebook.com/events/2178567135541818/
Writers Resist & Open Mic at Gatsby’s Bookstore
Join the editors and contributing writers of Writers Resist, both online and the anthology, for a reading of resistance. Free to the public and all are invited. Cookies and wine may be served!
Where: Gatsby’s Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 5535 E. Spring St., Long Beach, CA 90808
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/307601209956756/
UC Irvine MFA Students Reading at Chevalier’s Bookstore
Join us to hear the annual MFA Fellows of the UC Irvine Writing Programs present an evening of fiction and poetry reading:
Cassie Dowd
Anna Hogeland
Hannah Dow
Jenna Abrams
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/307601209956756/
Cal Arts Thesis Reading Event at The Open Book, Canyon Country
Join us for the Cal Arts Thesis Reading: Before We’re Thrown to the Wolves, as five Cal Arts graduating readers delve into the worlds of steampunk/diesel punk fantasy, mental illness, LGBTQ, strange speculative fiction, and more.
Given the small size of the venue, there will be two readings, one at 6pm and one at 7:30pm, each lasting for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Our student readers’ event is featuring:
Barton Aikman
Cori Bratby-Rudd
Noah Lemelson
Austin Macfadden
Pica Williams
Where: The Open Book, Canyon Country
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1918 Soledad Canyon Rd., Santa Clarita, CA 91351
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/407400596722969/
Book Party: Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff/Sara Borjas
Come celebrate the release of our very own, Sara Borjas’ debut poetry collection, Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff! Sara’s collection was published in March by Noemi Press as part of the Akrilica Series—a co-publishing venture between Noemi Press and Letras Latinas—the Institute of Latinx Studies at Notre Dame. Sara will read from her collection along with Los Angeles based poets Mike Sonksen and F. Douglas Brown. The night will be hosted by Peter Woods. There will be books. There will be drinks. Come show love!
Equally a scholar and performer, MIKE SONKSEN, also…known as, Mike the Poet, is a 3rd-generation L.A. native acclaimed for poetry performances, published articles and mentoring teen writers. He recently published the book Letters To My City from The Accomplices/Writ Large Press, a collection of this articles and poems about Los Ángeles.
F. DOUGLAS BROWN is the author of ICON, a new collection of poetry from Writ Large Press in 2018, and Zero to Three (University of Georgia, 2014), winner of the 2013 Cave Canem Poetry Prize selected by US Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith. He also co-authored with poet Geffrey Davis, Begotten (URB Books, 2016), a chapbook of poetry as part of the Floodgate Poetry Series. He is co-founder and curator of un::fade::able – The Requiem for Sandra Bland, a quarterly reading series examining restorative justice through poetry as a means to address racism. When he is not teaching, writing or with his children (Isaiah, Olivia, and Simone), he is busy DJing in the greater Los Angeles area.
SARA BORJAS is a Chicanx pocha and a Fresno poet. Her debut collection of poetry, Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff, was published by Noemi Press in March 2019 as part of the Akrilica series. Sara earned a B.A. in English Literature from Fresno State and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Writing for Performative Arts from University of California, Riverside. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Creative Writing at UC Riverside and in the English Department at La Sierra University. Her poetry can be found in The Rumpus, The Academy of American Poets Poem a Day Series, TinderBox, The Offing, and Entropy, amongst others. She co-hosts and produces The Lovesick Poetry Podcast — a west coast poetry podcast launching in 2019, alongside IRL cousin and award-winning poet, Joseph Rios.
Where: The Falls Lounge
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: 626 S. Spring St. Ste A, Los Angeles, CA 90014
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/319484362057515/
To Love or To Leave: a Spoken Word Musical Stage Play at Regency West
Larry Love Productions presents a fun and interactive evening of captivating spoken word, singing and acting. The audience will be presented with various relationship “situations” and asked to help determine if the best course of action is TO LOVE OR TO LEAVE.
Don’t miss the dynamic performances by: Larry Love, Concrete Rose, Kea Bird, Derek D. Brown, Janaci, Delicia Defour, Laura Lares-Hernandez, Nurah Allah, Lorenzo Frank, Joy, Raheem, Tracy Johnson, and Timothy Jordan.
Where: Regency West
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 3339 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/298459294183699/
James Cushing &Solace Reading at Beyond Baroque
Join us to hear James Cushing present and read his collection, Solace, which continues the surrealist project he has been building. He will read alongside Mary Ann Macfadden.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday the 20th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.com/calendar
Sunday Creative Writing Workshop at L.A. Writers Group
Join us to write work that will surprise you, tap into your creative side, and learn a few things along the way. Generate new writing from original prompts every week. Get excited about writing again. Class size limited to 8, and is taught by Nicole Criona.
Where: L.A. Writers Group Headquarters
Date: Sunday the 21st
Time: 11 am – 1:30 pm
Address: 1728 Laurel Canyon Blvd., West Hollwood, CA 90046
Website: http://beyondbaroque.com/calendar
#IRemember with Ashlie Gibbs at the Last Bookstore
We are pleased to present newly published author Ashlie Gibbs and her new mystery spy thriller #IRemember. What Valerie thought were nightmares keeping her awake at night were instead glimpses of her true profession…being a trained killer. As her mind starts to wake up, she begins to uncover the truth about the mystery behind who within her agency set her up to die.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event, so check website for details.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 21st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: /http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Sally Rooney & Normal People at Skylight Bookstore
Join us to hear author Sally Rooney, in conversation with Karolina Waclawiak, read and discuss her book, Normal People, her follow up to an award-winning and critically acclaimed debut novel, Conversations with Friends. The author brings a remarkable psychological acuity and sharp, exacting prose to this coming-of-age tale for our times, exploring the subtleties of class and privilege, the costs of loyalty, and the relationship between power and love.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 21st
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/sally-rooney-reads-her-new-novel-normal-people-karolina-waclawiak
Los Angeles Literature 